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High-throughput phenotyping serves as a framework to reduce chronological costs and accelerate breeding cycles. In this study, we developed models to estimate the phenotypes of biomass-related traits in soybean ( Glycine max ) using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing and deep learning models. In 2018, a field experiment was conducted using 198 soybean germplasm accessions with known whole-genome sequences under 2 irrigation conditions: drought and control. We used a convolutional neural network (CNN) as a model to estimate the phenotypic values of 5 conventional biomass-related traits: dry weight, main stem length, numbers of nodes and branches, and plant height. We utilized manually measured phenotypes of conventional traits along with RGB images and digital surface models from UAV remote sensing to train our CNN models. The accuracy of the developed models was assessed through 10-fold cross-validation, which demonstrated their ability to accurately estimate the phenotypes of all conventional traits simultaneously. Deep learning enabled us to extract features that exhibited strong correlations with the output (i.e., phenotypes of the target traits) and accurately estimate the values of the features from the input data. We considered the extracted low-dimensional features as phenotypes in the latent space and attempted to annotate them based on the phenotypes of conventional traits. Furthermore, we validated whether these low-dimensional latent features were genetically controlled by assessing the accuracy of genomic predictions. The results revealed the potential utility of these low-dimensional latent features in actual breeding scenarios., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Mashiro Okada et al.)

Background/aim: This study aimed to investigate the differences in the postoperative dietary intake (DI) loss between men and women after radical resection for early gastric cancer (GC), and to identify effective nutritional support for both sexes., Patients and Methods: This prospective, observational study enrolled patients who underwent gastrectomy for GC. DI was assessed using the food frequency questionnaire containing 82 food items (FFQW82) during nutritional counseling before surgery and one and three months postoperatively., Results: The median preoperative DI of all participants was 1,856.3 kcal/day, and DI at 1 and 3 months were 1,532.5 kcal/day and 1,637 kcal/day, respectively. The median preoperative DI was 1805 kcal/day (1,300-2,330 kcal/day) and 1481 kcal/day (1,126-1,957 kcal/day) in men and women, respectively (p<0.0001). The median DI at 1 month was 1627 (1,101-2,195) kcal/day and 1,308 (986-1,915) kcal/day in men and women, respectively (p<0.0001). At 3 months postoperatively, the median DI was 1737 (1,130-2,443) kcal/day in men and 1428 (816-2,005) kcal/day in women (p<0.0001). However, there was no significant difference in the DI loss rate at 1 month (median: -9.7% vs. -9.3%, p=0.765) and 3 months (median: -3.5% vs. -4.8%, p=0.137) between men and women., Conclusion: Although the DI loss rate in men and women after gastrectomy for GC was almost similar, the postoperative DI and DI loss differed significantly. Therefore, differences in DI loss after gastrectomy between men and women should be considered while assessing the efficacy of additional nutritional support such as oral nutritional supplements after gastrectomy., (Copyright © 2024, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Background: An earlier systematic review and meta-analysis found that patients with a certain histological variant of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) exhibited more advanced disease and poorer survival than those with pure UTUC. A difference in the clinicopathological UTUC characteristics of Caucasian and Japanese patients has been reported, but few studies have investigated the clinical impact of the variant histology in Japanese UTUC patients., Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 824 Japanese patients with pTa-4N0-1M0 UTUCs who underwent radical nephroureterectomy without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Subsequently, we explored the effects of the variant histology on disease aggressiveness and the oncological outcomes. We used Cox's proportional hazards models to identify significant predictors of oncological outcomes, specifically intravesical recurrence-free survival (IVRFS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS)., Results: Of the 824 UTUC patients, 32 (3.9%) exhibited a variant histology that correlated significantly with a higher pathological T stage and lymphovascular invasion (LVI). Univariate analysis revealed that the variant histology was an independent risk factor for suboptimal RFS, CSS, and OS. However, significance was lost on multivariate analyses., Conclusions: The variant histology does not add to the prognostic information imparted by the pathological findings after radical nephroureterectomy, particularly in Japanese UTUC patients., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tau.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tau-23-561/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Translational Andrology and Urology. All rights reserved.)

