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Informed by social support theory and control-value theory, this study investigates the predictive role of teacher support on classroom flow among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and the mediating effect of academic self-efficacy. A survey was conducted among 557 Chinese university EFL learners to gather relevant data. Descriptive statistics indicate that the participants exhibited a moderate level of classroom flow and exhibited significant variations based on gender and grade. Analysis using structural equation modeling revealed that teacher support has a noteworthy, positive predictive impact on EFL learners' classroom flow. Furthermore, academic self-efficacy serves as a partial mediator between teacher support and classroom flow, with instrumental and emotional teacher support showing the strongest indirect effects. Notably, various dimensions of teacher support, aligning with students' psychological needs as outlined by self-determination theory, have unique predictive effects on both classroom flow and academic self-efficacy. Appraisal and informational teacher support have the greatest predictive influence on classroom flow among the teacher support considered. The findings enhance understanding of the dynamics between teacher support, academic self-efficacy, and classroom flow, offering practical implications for creating autonomy-supportive educational environments that can elevate EFL learners' engagement and academic achievements., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Gong and Xu.)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, and the most prevalent form of dementia. The main hallmarks for the diagnosis of AD are extracellular amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaque deposition and intracellular accumulation of highly hyperphosphorylated Tau protein as neurofibrillary tangles. The brain consumes more oxygen than any other organs, so it is more easily to be affected by hypoxia. Hypoxia has long been recognized as one of the possible causes of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases, but the exact mechanism has not been clarified. In this review, we will elucidate the connection between hypoxia-inducible factors-1α and AD, including its contribution to AD and its possible protective effects. Additionally, we will discuss the relationship between oxidative stress and AD as evidence show that oxidative stress acts on AD-related pathogenic factors such as mitochondrial dysfunction, Aβ deposition, inflammation, etc. Currently, there is no cure for AD. Given the close association between hypoxia, oxidative stress, and AD, along with current research on the protective effects of antioxidants against AD, we speculate that antioxidants could be a potential therapeutic approach for AD and worth further study., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Tao, Gong, Xu, Ma, Mei and Chen.)

Rapid evolution of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is the bottleneck for effective prevention and control of PRRS. Thus, understanding the prevalence and genetic background of PRRSV strains in swine-producing regions is important for disease prevention and control. However, there is only limited information about the epizootiological situation of PRRS in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. In this study, blood or lung tissue samples were collected from 1,411 PRRS-suspected weaned pigs from 9 pig farms in Changji, Shihezi, and Wujiaqu cities between 2020 and 2022. The samples were first tested by RT-quantitative PCR, yielding a PRRSV-2 positive rate of 53.6%. Subsequently, 36 PRRSV strains were isolated through initial adaptation in bone marrow-derived macrophages followed by propagation in grivet monkey Marc-145 cells. Furthermore, 28 PRRSV-positive samples and 20 cell-adapted viruses were selected for high-throughput sequencing (HTS) to obtain the entire PRRSV genome sequences. Phylogenetic analysis based on the nucleotide sequences of the ORF5 gene of the PRRSV strains identified in this study grouped into sub-lineages 1.8 and 8.7 the former being the dominant strain currently circulating in Xinjiang. However, the NSP2 proteins of the Xinjiang PRRSV strains shared the same deletion patterns as sub-lineage 1.8 prototype strain NADC30 with the exception of 4 strains carrying 2-3 additional amino acid deletions. Further analysis confirmed that recombination events had occurred in 27 of 37 PRRSVs obtained here with the parental strains belonging to sub-lineages 1.8 and 8.7, lineages 3 and 5, with the recombination events having occurred most frequently in the 5' and 3' termini of ORF1a and 5' terminus of ORF1b., Competing Interests: JL, LM, XP, HT, YZ, LC, SH, and WZ were employed by Tecon Bio-pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Li, Gong, Mao, Pan, Wu, Guo, Jiang, Tang, Zhao, Cheng, Tu, Yu, He and Zhang.)

Introduction: MScanFit is a model-based algorithm for motor unit number estimation (MUNE) from compound muscle action potential (CMAP) scan data. It is a clinically applicable tool because of its quick and automatic implementation. Electrodes with different recording areas were employed to record CMAP scan data in existing studies. However, the effect of electrode recording area on MScanFit MUNE and other CMAP scan parameters has not been studied., Methods: CMAP scan was performed on the abductor pollicis brevis muscle of both hands on 14 healthy subjects using three different electrodes with recording areas of 10 mm × 10 mm, 11 mm × 14 mm, and 22 mm × 26 mm, respectively. Motor unit number was estimated using MScanFit for each CMAP scan. Two motor unit number index parameters, i.e., D50 and step index (STEPIX), were also derived from the CMAP scan data., Results: No significant difference in D50, STEPIX, and MScanFit MUNE was observed across three different electrode recording areas, although the amplitude of CMAP decreased significantly when a larger electrode was used. Intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.792 and 0.782 were obtained for MScanFit MUNE and STEPIX, respectively., Discussion: Compared with CMAP amplitude, D50, STEPIX, and MScanFit MUNE are less sensitive to variation in electrode recording area. However, the repeatability of MScanFit MUNE could be compromised by the inconsistency in the electrode recording area., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Lu, Gong and Zhou.)

Background: The number of people with dementia is soaring. Cognitive reserve has been thought to be associated with dementia risk. It is not clear at which period in the life course and which cognitive reserve proxies contribute to the reduced risk of dementia., Methods: By scanning four databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and MEDLINE) up to Jun 3, 2023, longitudinal studies of life-course cognitive reserve and risk of dementia were found. The HRs and 95% CIs for each study were summarized using random effects models. Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were conducted. Utilizing funnel plots, Begg and Egger tests, publication bias was investigated., Results: A total of 27 studies were included, containing 10 in early-life, 10 in middle-life, and 13 in late-life. All studies used validated questionnaires to measure cognitive reserve, and dementia diagnosis followed recognized worldwide guidelines. All included studies were of medium or low risk. Cognitive reserve in early-life (Hazard ratio (HR): 0.82; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.79-0.86), middle-life (HR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.84-0.98) and late-life (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.75-0.88) all have protective effects on dementia risk. Multiple sensitivity analyses showed consistent results., Conclusion: Dementia risk is reduced by the buildup of cognitive reserves during life-course. Accumulation of proxies for cognitive reserve in early and late life had the greatest effect on dementia risk reduction. Social connection may be an effective approach to lower dementia risk., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Liu, Lu, Liu, He and Gong.)

Grazing exclusion (GE) is an effective measure for restoring degraded grassland ecosystems. However, the effect of GE on methane (CH 4 ) uptake and production remains unclear in dominant bacterial taxa, main metabolic pathways, and drivers of these pathways. This study aimed to determine CH 4 flux in alpine meadow soil using the chamber method. The in situ composition of soil aerobic CH 4 -oxidizing bacteria (MOB) and CH 4 -producing archaea (MPA) as well as the relative abundance of their functional genes were analyzed in grazed and nongrazed (6 years) alpine meadows using metagenomic methods. The results revealed that CH 4 fluxes in grazed and nongrazed plots were -34.10 and -22.82 μg‧m -2 ‧h -1 , respectively. Overall, 23 and 10 species of Types I and II MOB were identified, respectively. Type II MOB comprised the dominant bacteria involved in CH 4 uptake, with Methylocystis constituting the dominant taxa. With regard to MPA, 12 species were identified in grazed meadows and 3 in nongrazed meadows, with Methanobrevibacter constituting the dominant taxa. GE decreased the diversity of MPA but increased the relative abundance of dominated species Methanobrevibacter millerae from 1.47 to 4.69%. The proportions of type I MOB, type II MOB, and MPA that were considerably affected by vegetation and soil factors were 68.42, 21.05, and 10.53%, respectively. Furthermore, the structural equation models revealed that soil factors (available phosphorus, bulk density, and moisture) significantly affected CH 4 flux more than vegetation factors (grass species number, grass aboveground biomass, grass root biomass, and litter biomass). CH 4 flux was mainly regulated by serine and acetate pathways. The serine pathway was driven by soil factors (0.84, p  < 0.001), whereas the acetate pathway was mainly driven by vegetation (-0.39, p  < 0.05) and soil factors (0.25, p  < 0.05). In conclusion, our findings revealed that alpine meadow soil is a CH 4 sink. However, GE reduces the CH 4 sink potential by altering vegetation structure and soil properties, especially soil physical properties., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wang, Chen, Li, Gong, Wang and Cao.)

The content of resistant starch (RS) was considered positively correlated with the apparent amylose content (AAC). Here, we analyzed two Indica rice mutants, RS111 and Zhedagaozhi 1B, similar in high AAC and found that their RS content differed remarkably. RS111 had higher RS3 content but lower RS2 content than Zhedagaozhi 1B; correspondingly, cooked RS111 showed slower digestibility. RS111 had smaller irregular and oval starch granules when compared with Zhedagaozhi 1B and the wild type. Zhedagaozhi 1B showed a B-type starch pattern, different from RS111 and the wild type, which showed A-type starch. Meantime, RS111 had more fa and fb1 but less fb3 than Zhedagaozhi 1B. Both mutants showed decreased viscosity and swelling power when compared with the parents. RS111 had the lowest viscosity, and Zhedagaozhi 1B had the smallest swelling power. The different fine structures of amylopectin between RS111 and Zhedagaozhi 1B led to different starch types, gelatinization properties, paste viscosity, and digestibility. In addition to enhancing amylose content, modifications on amylopectin structure showed great potent in breeding rice with different RS2 and RS3 content, which could meet the increasing needs for various rice germplasms., Competing Interests: Authors ML, LX, and YS are employed by the company China National Seed Group Co., Ltd., Wuhan. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Luo, Gong, Zhang, Xie, Shi, Wu and Shu.)

A synthetic octoploid rapeseed, Y3380, induces maternal doubled haploids when used as a pollen donor to pollinate plant. However, the mechanism underlying doubled haploid formation remains elusive. We speculated that double haploid induction occurs as the inducer line's chromosomes pass to the maternal egg cell, and the zygote is formed through fertilization. In the process of zygotic mitosis, the paternal chromosome is specifically eliminated. Part of the paternal gene might have infiltrated the maternal genome through homologous exchange during the elimination process. Then, the zygote haploid genome doubles (early haploid doubling, EH phenomenon), and the doubled zygote continues to develop into a complete embryo, finally forming doubled haploid offspring. To test our hypothesis, in the current study, the octoploid Y3380 line was back bred with the 4122- cp4-EPSPS exogenous gene used as a marker into hexaploid Y3380- cp4-EPSPS as paternal material to pollinate three different maternal materials. The fertilization process of crossing between the inducer line and the maternal parent was observed 48 h after pollination, and the fertilization rate reached 97.92% and 98.72%. After 12 d of pollination, the presence of cp4-EPSPS in the embryo was detected by in situ PCR, and at 13-23 d after pollination, the probability of F 1 embryos containing cp4-EPSPS gene was up to 97.27%, but then declined gradually to 0% at 23-33 d. At the same time, the expression of cp4-EPSPS was observed by immunofluorescence in the 3rd to 29th day embryo. As the embryos developed, cp4-EPSPS marker genes were constantly lost, accompanied by embryonic death. After 30 d, the presence of cp4-EPSPS was not detected in surviving embryos. Meanwhile, SNP detection of induced offspring confirmed the existence of double haploids, further indicating that the induction process was caused by the loss of specificity of the paternal chromosome. The tetraploid-induced offspring showed infiltration of the induced line gene loci, with heterozygosity and homozygosity. Results indicated that the induced line chromosomes were eliminated during embryonic development, and the maternal haploid chromosomes were synchronously doubled in the embryo. These findings support our hypothesis and lay a theoretical foundation for further localization or cloning of functional genes involved in double haploid induction in rapeseed., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zhao, Huang, Zhang, Zhou, Yang, Shi, Li, Yang, Li, Ge, Gong, Wang, Zou, Tao, Kang, Li, Xiao, Hu and Fu.)

As a result of globalization, countries are collaborating more and sharing more information. People's perspectives now encompass both domestic and international news. In English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, the appropriate use of rich and vibrant online English news resources gives second language learners (L2 learners) direct access to first-hand, authentic English knowledge through independent reading and digestion, as well as peer-assisted classroom activities. Through weekly peer-assisted sharing of online English news, the goal of this study is to improve L2 learners' literacy, global competence, and appreciation of cultural diversity. This study examines the participants' perceptions and feedback using both quantitative and qualitative methods to confirm the efficacy of this pedagogy. After the semester-long experiment, significant differences were found in the English proficiency test. Particularly, the experimental class's reading and writing scores were significantly higher ( p  < 0.05) than the control class's, indicating that this pedagogy can effectively improve the literacy of ESL learners. The semi-structured interview revealed that participants were pleased with this instruction and perceived improvements in their language skills. ESL students' core English literacy has significantly improved by expanding their comprehension of news articles and cultivating a sense of social responsibility., Competing Interests: The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Gong.)

Leaf area index (LAI) is an important biophysical parameter of vegetation and serves as a significant indicator for assessing forest ecosystems. Multi-source remote sensing data enables large-scale and dynamic surface observations, providing effective data for quantifying various indices in forest and evaluating ecosystem changes. However, employing single-source remote sensing spectral or LiDAR waveform data poses limitations for LAI inversion, making the integration of multi-source remote sensing data a trend. Currently, the fusion of active and passive remote sensing data for LAI inversion primarily relies on empirical models, which are mainly constructed based on field measurements and do not provide a good explanation of the fusion mechanism. In this study, we aimed to estimate LAI based on physical model using both spectral imagery and LiDAR waveform, exploring whether data fusion improved the accuracy of LAI inversion. Specifically, based on the physical model geometric-optical and radiative transfer (GORT), a fusion strategy was designed for LAI inversion. To ensure inversion accuracy, we enhanced the data processing by introducing a constraint-based EM waveform decomposition method. Considering the spatial heterogeneity of canopy/ground reflectivity ratio in regional forests, calculation strategy was proposed to improve this parameter in inversion model. The results showed that the constraint-based EM waveform decomposition method improved the decomposition accuracy with an average 12% reduction in RMSE, yielding more accurate waveform energy parameters. The proposed calculation strategy for the canopy/ground reflectivity ratio, considering dynamic variation of parameter, effectively enhanced previous research that relied on a fixed value, thereby improving the inversion accuracy that increasing on the correlation by 5% to 10% and on R 2 by 62.5% to 132.1%. Based on the inversion strategy we proposed, data fusion could effectively be used for LAI inversion. The inversion accuracy achieved using both spectral and LiDAR data (correlation=0.81, R 2 =  0.65, RMSE=1.01) surpassed that of using spectral data or LiDAR alone. This study provides a new inversion strategy for large-scale and high-precision LAI inversion, supporting the field of LAI research., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Shi, Shi, Gong, Xu, Wang, Sun, Chen and Xu.)

Salicylic acid (SA) has been recognized as a promising molecule for improving abiotic stress tolerance in plants due to its ability to enhance antioxidant defense system, and promote root architecture system. Recent research has focused on uncovering the mechanisms by which SA confers abiotic stress tolerance in horticultural crops. SA has been shown to act as a signaling molecule that triggers various physiological and morphological responses in plants. SA regulates the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Moreover, it can also act as signaling molecule that regulate the expression of stress-responsive genes. SA can directly interact with various hormones, proteins and enzymes involved in abiotic stress tolerance. SA regulates the antioxidant enzymes activities that scavenge toxic ROS, thereby reducing oxidative damage in plants. SA can also activate protein kinases that phosphorylate and activate transcription factors involved in stress responses. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for developing effective strategies to improve crop resilience in the face of changing environmental conditions. Current information provides valuable insights for farmers and plant researchers, offering new strategies to enhance crop resilience and productivity in the face of environmental challenges. By harnessing the power of SA and its signaling pathways, farmers can develop more effective stress management techniques and optimize crop performance. Plant researchers can also explore innovative approaches to breed or engineer crops with enhanced stress tolerance, thereby contributing to sustainable agriculture and food security., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Yang, Fang, Luo, Yang, Huang, Yang, Hui, Gong and Wang.)

In order to develop environment friendly microbial inhibitor that can also control disease and promote oat ( Avena sativa ) growth, the growth rate method and response surface methodology were used to screen wetting agents, preservatives and protective agents at optimal concentrations in this study. Antagonistic activity of the tested bacterium and cell-free fermentation liquid against pathogenic fungi was evaluated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) substratum plates by dual culture technique. Oxford cup method was used to measure antagonistic reaction between screened bacteria. According to each screened bacteria with 50 mL were mixed and cultured in Luria-bertani (LB) substratum. Additives of Wetting agents, UV-protectors, and preservatives were screened by single factor test on the growth concentration of screened mixed bacteria. Afterwards, the optimal additives and concentrations were screened by Box-Behnken method. The microbial inhibitor was detected according to national standards GB20287-2006 and tested on oat in a pot experiment. The results showed that: (1) Functional bacteria which including Bacillus velezensis and Brevundimonas faecalis had control effects of 50.00% to 83.29% on three pathogenic fungi, and their cell free-fermentation liquid could inhibit the growth of pathogenic fungi from 23.51% to 39.90%; (2) Tween-80 was most suitable as wetting agents for Mix biocontrol bacteria (MBB) with 1.00% mass fraction; Sorbitol was selected as UV protective agents for MBB with 0.50% mass fraction. And methyl paraben was used as a preservative for MBB, with 0.50% mass fraction; (3) The most effective adjuvant contained 14.96 mL/L Tween-80, 5.12 g/L methylparaben and 5.6 g/L sorbitol; and (4) The microbial inhibitor controlled 45.57% of oat root rot and increased plant height, root length and seedling biomass. This study provides a suitable environment for the protection of mixed biocontrol bacteria, and lays a foundation for the prevention and control of oat diseases, the promotion of growth and the improvement of quality., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zhang, Yao, Gong, Gao and Zhao.)