Background/aim: The albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) is a useful biomarker for predicting postoperative complications and a poor prognosis in patients with various types of cancer and can be evaluated without invasive testing or surgery. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of the AGR in predicting the short- and long-term prognoses of patients with gastric cancer who underwent radical resection at our institution., Patients and Methods: This study is a retrospective cohort analysis in which eligible patients were selected from the medical records of patients who underwent radical resection for gastric cancer at Yokohama City University from 2000 to 2020 and their medical records were reviewed. A total of 240 patients with gastric cancer were classified into high-AGR (>1.57) and low-AGR (≤1.57) groups and their overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and postoperative complication rates were compared., Results: Of the total 240 patients, 87 were classified into the high AGR group and 153 were classified into the low AGR group; the incidence of postoperative complications in the two groups did not differ to a statistically significant extent (34.4% vs. 39.2%, p=0.491). The long-term findings showed that the 5-year OS and RFS rates were significantly better in the high AGR group [84.0% vs. 64.8% (p=0.005), 80.0% vs. 61.9% (p=0.015), respectively]., Conclusion: Preoperative low AGR is a risk factor for OS and DFS in patients with gastric cancer who undergo surgery. The AGR may be a useful biomarker that can be applied as a prognostic indicator for patients with gastric cancer., (Copyright © 2024, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Background/aim: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical impact of the Naples Prognostic Score (NPS) in patients with gastric cancer and to clarify the potential of the NPS as a nutritional and inflammation evaluation system., Patients and Methods: This study included 158 patients who underwent curative treatment for gastric cancer between 2005 and 2020. The prognosis and clinical pathological parameters of the high-NPS (NPS >2) and low-NPS (NPS=0, 1) groups were analyzed., Results: The overall survival (OS) rates at 3 and 5 years were 86.7% and 77.7%, respectively, in the low-NPS group and 55.4% and 47.4%, respectively, in the high-NPS group. There were significant differences in OS between the two groups. Uni- and multivariate analyses demonstrated that the NPS was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR=2.495, 95%CI=1.240-5.451). In addition, the 3- and 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 82.1% and 76.0%, respectively, in the NPS-low group, and 43.8% and 36.6% in the NPS-high group. Univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that the NPS was an independent prognostic factor for RFS (HR=2.739, 95%CI=1.509-4.972). When the first site of recurrence was compared between the low-NPS group and high-NPS group, there were significant differences in peritoneal recurrence (8.7% vs. 34.3%, p=0.001) and hematologic recurrence (5.6% vs. 21.9%, p=0.004)., Conclusion: The NPS was a significant prognostic factor in patients with gastric cancer who received curative treatment. The NPS may be a promising biomarker for the treatment and management of gastric cancer., (Copyright © 2024, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Background/aim: Gastric cancer is a common cause of cancer death worldwide, especially in East Asia. This study evaluated the impact of preoperative modified Neutrophil-Platelet Score (mNPS) on the survival and recurrence of patients with resectable gastric cancer., Patients and Methods: The study analyzed 168 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy and subsequently received adjuvant treatment for gastric cancer between 2015 and 2021. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the risk factors for overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS)., Results: Patients were divided into two groups: 76 patients with an mNPS of 0 were classified into the low-mNPS group, whereas 92 patients with an mNPS of ≥1 were classified into the high-mNPS group. The 3- and 5-year OS rates in the low-mNPS group were 65.6% and 56.2%, respectively, and those in the high-mNPS group were 45.3% and 36.9%, respectively. The difference in OS between the two groups was statistically significant (p=0.007). The 3- and 5-year RFS rates in the low-mNPS group were 45.6% and 38.7%, respectively, whereas those in the high-mNPS group were 33.4% and 28.1%, respectively. The difference in RFS between the two groups was statistically significant (p=0.043). A multivariate analysis showed that the mNPS was a significant independent prognostic factor for OS and RFS., Conclusion: mNPS is a potential prognostic marker for patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative gastrectomy. Higher mNPS values were associated with lower 3- and 5-year OS and RFS rates, indicating a potential correlation between elevated mNPS and worse outcomes., (Copyright © 2024, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Background: Multiple studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma compared with surgery alone. However, no clinical trial has established the superiority of neoadjuvant chemotherapy or adjuvant chemotherapy in terms of perioperative outcomes., Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis encompassing 164 upper tract urothelial carcinoma patients who underwent radical nephroureterectomy and received perioperative chemotherapy. Of these patients, 65 (39.6%) and 99 (60.4%) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy, respectively. Recurrence-free survival and cancer-specific survival were computed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Additionally, we conducted Cox regression analyses to evaluate the risk factors for recurrence-free survival and cancer-specific survival., Results: Pathological downstaging was seen in 37% of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group. However, no pathological complete response was observed in this cohort. The Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated significantly lower recurrence-free survival and cancer-specific survival in patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy exhibited a marked association with inferior recurrence-free survival and cancer-specific survival., Conclusion: Our study has suggested that neoadjuvant chemotherapy would be more effective in high-risk upper tract urothelial carcinoma patients compared with adjuvant chemotherapy., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Soybeans (Glycine max) develop newly differentiated aerenchymatous phellem (AP) in response to waterlogging stress. AP is formed in the hypocotyl and root, thus contributing to internal aeration and adaptation to waterlogging for several legumes. Extensive accumulation of triterpenoids - lupeol and betulinic acid - has been identified in AP. However, their physiological roles in plants remain unclarified. Lupeol is converted from 2,3-oxidosqualene by lupeol synthase (LUS) and oxidized to betulinic acid. Notably, soybeans have two LUS genes (GmLUS1 and GmLUS2). Functional analysis was performed to reveal the biological and physiological functions of triterpenoids in AP using lus mutants. The AP cells of lus1 mutant lacked triterpenoid accumulation and epicuticular wax. Lupeol and betulinic acid were the major components of epicuticular wax and contributed to tissue hydrophobicity and oxygen transport to the roots. Tissue porosity in AP was lower in the lus1 mutant than in the wild-type, which resulted in reduced oxygen transport to the roots via AP. This reduction in oxygen transport resulted in shallow root systems under waterlogged conditions. Triterpenoid accumulation in AP contributes to effective internal aeration and root development for adaptation to waterlogging, suggesting the significance of triterpenoids in improving waterlogging tolerance., (© 2023 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2023 New Phytologist Foundation.)