Camellia yuhsienensis was used to cross with Camellia oleifera to improve the resistance of oil camellia anthracnose. However, unilateral cross-incompatibility (UCI) between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis was found during the breeding process. Five C.oleifera cultivars and four C. uhsienensis materials were tested to confirm the UCI between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis . 'Huashuo' (HS) and 'Youza 2' (YZ2) were used to represent these two species to characterize the UCI, including pollen tube growth, fertilization and fruit development. The results demonstrated that UCI was prevalent between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis . The asynchronous flowering period was a pre-pollination barrier that limited mating between these two species under natural conditions. Interspecific pollen tubes were observed through the styles of these two plants, though the growth rates differed considerably. At 96 hours after pollination, the pollen tube of YZ2 barely entered the ovule, but remained at the base of the style and became swollen. However, the HS pollen tube entered the ovule 48 hours after pollination, double fertilization was observed, and the fruit and seeds developed commonly. Relative to compatible combinations, most unfertilized ovules in incompatible combinations failed to grow, turned brown 150 days after pollination, and the fruits were smaller than expected with uneven enlargement. Investigations on both semi- in vivo and in vitro pollen tubes gave us new idea for thought: the HS style has a stronger inhibitory effect on the interspecific pollen tubes, while calcium alleviates the inhibitory of styles but failed to prevent the appearance of abnormal pollen tube morphology. This study provides useful information on interspecific hybridization between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis for understanding reproductive isolation mechanisms and breeding programs in genus Camellia ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Gong, Chang, Xu, Yu and Gong.)

Background: Delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) is one of the NOTCH family of ligands, which plays a pro- or anti-carcinogenic role in some cancers. But the role of DLL3 in colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) has not been studied in depth. Materials and methods: First, we used Kaplan-Meier (K-M) curve to evaluate the effect of DLL3 on the prognosis of COAD in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), which was further validated in clinical samples for immunohistochemistry. Then we screened for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of DLL3 by analyzing datasets of COAD samples from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and TCGA. Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were conducted to explore the underlying mechanisms of DLL3-related in the development and prognosis of COAD. On the basis of DLL3-related signature genes, a prognostic model and a nomogram were constructed. Finally, CIBERSORT was applied to assess the proportion of immune cell types in COAD sample. Results: Survival analysis showed a significant difference in overall survival between high- and low-expression group ( p = 0.0092), with COAD patients in the high-group having poorer 5-year survival rate. Gene functional enrichment analysis revealed that DLL3-related DEGs were mainly enriched in tumor- and immunity-related signaling pathways, containing AMPK pathway and mitophagy-animal. The comparison of COAD tumor and normal, DLL3 high- and low-expression groups by GSEA found that AMPK signaling pathway and mitophagy-animal were inhibited. Nomogram constructed from DLL3-related signature genes had a good predictive effect on the prognosis of COAD. We found the highest correlation between DLL3 and interstitial dendritic cell (iDC), natural killer (NK) cell and Interstitial dendritic cell (Tem). DLL3 was also revealed to be diagnostic for COAD. In clinical sample, we identified higher DLL3 expression in colon cancer tissue than in adjacent control ( p < 0.0001) and in metastasis than in primary lesion ( p = 0.0056). DLL3 expression was associated with stage and high DLL3 expression was observed to predict poorer overall survival ( p = 0.004). Conclusion: It suggested that DLL3 may offer prognostic value and therapeutic potential for individualized treatment of COAD, and that it may has a diagnostic role in COAD., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Xiang, Gong, Liu, Zhang, Li, Wang, Lv and Sun.)

Water limitation is a major concern in rice production. It has been suggested that with adapted genotypes, aerobic rice production offers the maintenance of grain yield while saving water. However, there has been limited exploration of japonica germplasm adapted for high-yield aerobic environments. Therefore, three aerobic field experiments with different levels of relatively high-water availability were conducted across two seasons to explore genetic variation in grain yield and physiological traits that contributed to high yield. In the first season, a japonica rice diversity set was explored under well-watered (WW20) conditions. While in the second season, a well-watered (WW21) experiment and an intermittent water deficit (IWD21) experiment were conducted to examine the performance of a subset of 38 genotypes selected for low (mean of -6.01°C) and high (mean of -8.22°C) canopy temperature depression (CTD). In WW20, CTD explained 19% of the variation in grain yield which was similar to the variation explained by plant height, lodging, and leaf death response to heat. In WW21, a relatively high average grain yield (9.09 t ha -1 ) was achieved, while a 31% reduction was achieved in IWD21. Compared with the low CTD group, the high CTD group had 21% and 28% higher stomatal conductance, 32% and 66% higher photosynthetic rate, and 17% and 29% higher grain yield in the WW21 and IWD21, respectively. This work demonstrated the advantage of higher stomatal conductance and cooler canopy temperature which resulted in higher photosynthetic rate and higher grain yield. Two promising genotypes with high grain yield, cooler canopy temperature, and high stomatal conductance were identified as donor genotypes for use by the rice breeding program when aerobic rice production is a target. Field screening for cooler canopies within a breeding program with high-throughput phenotyping tools would be of value for genotype selection for aerobic adaption., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Gong, Proud, Fukai and Mitchell.)

Objective: This study aimed to identify factors significantly associated with the occurrence of osteoporosis in elderly and very elderly patients. Methods: Elderly hospitalized patients who were older than 60 years old, from the Rehabilitation Hospital from December 2019 to December 2020 were selected. Barthel index (BI), nutritional assessment, the causes of bone mineral density (BMD) reductions in elderly and elderly patients were analysed. Results: A total of 94 patients (83.56 ± 8.37 years old) were enrolled. With increasing age, the BMD of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and femoral shaft of elderly patients significantly decreased, and the incidence of osteoporosis (OP) significantly increased. The BMD of the lumbar spine was negatively correlated with female and positively correlated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, the difference between actual body weight and ideal body weight, and blood uric acid levels; The BMD of the femoral neck was negatively correlated with age and female, and positively correlated with height and geriatric nutrition risk index score. The BMD of the femoral shaft was negatively correlated with female and positively correlated with BI. Conclusion: With increasing age, the BMD of the lumbar spine and the femoral shaft significantly decreased, and the incidence of OP significantly increased in elderly and very elderly patients. Aric acid may protect bone health in elderly patients. Early attention to the nutritional status, exercise capacity, 25-hydroxyvitamin D level, and blood uric acid level in the elderly population can help identify high-risk elderly patients with OP., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Li, Sun, Han, Gong, Mao, Gan, Shu, Zhou, Xu, Hou, Zhou, Cai and Lai.)

Introduction: The popularity of online learning provides higher education institutions with opportunities to deliver remote educational programs for international students who remain in their home countries but enroll in overseas universities. Yet the voices of offshore international students (OISs) have been rarely heard. This study focuses on the stress experiences of OISs, aiming to investigate the perception of stressors, specific responses, and stress management strategies pertaining to distress (negative stress) and eustress (positive stress)., Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted in two phases with 18 Chinese postgraduate OISs enrolled in a range of institutions and disciplines. Interviews took place online and were analyzed thematically to explore participants' experiences., Results: Stress was found to originate from both socially- and task-based factors, closely related to participants' need to integrate into their on-campus community and gain useful knowledge and skills. Particular sources of stress were associated with distinct perceptions and subsequent responses and management strategies., Discussion: A summarizing theoretical model is offered to highlight the separate construct of distress and eustress, indicating tentative causal relationships to extend existing stress models to an educational context and provide new insights into OISs. Practical implications are identified and recommendations are provided for policy-makers, teachers, and students., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Gong and Geertshuis.)

Background: Stent placement can be an effective treatment for patients with symptomatic intracranial stenosis (sICAS) and hemodynamic impairment (HI). However, the association between lesion length and the risk of recurrent cerebral ischemia (RCI) after stenting remains controversial. Exploring this association can help predict patients at higher risk for RCI and develop individualized follow-up schedules., Method: In this study, we provided a post-hoc analysis of a prospective, multicenter registry study on stenting for sICAS with HI in China. Demographics, vascular risk factors, clinical variables, lesions, and procedure-specific variables were recorded. RCI includes ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA), from month 1 after stenting to the end of the follow-up period. Smoothing curve fitting and segmented Cox regression analysis were used to analyze the threshold effect between lesion length and RCI in the overall group and subgroups of the stent type., Results: The non-linear relationship between lesion length and RCI was observed in the overall population and subgroups; however, the non-linear relationship differed by subgroup of stent type. In the balloon-expandable stent (BES) subgroup, the risk of RCI increased 2.17-fold and 3.17-fold for each 1-mm increase in the lesion length when the lesion length was <7.70 mm and >9.00 mm, respectively. In the self-expanding stent (SES) subgroup, the risk of RCI increased 1.83-fold for each 1-mm increase in the lesion length when the length was <9.00 mm. Nevertheless, the risk of RCI did not increase with the length when the lesion length was >9.00mm., Conclusion: A non-linear relationship exists between lesion length and RCI after stenting for sICAS with HI. The lesion length increases the overall risk of RCI for BES and for SES when the length was <9.00 mm, while no significant relationship was found when the length was >9.00 mm for SES., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zhang, Gong, Meng, Li, Liu, Zhang and Wang.)

Cotton is an important fiber crop. The cotton fiber is an extremely long trichome that develops from the epidermis of an ovule. The trichome is a general and multi-function plant organ, and trichome birefringence-like ( TBL ) genes are related to trichome development. At the genome-wide scale, we identified TBLs in four cotton species, comprising two cultivated tetraploids ( Gossypium hirsutum and G. barbadense ) and two ancestral diploids ( G. arboreum and G. raimondii ). Phylogenetic analysis showed that the TBL genes clustered into six groups. We focused on GH&#95;D02G1759 in group IV because it was located in a lint percentage-related quantitative trait locus. In addition, we used transcriptome profiling to characterize the role of TBLs in group IV in fiber development. The overexpression of GH&#95;D02G1759 in Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in more trichomes on the stems, thereby confirming its function in fiber development. Moreover, the potential interaction network was constructed based on the co-expression network, and it was found that GH&#95;D02G1759 may interact with several genes to regulate fiber development. These findings expand our knowledge of TBL family members and provide new insights for cotton molecular breeding., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer MW declared a shared parent affiliation with the authors ZL, YS, XX, JS, PT, JG, WG, AL, HS, QG, JL, JP and YY to the handling editor at the time of review., (Copyright © 2023 Li, Shi, Xiao, Song, Li, Gong, Zhang, Gong, Liu, Peng, Shang, Ge, Li, Pan, Chen, Lu and Yuan.)

Introduction: Extreme weather has occurred more frequently in recent decades, which results in more frequent drought disasters in the maize growing season. Severe drought often decreases remarkably plant growth and yield of maize, and even reduces significantly the quality of maize production, especially for waxy maize., Results: To study the changes in plant growth, fresh ear yield, and fresh grain quality of waxy maize under water deficits occurring at different growth stages, and further strengthen the field water management of waxy maize, water deficit experiments were carried out under a rain shelter in 2019 and 2020. Water deficit treatments were imposed respectively at the V6-VT (D V6-VT ), VT-R2 (D VT-R2 ), and R2-R3 (D R2-R3 ) stages of waxy maize, and treatment with non-water deficit in the whole growing season was taken as the control (CK). The lower limit of soil water content was 50% of field capacity for a water deficit period and 65% of field capacity for a non-water deficit period., Results: In this study, water deficits imposed at V6-VT and VT-R2 stages decreased plant growth rate and leaf gas exchange parameters, accelerated leaf senescence, and limited ear growth of waxy maize, which resulted in 11.6% and 23.1% decreases in grains per ear, 19.4% and 7.3% declines in 100-grain weight, 20.3% and 14.2% losses in fresh ear yield in 2019 and 2020 growing seasons, respectively, while water deficit at R2-R3 stage had no significant effect on ear traits and fresh ear yield, but the fresh ear yield with husk of DR2-R3 decreased by 9.1% (P<0.05). The obvious water deficit imposed at the V6-VT and VT-R2 stages also lowered grain quality. Water deficits at the V6-VT and VT-R2 stages led to accelerated maturity, resulting in increased total protein, starch, and lysine content in grains at the R3 stage and decreased soluble sugar content. Principal component analysis revealed that when water deficits occurred in the waxy maize growing season, they firstly altered maize physiological processes, then affected ear characteristics and yield, and finally resulted in significant grain quality changes. In conclusion, a water deficit during V6-VT and VT-R2 not only reduced fresh ear yield but also adversely affected grain quality. However, water deficit during R2-R3 had little effect on total protein, starch, and soluble sugar content,but increased obviously lysine content., Discussion: The above results suggested that avoiding serious water deficits at the V6-VT and VT-R2 stages of waxy maize while imposing a slight water deficit at the R2-R3 stage has not only little effects on fresh ear yield but also a remarkable improvement in grain quality., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Huang, Qin, Gao, Ma, Liu, Zhao, Ning, Zhang, Gong, Sun and Liu.)

Introduction: To develop the Chinese version of the Social Anxiety Cognition Scale for College Students (SACS-CS) based on Hofmann's model of social anxiety disorder and examine its reliability and validity., Methods: Based on literature analysis and structured interviews, a theoretical model was constructed and behavioral examples were collected. According to the results of participants' and experts' evaluations, the initial SACS-CS was developed. The study data were collected from a total of 500 valid participants, randomly divided into two samples. Sample 1 ( n  = 200) and sample 2 ( n  = 300) were considered for exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), respectively. Internal reliability and validity were examined using all 500 participants, and temporal reliability was established using sample 3 ( n  = 70), who completed the scale again after 4 weeks., Results: The SACS-CS consists of 21 items, grouped under four factors: self-perception, social skills, emotional control, and cost estimation. The four-factor model fits well. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale and the four factors ranged from 0.87 to 0.96, and the test-retest reliability ranged from 0.76 to 0.84. The scores of the scale and the four factors were significantly correlated with the score of the Interaction Anxiousness Scale ( r  = 0.54-0.64)., Discussion: The SACS-CS possesses good reliability and validity and can be applied in the cognitive assessment of college students' social anxiety. The scale could help people with different social anxiety disorder conditions receive more personalized interventions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zha, Tang, Jin, Cai, Gong, Shao and Weng.)

Introduction: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is one of the most highly heterogeneous malignant solid tumors; it is generally insensitive to clinical treatment and has a poor prognosis. Evidence suggests that abnormal neovascularization in the tumor microenvironment is an important cause of treatment resistance as well as recurrence and metastasis, but the key regulatory molecules are still largely unknown and should be identified. Method: We assessed the novel extracellular matrix protein (ECM) Sushi, von Willebrand factor type A, EGF and pentraxin containing 1 (SVEP1) expression pattern in the ICC by using immunohistochemistry. Multiplex immunofluorescence and Kaplan-Meier analysis were applied to explore the correlation between the low expression of SVEP1 and abnormal blood vessels and the clinical prognosis of ICC. Results: Our study showed that the expression of SVEP1 in most ICC samples was relatively lower than in the adjacent tissues. Statistical analysis suggested that patients with decreased SVEP1 expression always had shorter overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Moreover, the expression of SVEP1 was negatively correlated with the proportion of abnormal neovascularization in the tumor microenvironment of the ICC. Consistently, the key molecule of promoting vascular normalization, Ang-1, is positively correlated with the SVEP1 expression and prognosis in the ICC. In addition, the proportion of high Ki-67 expression was higher in the ICC samples with low SVEP1 expression, suggesting that the SVEP1 low expressed sample is in a malignant phenotype with high proliferation. Conclusion: This study reveals that SVEP1 is a promising prognostic biomarker for ICC and provides fresh insight into the role and potential new mechanism of abnormal neovascularization in ICC progression., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Chen, He, Han, Gong, Tian, Guo, Guo, Song and Chen.)

Oxidative stress is caused by an imbalance between prooxidants and antioxidants, which is the cause of various chronic human diseases. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been considered as an effective antioxidant to alleviate oxidative stress in the host. To obtain bacterium resources with good antioxidant properties, in the present study, 113 LAB strains were isolated from 24 spontaneously fermented chili samples and screened by tolerance to hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). Among them, Lactobacillus plantarum GXL94 showed the best antioxidant characteristics and the in vitro antioxidant activities of this strain was evaluated extensively. The results showed that L. plantarum GXL94 can tolerate hydrogen peroxide up to 22 mM, and it could normally grow in MRS with 5 mM H 2 O 2 . Its fermentate (fermented supernatant, intact cell and cell-free extract) also had strong reducing capacities and various free radical scavenging capacities. Meanwhile, eight antioxidant-related genes were found to up-regulate with varying degrees under H 2 O 2 challenge. Furthermore, we evaluated the probiotic properties by using in vitro assessment. It was showed that GXL94 could maintain a high survival rate at pH 2.5% or 2% bile salt or 8.0% NaCl, live through simulated gastrointestinal tract (GIT) to colonizing the GIT of host, and also show higher abilities of auto-aggregation and hydrophobicity. Additionally, the usual antibiotic susceptible profile and non-hemolytic activity indicated the safety of the strain. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that L. plantarum GXL94 could be a potential probiotic candidate for producing functional foods with antioxidant properties., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhou, Gong, Xu, Zhu, Peng and Xie.)