Plant response to drought is an important yield-related trait under abiotic stress, but the method for measuring and modeling plant responses in a time series has not been fully established. The objective of this study was to develop a method to measure and model plant response to irrigation changes using time-series multispectral (MS) data. We evaluated 178 soybean ( Glycine max (L.) Merr.) accessions under three irrigation treatments at the Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, Japan in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The irrigation treatments included W5: watering for 5 d followed by no watering 5 d, W10: watering for 10 d followed by no watering 10 d, D10: no watering for 10 d followed by watering 10 d, and D: no watering. To capture the plant responses to irrigation changes, time-series MS data were collected by unmanned aerial vehicle during the irrigation/non-irrigation switch of each irrigation treatment. We built a random regression model (RRM) for each of combination of treatment by year using the time-series MS data. To test the accuracy of the information captured by RRM, we evaluated the coefficient of variation (CV) of fresh shoot weight of all accessions under a total of nine different drought conditions as an indicator of plant's stability under drought stresses. We built a genomic prediction model ( MT RRM   model ) using the genetic random regression coefficients of RRM as secondary traits and evaluated the accuracy of each model for predicting CV. In 2020 and 2021,the mean prediction accuracies of MT RRM   models built in the changing irrigation treatments ( r = 0.44 and 0.49, respectively) were higher than that in the continuous drought treatment ( r = 0.34 and 0.44, respectively) in the same year. When the CV was predicted using the MT RRM   model across 2020 and 2021 in the changing irrigation treatment, the mean prediction accuracy ( r = 0.46) was 42% higher than that of the simple genomic prediction model ( r =0.32). The results suggest that this RRM method using the time-series MS data can effectively capture the genetic variation of plant response to drought., 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 Sakurai, Toda, Hamazaki, Ohmori, Yamasaki, Takahashi, Takanashi, Tsuda, Tsujimoto, Kaga, Nakazono, Fujiwara and Iwata.)