Background: Extensive research showed costimulatory molecules regulate tumor progression. Nevertheless, a small amount of literature has concentrated on the potential prognostic and therapeutic effects of costimulatory molecules in patients with glioma. Methods: The data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) database, and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database for bioinformatics analysis. R software was applied for statistical analysis. Using the FigureYa and Xiantao online tools (https://www.xiantao.love/) for mapping. Results: The Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and Cox regression analysis were utilized to identify the signature consisting of five costimulatory molecules. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the prognosis of glioma could be independently predicted by the riskscore. Furthermore, we explored clinical and genomic feature differences between the two groups. The level of tumor mutational burden (TMB) was higher in the high-risk group, while more mutation of IDH1 was observed in the low-risk group. Results of Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) analysis showed that high-risk patients were more prone to be responded to immunotherapy. In addition, subclass mapping analysis was performed to validate our findings and the results revealed that a significantly higher percentage of immunotherapy response rate was observed in the high-risk group. Conclusion: A novel signature with a good independent predictive capacity of prognosis was successfully identified. And our findings reveal that patients with high-risk scores were more likely to be responded to immunotherapy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wang, Wang, Jia, Gong, Dong, Wang, Zhou and Tian.)

Puccinia triticina , which is the causative agent of wheat leaf rust, is widely spread in China and most other wheat-planting countries around the globe. Cultivating resistant wheat cultivars is the most economical, effective, and environmentally friendly method for controlling leaf rust-caused yield damage. Exploring the source of resistance is very important in wheat resistance breeding programs. In order to explore more effective resistance sources for wheat leaf rust, the resistance of 112 wheat accessions introduced from the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System were identified using a mixture of pathogenic isolates of THTT, THTS, PHTT, THJT and THJS which are the most predominant races in China. As a result, all of these accessions showed high resistance at seedling stage, of which, ninety-nine accessions exhibited resistance at adult plant stage. Eleven molecular markers of eight effective leaf rust resistance genes in China were used to screen the 112 accessions. Seven effective leaf rust resistance genes Lr9 , Lr19 , Lr24 , Lr28 , Lr29 , Lr38 and Lr45 were detected, except Lr47 . Twenty-three accessions had only one of those seven effective leaf rust resistance gene. Eleven accessions carried Lr24 + Lr38 , and 7 accessions carried Lr9 + Lr24 + Lr38 , Lr24 + Lr38 + Lr45 , Lr24 + Lr29 + Lr38 and Lr19+Lr38 + Lr45 respectively. The remaining seventy-one accessions had none of those eight effective leaf rust resistance genes. This study will provide theoretical guidance for rational utilization of these introduted wheat accessions directly or for breeding the resistant wheat cultivars., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Zhao, Liu, Wang, Gong, Zhang, Liu, Yan, Meng and Liu.)

Background: The risk of perioperative stroke and the rate of occlusion of long-term aneurysms in the treatment of unruptured aneurysms with flow diverters (FDs) are affected by stent apposition. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) may be an optional technique in evaluating apposition., Purpose: To explore the feasibility of the OCT imaging technique in evaluating stent apposition in the clinical application of the FD for unruptured aneurysms., Methods: OCT and Vaso CT were used in patients with indications for surgery to treat unruptured aneurysms with the FDs, to evaluate the apposition of the FDs after fully released, and to analyze OCT images for FDs apposition and compare with corresponding Vaso CT images., Results: A total of four patients were enrolled, and OCT found malapposition after FDs placement in all four patients, and the maximum gap between the stent and vascular wall ranged from 0.68 to 1.95 mm and the length of malapposition ranged from 1.80 to 7.40 mm. However, Vaso CT found malapposition only in two of the four patients and missed malapposition near aneurysm in all three patients treated by the FD combined with coiling and could not accurately evaluate the maximum gap and the length of the malapposition., Conclusion: The optical coherence tomography technique is a possible approach to evaluate apposition after the treatment of unruptured aneurysms by the FDs., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Li, Gong, Li, Song, Fan, Yuan, Li and Guan.)

Background: Evidence for the efficacy of cognitive-motor dual-task (CMDT) training in patients with post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) and no dementia is still lacking. More importantly, although some studies on the cognitive effect of CMDT training show an improvement in cognitive performance, the results are still controversial, and the intervention mechanism of CMDT training on cognitive function improvement is not clear. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of CMDT training on cognitive function, neuron electrophysiology, and frontal lobe hemodynamics in patients with PSCI., Methods: Here we tested the effects of CMDT training on cognitive function in PSCI patients. Forty subjects who met the criteria of PSCI were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. CMDT training or cognitive task (CT) training was administered to each patient in the experimental and control groups, respectively. All subjects performed Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale before and after the intervention, and the event-related potentials (ERP) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) were used to evaluate the changes in neuron electrophysiology and hemodynamics., Results: Forty patients were randomized across Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital Capital Medical University in Beijing. At the end of the intervention, 33 subjects completed the experimental process. The CMDT group showed significant improvement in the MMSE ( P = 0.01) and MoCA ( P = 0.024) relative to the CT group. The results of ERP and fNIRS showed that CMDT training could shorten the latency of P300 ( P = 0.001) and the peak time of oxygenated hemoglobin ( P = 0.004). The results showed that CMDT training shortened the response time of central neurons and significantly increased the rate of oxygen supply to the frontal lobe., Conclusion: CMDT training in patients with PSCI improved global cognitive function, which was supported by the improved neural efficiency of associated brain areas., Clinical Trial Registration: http://www.chictr.org.cn, identifier ChiCTR2000034862., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Sun, Li, Zhu, Li, Zhao, Mo, Li, Xi, Huang and Gong.)

Objective: To explore the role of extracellular fluid, assessed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics of free water (FW), in the white matter of patients with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD)., Materials and Methods: The baseline clinical and imaging data of 129 patients with CSVD were collected and reviewed. CSVD MR markers, including periventricular white matter hyperintensity (PWMH), deep white matter hyperintensity (DWMH), cerebral microbleed (CMB), enlarged perivascular space (PVS), and lacunar infarction (LI), were identified, and CSVD burden was calculated. According to total CSVD MR marker score, cases were classified as mild, moderate, or severe. The mean FW and fractional anisotropy (FA) values were calculated using DTI images., Results: The mean white matter FW was associated with the CSVD MR markers, including PWMH, DWMH, LI and PVS ( P < 0.05). Moreover, age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and FW value were associated with total CSVD MR marker score ( P < 0.05). Ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed that FW and age were independently associated with CSVD burden ( P < 0.05). Finally, FW in white matter was associated with FA (r = -0.334, P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Extracellular fluid changes, assessed by DTI metrics of FW in white matter, were associated with CSVD markers and burden. An increased extracellular fluid volume in the white matter was associated with lower FA., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Lan, Lei, Xu, Chen, Gong and Cai.)

Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Soybean ( Glycine max ) is a legume species that is widely used in intercropping. Quantitative analyses of plasticity and genetic differences in soybean would improve the selection and breeding of soybean in intercropping. Here, we used data of 20 varieties from one year artificial shading experiment and one year intercropping experiment to characterize the morphological and physiological traits of soybean seedlings grown under shade and full sun light conditions. Our results showed that shade significantly decreased biomass, leaf area, stem diameter, fraction of dry mass in petiole, leaf mass per unit area, chlorophyll a/b ratio, net photosynthetic rate per unit area at PAR of 500 μmol m -2 s -1 and 1,200 μmol m -2 s -1 of soybean seedling, but significantly increased plant height, fraction of dry mass in stem and chlorophyll content. Light × variety interaction was significant for all measured traits, light effect contributed more than variety effect. The biomass of soybean seedlings was positively correlated with leaf area and stem diameter under both shade and full sunlight conditions, but not correlated with plant height and net photosynthetic rate. The top five (62.75% variation explained) most important explanatory variables of plasticity of biomass were that the plasticity of leaf area, leaf area ratio, leaflet area, plant height and chlorophyll content, whose total weight were 1, 0.9, 0.3, 0.2, 0.19, respectively. The plasticity of biomass was positively correlated with plasticity of leaf area and leaflet area but significant negative correlated with plasticity of plant height. The principal component one account for 42.45% variation explain. A cluster analysis further indicated that soybean cultivars were classified into three groups and cultivars; Jiandebaimaodou , Gongdou 2 , and Guixia 3 with the maximum plasticity of biomass. These results suggest that for soybean seedlings grown under shade increasing the capacity for light interception by larger leaf area is more vital than light searching (plant height) and light conversion (photosynthetic rate)., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wu, Chen, Gong, Gul, Zhu, Yang, Wang, Yong, Liu, Pu, Yan and Yang.)

To eliminate the influences of excipients and interference of dead bacterial DNA on the detection of Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Salmonella paratyphoid B , and Shigella dysentery in live Bacillus licheniformis capsules, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method with high sensitivity and specificity was established. By combining bromide with propidium monoazide (PMA) -real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) with microporous membrane filtration, excipients were removed, the filtrate was collected, and the bacteria were enriched using the centrifugal method. The optimal PMA working concentration, dark incubation time, and exposure time were determined. Specific E. coli , P. aeruginosa , S. paratyphoid B , and S. dysentery primers were selected to design different probes and a multiplex qPCR reaction system was established. The PMA-qPCR method was verified using different concentrations of dead and live bacteria. This method is efficient and accurate and can be widely applied to the detection of aforementioned pathogenic bacterial strains in live Bacillus licheniformis products., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zheng, Wang, Gong, Cai, Li and Wu.)

Powdery mildew of wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), caused by Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici ( Bgt ), is a destructive disease that seriously threatens the yield and quality of its host. Identifying resistance genes is the most attractive and effective strategy for developing disease-resistant cultivars and controlling this disease. In this study, a wheat breeding line Yannong 99102-06188 (YN99102), an elite derivative line from the same breeding process as the famous wheat cultivar Yannong 999, showed high resistance to powdery mildew at the whole growth stages. Genetic analysis was carried out using Bgt isolate E09 and a population of YN99102 crossed with a susceptible parent Jinhe 13-205 (JH13-205). The result indicated that a single recessive gene, tentatively designated pmYN99102 , conferred seedling resistance to the Bgt isolate E09. Using bulked segregant exome capture sequencing (BSE-Seq), pmYN99102 was physically located to a ~33.7 Mb (691.0-724.7 Mb) interval on the chromosome arm 2BL, and this interval was further locked in a 1.5 cM genetic interval using molecular markers, which was aligned to a 9.0 Mb physical interval (699.2-708.2 Mb). Based on the analysis of physical location, origin, resistant spectrum, and inherited pattern, pmYN99102 differed from those of the reported powdery mildew ( Pm ) resistance genes on 2BL, suggesting pmYN99102 is most likely a new Pm gene/allele in the targeted interval. To transfer pmYN99102 to different genetic backgrounds using marker-assisted selection (MAS), 18 closely linked markers were tested for their availability in different genetic backgrounds for MAS, and all markers expect for YTU103-97 can be used in MAS for tracking pmYN99102 when it transferred into those susceptible cultivars., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Mu, Gong, Qie, Liu, Li, Sun, Liu, Guo, Han, Yu, Xiao, Su, Zhang, Wang, Han and Ma.)

Zanthoxylum armatum is a prominent plant for food industries. Its male flowers often occur in gynogenesis plants; however, the potential mechanism remains poorly understood. Herein, a total of 26 floral sex differentiation stages were observed to select four vital phases to reveal key factors by using RNA-seq, phytohormones and carbohydrates investigation. The results showed that a selective abortion of stamen or pistil primordia could result in the floral sex differentiation in Z. armatum . Carbohydrates might collaborate with cytokinin to effect the male floral differentiation, whereas female floral differentiation was involved in SA, GA 1 , and ABA biosynthesis and signal transduction pathways. Meanwhile, these endogenous regulators associated with reproductive growth might be integrated into ABCDE model to regulate the floral organ differentiation in Z. armatum . Furthermore, the 21 crucial candidates were identified in co-expression network, which would contribute to uncovering their roles in floral sex differentiation of Z. armatum in further studies. To the best of our knowledge, this study was the first comprehensive investigation to link floral sex differentiation with multi-level endogenous regulatory factors in Z. armatum . It also provided new insights to explore the regulatory mechanism of floral sex differentiation, which would be benefited to cultivate high-yield varieties in Z. armatum ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Hui, Fan, Liu, Zhao, Saba, Wang, Wu, Zhang, Zhang, Zhong, Chen and Gong.)

Objectives: To investigate the effect of combined balance and plyometric training on knee function and proprioception of elite badminton athletes., Methods: Sixteen elite male badminton players (age: 20.5 ± 1.1 years, height: 177.8 ± 5.1 cm, weight: 68.1 ± 7.2 kg, and training experience: 11.4 ± 1.4 years) volunteered to participate and were randomly assigned to a combined balance and plyometric training (CT) ( n = 8) and plyometric (PT) group ( n = 8). The CT group performed balance combined with plyometric training three times a week over 6 weeks (40 min of plyometrics and 20 min of balance training); while the PT group undertook only plyometric training for the same period (3-4 sets × 8-12 reps for each exercise). Both groups had the same technical training of badminton., Results: The knee function and proprioception were assessed at baseline and after the intervention by measuring the performance of single-legged hop tests (LSI O , LSI T , LSI C , LSI S ), standing postural sway (COP AP , COP ML ), and LSI of dominant leg and non-dominant leg. The results showed that as compared to PT, CT induced significantly greater improvements in LSI T and LSI S ( p < 0.001) and significant greater percent increase in N AP ( p = 0.011). The changes in LSI O , LSI C , D AP , N AP , LSI AP , D ML , N ML , and LSI ML induced by CT did not differ from that induced by PT ( p > 0.213)., Conclusion: In elite badminton players, intervention using CT holds great promise to augment the benefits for knee function compared to the intervention using PT only, and at the same time, with at least comparable benefits for proprioception. Future studies are needed to examine and confirm the results of this study., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhou, Gong, Wang, Guo, Liu, Chuang, Bao and Zhou.)

This study aims to explore what motivates Chinese mid-career educational practitioners to pursue Ed. D. A university in South China was selected as a case university, and 18 Ed.D. candidates were recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews. Grounded theory analysis was conducted on the transcripts of the interviewees' information. The findings uncovered four motivational patterns (pre-intrinsic, pre-extrinsic, post-intrinsic, and post-extrinsic) of Ed.D. candidates in China that mutually influence and reinforce one another. A theoretical model was thus constructed in which extrinsic factors moderate intrinsic factors, prepositional factors stimulate post-positional factors, with pre-intrinsic factors act as incentives, pre-extrinsic factors act as preconditions, and post-intrinsic factors and post-extrinsic factors act as internal and external reinforcers, respectively. This study broadens critical understanding of Ed.D. students' motivation and offers several implications that should be of interest to Chinese Ed.D. candidates, educational researchers, universities, and government officials., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Gong, Wang and Xu.)

Background: Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is the primary source of active tuberculosis (ATB), but there are no specific methods for diagnosing and preventing LTBI., Methods: Dominant T and B cell epitopes predicted from five antigens related to LTBI and Mycobacterium tuberculosis region of difference (LTBI-RD) were used to construct a novel polypeptide molecule (PPM). Then, the physicochemical properties, secondary structure, tertiary structure of the PPM, and its binding ability to toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 were analyzed by bioinformatics tools. Finally, immune stimulation and expression optimization of the PPM were carried out., Results: Four helper T lymphocytes (HTL) epitopes, five cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) epitopes, and three B cell epitopes were predicted and screened from five LTBI-RD related antigens. These epitopes were connected in series with linkers and adjuvants to construct a novel PPM termed C543P. The results indicated that antigenicity and immunogenicity scores of the C543P candidate were 0.936399 and 1.36469, respectively. The structural analysis results showed that the C543P candidate had good stability. Its secondary structure contained 43.6% α-helix, the Z-score after tertiary structure optimization was -7.9, and the Ramachandran diagram showed that 88.77% amino acid residues of the C543P candidate were in the allowable region. Furthermore, the C543P candidate showed an excellent affinity to TLR2 (-1091.7kcal/mol) and TLR4 (-1102.7kcal/mol). In addition, we also analyzed the immunological characteristics of the C543P candidate. Immune stimulation prediction showed that the C543P candidate could effectively activate T and B lymphocytes and produce high levels of Th1 cytokines such as IFN-γ and IL-2., Conclusion: We constructed a novel PPM with acceptable antigenicity, immunogenicity, stability, and ability to induce robust immune responses. This study provides a new diagnostic biomarker or peptides-based vaccine for LTBI diagnosis and prevention., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Cheng, Wang and Gong.)