The root barrier to radial O 2 loss (ROL) is a key root trait preventing O 2 loss from roots to anoxic soils, thereby enabling root growth into anoxic, flooded soils. We hypothesized that the ROL barrier can also prevent intrusion of hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S), a potent phytotoxin in flooded soils. Using H 2 S- and O 2 -sensitive microsensors, we measured the apparent permeance to H 2 S of rice roots, tested whether restricted H 2 S intrusion reduced its adverse effects on root respiration, and whether H 2 S could induce the formation of a ROL barrier. The ROL barrier reduced apparent permeance to H 2 S by almost 99%, greatly restricting H 2 S intrusion. The ROL barrier acted as a shield towards H 2 S; O 2 consumption in roots with a ROL barrier remained unaffected at high H 2 S concentration (500 μM), compared to a 67% decline in roots without a barrier. Importantly, low H 2 S concentrations induced the formation of a ROL barrier. In conclusion, the ROL barrier plays a key role in protecting against H 2 S intrusion, and H 2 S can act as an environmental signalling molecule for the induction of the barrier. This study demonstrates the multiple functions of the suberized/lignified outer part of the rice root beyond that of restricting ROL., (© 2023 The Authors New Phytologist © 2023 New Phytologist Foundation.)

Auxin distribution is essential for determining root developmental patterns. The formation of lateral roots and constitutive aerenchyma, which is a gas space developed through cell death, is regulated by auxin in rice ( Oryza sativa ). However, it is unclear whether the involvement of auxin in constitutive aerenchyma formation is conserved in other species. In this study, we found that constitutive aerenchyma formation was regulated by auxin in the nodal roots of Zea nicaraguensis , a wild relative of maize ( Zea mays ssp. mays ) grown naturally on frequently flooded coastal plains. Subsequent gravistimulation (root rotation) experiments showed opposite patterns of aerenchyma and lateral root formation. Lateral root formation on the convex side of rotated roots is known to be stimulated by a transient increase in auxin level in the pericycle. We found that aerenchyma formation was accelerated in the cortex on the concave side of the rotated nodal roots of Z . nicaraguensis . A cortex-specific expression analysis of auxin-responsive genes suggested that the auxin level was higher on the concave side than on the convex side. These results suggest that asymmetric auxin distribution underlies the regulation of aerenchyma and lateral root formation in the nodal roots of Z . nicaraguensis . As aerenchyma reduces the respiratory cost of the roots, constitutive aerenchyma on the concave side of the nodal root may balance resource allocation, thereby contributing to the uptake of water and nutrients by newly formed lateral roots. Our study provides insights into auxin-dependent asymmetric root patterning such as that of gravistimulation and hydropatterning response., 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 Ning, Yamauchi, Takahashi, Omori, Mano and Nakazono.)

Background: We investigated the impact of the lymphocyte-to-C-reactive protein ratio (LCR) on esophageal cancer survival and recurrence after curative treatment., Patients and Methods: This study included 89 patients who underwent curative surgery followed by adjuvant treatment for esophageal cancer between 2008 and 2018. The risk factors for overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were identified., Results: LCR of 12,177 was regarded to be the optimal critical point of classification considering the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival rates. The OS rates at 3 and 5 years after surgery were 33.2% and 29.9% in the LCR low group, respectively, and 74.0% and 60.9% in the LCR high group, which amounted to a statistically significant difference (P = 0.001). The RFS rates at 3 and 5 years after surgery were 25.3% and 21.7% in the LCR low group, respectively, and 52.1% and 47.4% in the LCR high group, which amounted to a statistically significant difference (P = 0.001). A multivariate analysis demonstrated that the LCR was a significant independent risk factor for both the OS and RFS., Conclusion: LCR was a risk factor for survival in patients who underwent curative treatment for esophageal cancer. It is necessary to develop the effective plan of the perioperative care and the surgical strategy according to the LCR., Competing Interests: None