Objective: Stent placement is a feasible approach worldwidely for patients with symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis (sICAS) and hemodynamic impairment (HI) who are at high risk of recurrent stroke after medical treatment. Exploration of factors associated with poor outcomes after stent placement could help develop better individualized therapeutic strategies., Methods: This study conducted a post-hoc analysis of a prospective, multicenter registry study of stent use for sICAS with HI in China. Patient and clinical demographics, and stenotic lesion images were analyzed using univariate and multivariate Cox regression to the time until any endpoints or the end of the follow-up period. The short-term endpoint included any transient ischemic attack (TIA), stroke, or death within 1 month after stent placement. The long-term endpoints included the short-term endpoints and any TIA or stroke in the region of the affected artery that occurred more than 1 month after stent placement., Results: Two hundred and ninety two patients were included, with 13 short-term and 39 long-term endpoints. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that lesions at the arterial origin or bifurcation (Hazard Ratio (HR) = 7.52; 95% CI, 1.89-29.82; p = 0.004) were significantly associated with higher short-term risk. Baseline renal insufficiency reduced the risk (HR = 0.08; 95% CI: 0.01-0.68; p = 0.021). Factors significantly associated with higher long-term risk included irregular or ulcerated plaques at the lesion (HR = 2.15; 95% CI: 1.07-4.33; p = 0.031). Subgroup analyses indicated that higher risk occurred in the older age group (age>59 years, HR = 3.73, 95% CI: 1.27-10.97, p = 0.017), and not in the younger group (age≤59 years, HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 0.42-3.03, p = 0.822)., Conclusion: Irregular or ulcerated plaques in older patients and lesions at the arterial opening or bifurcation were more likely to result in adverse endpoints for stent placement during long or short -term follow-up. Investigation of these factors might facilitate the development of individualized therapeutic strategies for this population., Clinical Trial Registration: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier: NCT01968122., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Gong, Zhang, Meng, Liu, Li, Xiao, Liu, Sun, Liu, Wang, Zhang and Wang.)

Background: To limit the spread of COVID-19, governments worldwide have implemented a series of lockdown policies to restrict the social activities of people. Although scholars suggest that such policies may produce negative effects on public emotions, the existing research is limited because it only provides a cross-sectional snapshot of the effect of lockdown policies in small and local samples. Using large-scale longitudinal cross-country data, the current study aims to gain a better understanding of the dynamic effect of lockdown policies on public emotions and their underlying mechanisms., Methods: Drawing on a large-scale longitudinal data from multiple sources, the study employs fixed-effects models to analyze the association between lagged lockdown policy stringency and public negative emotions among 120 countries from February to July 2020 ( N = 9,141 country-day observations). The bootstrapping mediation test is used to examine the mediation effects of increased population mobility in residential areas., Results: The results show a statistically significant and positive association between lagged lockdown policy stringency and general public negative emotion (standardized coefficient = 0.32, CI = 0.30-0.35, p < 0.001). This pattern remains similar to other specific negative emotions, such as depression, anxiety, hopelessness, and helplessness. Moreover, the negative health effects of lockdown policy stringency are significantly mediated by increased mobility in residential areas (51-74% points, p < 0.001)., Conclusion: The findings confirm that stringent lockdown policies have a negative effect on public emotions via confining population mobility residential areas. To tackle the COVID-19, future public health policies should pay more attention to the unintended negative consequences of lockdown measures on public emotions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Gong, Ju, Zhu, Wang, Guo and Chen.)

When homozygously fertile plants were induced using doubled haploid (DH) induction lines Y3380 and Y3560, the morphology of the induced F 1 generation was basically consistent with the female parent, but the fertility was separated, showing characteristics similar to cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) and maintainer lines. In this study, the morphology, fertility, ploidy, and cytoplasm genotype of the induced progeny were identified, and the results showed that the sterile progeny was polima cytoplasm sterile ( pol CMS) and the fertile progeny was nap cytoplasm. The molecular marker and test-cross experimental results showed that the fertile progeny did not carry the restorer gene of pol CMS and the genetic distance between the female parent and the offspring was 0.002. This suggested that those inductions which produced sterile and fertile progeny were coordinated to CMS and maintainer lines. Through the co-linearity analysis of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), it was found that the rearrangement of mtDNA by DH induction was the key factor that caused the transformation of fertility ( nap ) into sterility ( pol ). Also, when heterozygous females were induced with DH induction lines, the induction F 2 generation also showed the segregation of fertile and sterile lines, and the genetic distance between sterile and fertile lines was approximately 0.075. Therefore, the induction line can induce different types of female parents, and the breeding of the sterile line and the maintainer line can be achieved through the rapid synchronization of sister crosses and self-crosses. The induction of DH inducer in B. napus can provide a new model for the innovation of germplasm resources and open up a new way for its application., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Shi, Zhou, Liang, Luo, Xiao, Li, Xu, Wang, Gong, Zou, Tao, Kang, Tang, Li, Yang and Fu.)

Lack of precise information about the candidate genes involved in a complex quantitative trait is a major obstacle in the cotton fiber quality improvement, and thus, overall genetic gain in conventional phenotypic selection is low. Recent molecular interventions and advancements in genome sequencing have led to the development of high-throughput molecular markers, quantitative trait locus (QTL) fine mapping, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These advanced tools have resolved the existing bottlenecks in trait-specific breeding. This review demonstrates the significance of chromosomes 3, 7, 9, 11, and 12 of sub-genomes A and D carrying candidate genes for fiber quality. However, chromosome 7 carrying SNPs for stable and potent QTLs related to fiber quality provides great insights for fiber quality-targeted research. This information can be validated by marker-assisted selection (MAS) and transgene in Arabidopsis and subsequently in cotton., Competing Interests: AA was employed by the company FB Genetics Four Brothers Group. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Razzaq, Zafar, Ali, Hafeez, Sharif, Guan, Deng, Pengtao, Shi, Haroon, Gong, Ren and Yuan.)

Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a class of non-coding and undegradable RNAs, play many pathological functions by acting as miRNA sponges, interacting with RNA-binding proteins, and others. The recent literature indicates that circRNAs possess the advanced superiority for the early screening of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Methods: CircRNA sources of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy controls ( n = 4), diabetes mellitus patients (DM) ( n = 4), and DR patients ( n = 4) were extracted for circular RNA microarray analysis. Enriched biological modules and signaling pathways were analyzed by Gene Ontology Enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis, respectively. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) was performed to validate differentiated levels of several circRNAs (fold change ≥2, p < .05) in different groups of healthy control subjects ( n = 20), DM patients ( n = 60), and DR patients ( n = 42). Based on our clinical data from DR, the diagnostic performance of candidate circRNAs was measured by operating characteristic curves (ROCs). Subsequently, their circRNA-miRNA networks were constructed by bioinformatics analysis. Results : Circular RNA microarray analysis was performed, and 2,452 and 289 circRNAs were screened with differential expression in DR patients compared to healthy controls and DM patients, respectively. Enrichment analyses showed that circRNAs in DR patients were enriched in extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction and focal adhesion pathways. The top 5 differential circRNAs in circRNA microarray analysis were subsequently quantified and verified by RT-qPCR. Consistently, a significant 2.2-fold reduction of hsa&#95;circ&#95;0095008 and 1.7-fold increase in hsa&#95;circ&#95;0001883 were identified in DR patients compared to DM patients. Meanwhile, the area under curves of hsa&#95;circ&#95;0095008 and hsa&#95;circ&#95;0001883 were 0.6710 (95% CI, 0.5646-0.7775) ( p = 0.003399) and 0.6071 (95% CI, 0.4953-0.7189) ( p = 0.06644), respectively, indicating a good diagnostic value. Conclusion: Our study provided a new sight for the pathological mechanism of DR and revealed the potential value of hsa&#95;circ&#95;0095008 and hsa&#95;circ&#95;0001883 as diagnostic biomarkers for the early diagnosis of DR patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 He, Zhang, Gong, Liu, Liu, Li, Wu and Lu.)

Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) is the main feature of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and is known to exaggerate cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). However, the specific contribution of CIH to overall OSA-induced pathological complications and the transcriptomic mechanisms underlying CIH-exaggerated post-MI remodeling remains unclear. In this study, we used RNA-sequencing to construct the expression profiles of cardiac mRNAs, microRNAs, and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) in four groups of C57BL/6J mice (Sham, CIH, MI, MI + CIH) to evaluate how CIH regulates cardiac remodeling after MI. Compared with the other three groups, the MI + CIH group exhibited 345 lncRNAs, 35 microRNAs, and 5,220 differentially expressed mRNAs. Further analysis showed that CIH led to significant changes in Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway of the differentially expressed mRNAs. Co-expression network analysis identified two core lncRNAs (Mirt1 and AC125351.1) and two core microRNAs (miR-466i-5p and miR-574-5p) during the development of CIH-exaggerated post-MI remodeling, and they were verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). LncRNA-mRNA correlation analysis further showed that lncRNA Mirt1 was positively correlated with Apbb1ip and Lcp2. In addition, microRNA-mRNA correlation analysis showed that microRNA miR-466i-5p was positively correlated with Snai2, Cdc27, and Ngfr. Furthermore, combining with lncRNA-mRNA and miRNA-mRNA networks, 44 RNAs were identified in the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. Mirt1 acts as a ceRNA to bind to miR-466i-5p to further regulate the expression levels of the target gene, thereby aggravating cardiac remodeling after MI. In conclusion, our study provides a systematic perspective on the potential functions of mRNAs, microRNAs, and lncRNAs in CIH-exaggerated post-MI cardiac remodeling. Our data suggest that lncRNA Mirt1 may be the most critical regulator of MI aggravated by CIH., Competing Interests: SN: research grants to the institution from Boston Scientific, Abbott, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, China Resources Sanjiu Medical and Pharmaceuticals, East China Pharmaceuticals. Other authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wang, Li, Du, Xing, Guo, Zhang, Guo, Gong, Nie and Wang.)

As an emerging language variant, practitioners have extensively used Internet slang in advertising and other communication activities. However, its unique characteristics that differ from standard language have yet to be explored. Drawing upon interdisciplinary theories on schema and communication styles, this research makes the first attempt to conceptualize and measure these characteristics by introducing a new multi-dimensional construct, "Internet slang style," in the marketing context. It develops and validates a new scale to measure Internet slang style along the dimensions of amiability, overtness, candor, and harshness through a series of in-depth interviews, two surveys, and one experiment with consumers. In addition, this research investigates the impact of Internet slang styles on brand personality and brand attitude. The results indicate that different Internet slang style dimensions positively correspond to different brand personality dimensions but exert no influence on brand attitude. Practically, the scale provides an easy-to-use instrument to evaluate Internet slang styles from a consumer perspective to help companies appropriately employ Internet slang in marketing communication activities., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Liu, Wu and Gong.)

Emerging evidence indicates that probiotics have been proved to influence liver injury and regeneration. In the present study, the effects of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum AR113 on the liver regeneration were investigated in 70% partial hepatectomy (PHx) rats. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were gavaged with L. plantarum AR113 suspensions (1 × 10 10 CFU/mL) both before and after partial hepatectomy. The results showed that L. plantarum AR113 administration 2 weeks before partial hepatectomy can accelerate liver regeneration by increased hepatocyte proliferation and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) expression. Probiotic administration enriched Lactobacillus and Bacteroides and depleted Flavonifractor and Acetatifactor in the gut microbiome. Meanwhile, L. plantarum AR113 showed decline of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidyl serine (PS), and lysophosphatidyl choline (LysoPC) levels in the serum of the rats after the L. plantarum AR113 administration. Moreover, L. plantarum AR113 treated rats exhibited higher concentrations of L-leucine, L-isoleucine, mevalonic acid, and lower 7-oxo-8-amino-nonanoic acid in plasma than that in PHx. Spearman correlation analysis revealed a significant correlation between changes in gut microbiota composition and glycerophospholipid. These results indicate that L. plantarum AR113 is promising for accelerating liver regeneration and provide new insights regarding the correlations among the microbiome, the metabolome, and liver regeneration., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Xie, Zhang, Yang, Cao, Zhou, Zhu, Gong, Xu, Yan, Hu, Ai and Peng.)

Bacterial fruit blotch, caused by seed-borne pathogen Acidovorax citrulli , poses a serious threat to the production of cucurbits globally. Although the disease can cause substantial economic losses, limited information is available about the molecular mechanisms of virulence. This study identified that, a random transposon insertion mutant impaired in the ability to elicit a hypersensitive response on tobacco. The disrupted gene in this mutant was determined to be Aave&#95;0638 , which is predicted to encode a YggS family pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme. YggS is a highly conserved protein among multiple organisms, and is responsible for maintaining the homeostasis of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate and amino acids in cells. yggS deletion mutant of A. citrulli strain XjL12 displayed attenuated virulence, delayed hypersensitive response, less tolerance to H 2 O 2 and pyridoxine, increased sensitivity to antibiotic β-chloro-D-alanine, and reduced swimming. In addition, RNA-Seq analysis demonstrated that yggS was involved in regulating the expression of certain pathogenicity-associated genes related to secretion, motility, quorum sensing and oxidative stress response. Importantly, YggS significantly affected type III secretion system and its effectors in vitro . Collectively, our results suggest that YggS is indispensable for A.citrulli virulence and expands the role of YggS in the biological processes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wang, Zhao, Xia, Chen, Liao, Chen, Liu, Gong, Tian and Hu.)

Upland cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum ) is widely planted around the world for its natural fiber, and producing high-quality fiber is essential for the textile industry. CCRI70 is a hybrid cotton plant harboring superior yield and fiber quality, whose recombinant inbred line (RIL) population was developed from two upland cotton varieties (sGK156 and 901-001) and were used here to investigate the source of high-quality related alleles. Based on the material of the whole population, a high-density genetic map was constructed using specific locus-amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq). It contained 24,425 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, spanning a distance of 4,850.47 centimorgans (cM) over 26 chromosomes with an average marker interval of 0.20 cM. In evaluating three fiber quality traits in nine environments to detect multiple environments stable quantitative trait loci (QTLs), we found 289 QTLs, of which 36 of them were stable QTLs and 18 were novel. Based on the transcriptome analysis for two parents and two RILs, 24,941 unique differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, 473 of which were promising genes. For the fiber strength (FS) QTLs, 320 DEGs were identified, suggesting that pectin synthesis, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and plant hormone signaling pathways could influence FS, and several transcription factors may regulate fiber development, such as GAE6 , C4H , OMT1 , AFR18 , EIN3 , bZIP44 , and GAI . Notably, the marker D13&#95;56413025 in qFS-chr18-4 provides a potential basis for enhancing fiber quality of upland cotton via marker-assisted breeding and gene cloning of important fiber quality traits., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Jiang, Gong, Zhang, Zhang, Shi, Li, Liu, Gong, Ge, Deng, Fan, Chen, Kuang, Pan, Che, Zhang, Jia, Wei, Chen, Wei, Shang and Yuan.)

In current study, bacterial diversity and community in different tissues of pork bacon were determined using high-throughput sequencing. In total, six phyla and 111 bacterial genera were identified. Among them, three dominant genera ( Staphylococcus , Acinetobacter , and Macrococcus ) were shared by all bacon samples. The linear discriminant analysis showed that 24 bacterial taxa significantly differentiated between the tissues. Results of non-metric Multidimensional Scaling and redundancy analysis showed that physicochemical characteristics of the tissue prominently structured the bacterial communities. Network analysis also illustrated that tissue type was an important factor impacting the bacterial interactions in different types of tissue. The results of current study can add valuable insights to the traditional homemade pork bacon., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Gong, Zhu, Shi, Zhang and Wen.)

Molecular interventions have helped to explore the genes involved in fiber length, fiber strength, and other quality parameters with improved characteristics, particularly in cotton. The current study is an extension and functional validation of previous findings that Gh&#95;A07G1537 influences fiber length in cotton using a chromosomal segment substitution line MBI7747 through RNA-seq data. The recombinant Gh&#95;A07G1537 derived from the MBI7747 line was over-expressed in CCRI24, a genotype with a low profile of fiber quality parameters. Putative transformants were selected on MS medium containing hygromycin (25mg/ml), acclimatized, and shifted to a greenhouse for further growth and proliferation. Transgene integration was validated through PCR and Southern Blot analysis. Stable integration of the transgene (Δ Gh&#95; A07G1537) was validated by tracking its expression in different generations (T 0 , T 1 , and T 2 ) of transformed cotton plants. It was found to be 2.97-, 2.86-, and 2.92-folds higher expression in T 0 , T 1 , and T 2 plants, respectively, of transgenic compared with non-transgenic cotton plants. Fiber quality parameters were also observed to be improved in the engineered cotton line. Genetic modifications of Gh &#95;A07G1537 support the improvement in fiber quality parameters and should be appreciated for the textile industry., Competing Interests: AA is an employee of FB Genetics Four Brothers Group. FB Genetics is a non-profit and research-based unit of Four Brothers Group. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of noncommercial and financial relationships that could be constructed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Razzaq, Zafar, Li, Qun, Deng, Ali, Hafeez, Irfan, Liu, Ren, Shang, Shi, Gong and Yuan.)

As an ancient infectious disease, tuberculosis (TB) is still the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent worldwide. Latent TB infection (LTBI) has been recognized as the largest source of new TB cases and is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving the aim of the End TB Strategy. The latest data indicate that a considerable percentage of the population with LTBI and the lack of differential diagnosis between LTBI and active TB (aTB) may be potential reasons for the high TB morbidity and mortality in countries with high TB burdens. The tuberculin skin test (TST) has been used to diagnose TB for > 100 years, but it fails to distinguish patients with LTBI from those with aTB and people who have received Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination. To overcome the limitations of TST, several new skin tests and interferon-gamma release assays have been developed, such as the Diaskintest, C-Tb skin test, EC-Test, and T-cell spot of the TB assay, QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube, QuantiFERON-TB Gold-Plus, LIAISON QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus test, and LIOFeron TB/LTBI. However, these methods cannot distinguish LTBI from aTB. To investigate the reasons why all these methods cannot distinguish LTBI from aTB, we have explained the concept and definition of LTBI and expounded on the immunological mechanism of LTBI in this review. In addition, we have outlined the research status, future directions, and challenges of LTBI differential diagnosis, including novel biomarkers derived from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and hosts, new models and algorithms, omics technologies, and microbiota., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Gong and Wu.)