In plants, mitogen activated protein kinases (MPKs) are involved in various signaling pathways that lead to biotic and abiotic responses as well as that regulate developmental processes. Among them, MPK6 and its closely related homologue, MPK3, act redundantly and are known to be involved in asymmetric cell divisions of meristemoid mother cells in stomata development and of zygotes in Arabidopsis . Loss-of-function mutants of GLE4 / OsMPK6 , which is an orthologue of MPK6 in rice, showed a defect in polarity establishment in early stage of embryogenesis. However, because of the embryo lethality of the mutations, the function of GLE4/OsMPK6 in post-embryonic development is not clarified. Here, we report the analysis of post embryonic function of GLE4/OsMPK6 in vegetative stage of rice using regenerated gle4 / osmpk6 homozygous plants from tissue culture. The regenerated plants are dwarf and produce multiple shoots with small leaves. These shoots never develop into reproductive stage, instead, proliferate vegetative shoots repeatedly. Leaves of gle4 / osmpk6 have small leaf blade at the tip and blade-sheath boundary become obscure. Stomata arrangement is also disturbed in gle4 / osmpk6 leaf blade. The shape of shoot apical meristem of gle4 / osmpk6 become disorganized. Thus, GLE4/OsMPK6 functions in shoot organization and stomata patterning in the post embryonic development in rice., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2023 Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology.)

Increasing the water use efficiency of crops is an important agricultural goal closely related to the root system -the primary plant organ for water and nutrient acquisition. In an attempt to evaluate the response of root growth and development of soybean to water supply levels, 200 genotypes were grown in a sandy field for 3 years under irrigated and non-irrigated conditions, and 14 root traits together with shoot fresh weight and plant height were investigated. Three-way ANOVA revealed a significant effect of treatments and years on growth of plants, accounting for more than 80% of the total variability. The response of roots to irrigation was consistent over the years as most root traits were improved by irrigation. However, the actual values varied between years because the growth of plants was largely affected by the field microclimatic conditions (i.e., temperature, sunshine duration, and precipitation). Therefore, the best linear unbiased prediction values for each trait were calculated using the original data. Principal component analysis showed that most traits contributed to principal component (PC) 1, whereas average diameter, the ratio of thin and medium thickness root length to total root length contributed to PC2. Subsequently, we focused on selecting genotypes that exhibited significant improvements in root traits under irrigation than under non-irrigated conditions using the increment (I-index) and relative increment (RI-index) indices calculated for all traits. Finally, we screened for genotypes with high stability and root growth over the 3 years using the multi-trait selection index (MTSI).Six genotypes namely, GmJMC130, GmWMC178, GmJMC092, GmJMC068, GmWMC075, and GmJMC081 from the top 10% of genotypes scoring MTSI less than the selection threshold of 7.04 and 4.11 under irrigated and non-irrigated conditions, respectively, were selected. The selected genotypes have great potential for breeding cultivars with improved water usage abilities, meeting the goal of water-saving agriculture., 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 Bui, Naruse, Yoshida, Toda, Omori, Tsuda, Kaga, Yamasaki, Tsujimoto, Ichihashi, Hirai, Fujiwara, Iwata, Matsuoka, Takahashi and Nakazono.)

Multispectral (MS) imaging enables the measurement of characteristics important for increasing the prediction accuracy of genotypic and phenotypic values for yield-related traits. In this study, we evaluated the potential application of temporal MS imaging for the prediction of aboveground biomass (AGB) in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Field experiments with 198 accessions of soybean were conducted with four different irrigation levels. Five vegetation indices (VIs) were calculated using MS images from soybean canopies from early vegetative to early reproductive stage. To predict the genotypic values of AGB, VIs at the different growth stages were used as secondary traits in a multitrait genomic prediction. The prediction accuracy of the genotypic values of AGB from MS and genomic data largely outperformed that of the genomic data alone before the flowering stage (90% of accessions did not flower), suggesting that it would be possible to determine cross-combinations based on the predicted genotypic values of AGB. We compared the prediction accuracy of a model using the five VIs and a model using only one VI to predict the phenotypic values of AGB and found that the difference in prediction accuracy decreased over time at all irrigation levels except for the most severe drought. The difference in the most severe drought was not as small as that in the other treatments. Only the prediction accuracy of a model using the five VIs in the most severe droughts gradually increased over time. Therefore, the optimal timing for MS imaging may depend on the irrigation levels., (© 2022 The Authors. The Plant Genome published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Crop Science Society of America.)

Background: It has been hypothesized that women with significant pelvic organ prolapse (POP), particularly of the anterior vaginal wall, may have voiding dysfunction (VD). Although the VD mechanism due to cystocele is not fully understood, different vaginal compartments have rarely been closely examined. This study attempted to further elucidate the correlation between POP and VD through a new subgroup classification using cystoscopy., Methods: This study reviewed clinical records of 49 women who underwent cystocele repair. All patients were scheduled for laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy, preoperatively underwent uroflowmetry and postvoid residual urine volume (PVR) measurement, and completed pelvic floor function questionnaires. Bladder examination by cystoscopy was additionally performed using the lithotomy position with the Valsalva maneuver., Results: Subjects were divided into four groups according to hernia orifice presence determined by cystoscopy, which included the trigone type, posterior wall type, trigone and urethra type, and trigone and posterior wall type. The posterior wall type had statistically higher PVR values versus the trigone and posterior wall type (P = 0.013). The posterior wall type had statistically lower values for average urine flow rate versus the urethra and trigone type (P = 0.020). There were no significant differences noted in the pelvic floor function questionnaires among the four groups., Conclusions: A new bladder defect classification based upon hernia orifice location was associated with lower urinary tract function. Posterior wall hernia presence caused significant voiding function deterioration. This new subgroup classification, which can more clearly identify and indicate bladder function, is also comparable among patients., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background/aim: The albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score, which evaluates the perioperative liver function, was developed, and had a clinical impact on both the short- and long-term oncological outcomes in some malignancies. We evaluated the clinical impact of preoperative albumin-bilirubin status in patients with resectable esophageal cancer who received curative treatment., Patients and Methods: The study included 121 patients who underwent curative surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy for esophageal cancer between 2005 and 2018. The risk factors for overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were identified., Results: Based on the 3- and 5-year OS rates, we set the cut-off value for the ALBI score at -2.7. Eighty patients were classified into the ALBI-low group (ALBI score <-2.7), 41 patients were categorized into the ALBI-high group (ALBI score >-2.7). The 3- and 5-year OS rates were 62.2% and 53.2%, respectively, in the ALBI-low group, and 42.2% and 35.2% in the ALBI-high group. There was a significant difference in OS (p=0.0113). The 3- and 5-year RFS rates were 43.1% and 40.3%, respectively, in the ALBI-low group and 37.7% and 26.1% in the ALBI-high group. There was a significant difference in RFS (p=0.048). When comparing the perioperative clinical course between the ALBI-high and ALBI-low groups, the incidence of postoperative anastomotic leakage was 46.3% (19/41) in the ALBI-high group, and 27.5% (22/80) in the ALBI-low group (p=0.038)., Conclusion: The ALBI status had a clinical impact on both OS and RFS in esophageal cancer patients. Therefore, ALBI may have potential application as a prognostic factor for esophageal cancer patients., (Copyright © 2022, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

With the widespread use of high-throughput phenotyping systems, growth process data are expected to become more easily available. By applying genomic prediction to growth data, it will be possible to predict the growth of untested genotypes. Predicting the growth process will be useful for crop breeding, as variability in the growth process has a significant impact on the management of plant cultivation. However, the integration of growth modeling and genomic prediction has yet to be studied in depth. In this study, we implemented new prediction models to propose a novel growth prediction scheme. Phenotype data of 198 soybean germplasm genotypes were acquired for 3 years in experimental fields in Tottori, Japan. The longitudinal changes in the green fractions were measured using UAV remote sensing. Then, a dynamic model was fitted to the green fraction to extract the dynamic characteristics of the green fraction as five parameters. Using the estimated growth parameters, we developed models for genomic prediction of the growth process and tested whether the inclusion of the dynamic model contributed to better prediction of growth. Our proposed models consist of two steps: first, predicting the parameters of the dynamics model with genomic prediction, and then substituting the predicted values for the parameters of the dynamics model. By evaluating the heritability of the growth parameters, the dynamic model was able to effectively extract genetic diversity in the growth characteristics of the green fraction. In addition, the proposed prediction model showed higher prediction accuracy than conventional genomic prediction models, especially when the future growth of the test population is a prediction target given the observed values in the first half of growth as training data. This indicates that our model was able to successfully combine information from the early growth period with phenotypic data from the training population for prediction. This prediction method could be applied to selection at an early growth stage in crop breeding, and could reduce the cost and time of field trials., 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 Toda, Sasaki, Ohmori, Yamasaki, Takahashi, Takanashi, Tsuda, Kajiya-Kanegae, Lopez-Lozano, Tsujimoto, Kaga, Nakazono, Fujiwara, Baret and Iwata.)

The development of a plastic root system is essential for stable crop production under variable environments. Rice plants have two types of lateral roots (LRs): S-type (short and thin) and L-type (long, thick, and capable of further branching). LR types are determined at the primordium stage, with a larger primordium size in L-types than S-types. Despite the importance of LR types for rice adaptability to variable water conditions, molecular mechanisms underlying the primordium size control of LRs are unknown. Here, we show that two WUSCHEL-related homeobox ( WOX ) genes have opposing roles in controlling LR primordium (LRP) size in rice. Root tip excision on seminal roots induced L-type LR formation with wider primordia formed from an early developmental stage. QHB/OsWOX5 was isolated as a causative gene of a mutant that is defective in S-type LR formation but produces more L-type LRs than wild-type (WT) plants following root tip excision. A transcriptome analysis revealed that OsWOX10 is highly up-regulated in L-type LRPs. OsWOX10 overexpression in LRPs increased the LR diameter in an expression-dependent manner. Conversely, the mutation in OsWOX10 decreased the L-type LR diameter under mild drought conditions. The qhb mutants had higher OsWOX10 expression than WT after root tip excision. A yeast one-hybrid assay revealed that the transcriptional repressive activity of QHB was lost in qhb mutants. An electrophoresis mobility shift assay revealed that OsWOX10 is a potential target of QHB. These data suggest that QHB represses LR diameter increase, repressing OsWOX10 Our findings could help improve root system plasticity under variable environments., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest., (Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)

Background: We investigated the impact of the pre-surgical C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR) on survival and recurrence after curative treatment for gastric cancer., Patients and Methods: This study included 481 patients who underwent curative treatment for gastric cancer between 2013 and 2017. The risk factors for overall (OS) and recurrence-free (RFS) survival were identified., Results: A CAR of 0.05 was regarded as the optimal critical point of classification considering the 3- and 5-year survival rates and patients were divided according to their CAR. The OS rates at 3 and 5 years after surgery were significantly higher at 92.5% and 87.9%, respectively, in the low-CAR group compared with 84.9% and 71.9%, respectively, in the high-CAR group. The corresponding RFS rates were 89.1% and 85.5%, and 81.0% and 72.2%, respectively, also a significant difference. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that the CAR was a significant independent risk factor for the OS and marginally significant independent risk factor for the RFS. In addition, the incidences of pancreatic fistula and abdominal abscess were significantly higher and the rate of introduction of adjuvant chemotherapy significantly lower in the high-CAR group., Conclusion: The CAR was a risk factor influencing survival in patients who underwent curative treatment for gastric cancer. An effective perioperative care plan and surgical strategy need to be developed according to the CAR., (Copyright © 2021 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)