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Background: Exploring and identifying novel alleles of noncombined DNA Index System (CODIS) short tandem repeat (STR) loci in different ethnic groups is important for the establishment of forensic reference databases and study of population genetics. AIM: This study is aimed to explore the genetic polymorphism of 22 non-CODIS autosomal STR loci (D6S477, D18S535, D19S253, D15S659, D11S2368, D20S470, D1S1656, D22-GATA198B05, D8S1132, D4S2366, D21S1270, D13S325, D9S925, D3S3045, D14S608, D10S1435, D12S391, D7S3048, D17S1290, D5S2500, D2S1338, and D16S539) in Sierra Leone population and analyze the population genetic relationships in comparison with other populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The samples of a total of 495 unrelated individuals (274 females and 221 males) from Sierra Leone were examined by the Microreader™ 23SP ID System, and their genetic polymorphisms and associated forensic parameters were calculated. The genetic relationships between Sierra Leone population and other populations were evaluated as well. Results: A total of 287 alleles were observed with allelic frequencies ranging from 0.001 to 0.399. The cumulative power of discrimination (CPD) of the 22 autosomal STR loci was 0.999999999999999 99999999999999538. The cumulative probability of exclusion (CPE) of the 22 autosomal STR loci was 0.9999998514 (CPEdous) and 0.999999 9999826 (CPEtrios). All of the STR loci reached the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni correction. The population genetics analysis results demonstrated that Sierra Leone population exhibited distinctive genetic characteristics compared to those of East Asian populations and it had relatively close genetic distances to the Uygur population. Conclusion: The results of this study could enrich the forensic databases with Sierra Leone population. The 22 STR loci are highly polymorphic and could be used for forensic practice and population genetics studies.

Abstract Purpose To assess the clinical efficacy of arthroscopic treatment for posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) tibial avulsion fractures using high-intensity suture binding combined with button plate suspension fixation. Methods We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 32 patients with PCL tibial avulsion fractures treated at our hospital from July 2020 to August 2023. We recorded operation time, intraoperative and postoperative complications, and used imaging to assess fracture reduction and healing. Pain and knee function were evaluated using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), range of knee motion, Lysholm score, and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score. Study Design Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Results All patients were followed for 6 to 18 months, averaging 13.6 months. All incisions healed successfully without postoperative complications. X-rays taken on the first postoperative day showed satisfactory fracture reduction. Three-month post-surgery imaging confirmed healed fractures and no internal fixation failures. At the final follow-up, knee function was well recovered, with only one patient exhibiting a positive posterior drawer test of degree I. Furthermore, the mean VAS score was 0. 5 (range 0.0 to 1.0), active knee extension was 2. 2° (range 0.0 to 5.0), and active knee flexion was 137.7° (range 130.0 to 145.0). The mean Lysholm score was 91.5(range 89.3 to 94.0), and the IKDC score averaged 83.8 ± 3.7, and these outcomes showed statistically significant improvement from preoperative levels (P

Abstract Purpose To examine residents’ first-aid kit preparation and its influencing factors. Design Cross-sectional survey. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted among 449 permanent residents in Sichuan Province using convenience sampling. We examined participants’ demographic characteristics, self-efficacy, health literacy, and personality. Findings Of the participants, 111 (24.7%) stocked a home first-aid kit. The most frequent supplies were disinfection supplies (91.9%), common medicines (86.5%), and dressing supplies (76.6%). Family per capita monthly income, medical expenses payment method, chronic diseases, general self-efficacy, and health literacy were influencing factors of family first-aid kit preparedness. Conclusion A multilevel and interactive emergency literacy education system should be established to improve residents’ abilities to prevent emergencies.

In this paper, we investigate the topological numbers of rotating charged AdS black holes in both four- and five-dimensional gauged supergravity theories. Our analysis is conducted within the framework of the thermodynamical topological approach to black holes, utilizing the generalized off-shell Helmholtz free energy. We demonstrate that the number of rotation parameters plays a significant role in determining the topological numbers of five-dimensional rotating AdS black holes. Moreover, our findings indicate that the topological numbers of both four- and five-dimensional rotating AdS black holes are not influenced by the number of electric charge parameters. This highlights a distinct difference in how rotation and electric charge parameters impact the thermodynamic topological properties of these black holes.

With the rapid advancement of UAV technology and the increasing complexity of tasks, multi-UAV systems face growing challenges in task execution. Traditional task allocation algorithms often perform poorly when dealing with issues such as local optima, slow convergence speed, and low convergence accuracy, making it difficult to meet the demands for efficiency and practicality in real-world applications. To address these problems, this paper focuses on collaborative task allocation technology for multi-UAV. It proposes a collaborative task allocation strategy for multi-UAV in a multi-target environment, which comprehensively considers various complex constraints in practical application scenarios. The strategy utilizes Dubins curves for trajectory planning and constructs a multi-UAV collaborative task allocation model, with targets including the shortest total distance index, the minimum time index, and the trajectory coordination index. Each UAV is set as an artificial dragonfly by modifying the traditional dragonfly algorithm, incorporating differential evolution algorithms and their crossover, mutation, and selection operations to bring UAV swarms closer to the characteristics of biological dragonflies. The modifications can enhance the global scalability of artificial dragonfly swarms (ADSs), including wider search capacity, wider speed range, and more diverse search accuracy. Meanwhile, potential solutions with global convergence properties are stored to better support real-time adjustments to task allocation. The simulation results show that the proposed strategy can generate a conflict-free task execution scheme and plan the trajectory, which has advantages in changing the data scale of the UAV and the target and improves the reliability of the system to a certain extent.

Dual-phase steels have received extensive attention in autobody frame manufacturing due to the resulting characteristics of an interesting combination of ductile ferrite and hard martensite. Moreover, the ductile ferrite and hard martensite lead to heterogeneous deformation in the boundary between the two phases. Then, geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) are created to accommodate a lattice mismatch due to the deformation incompatibility of the boundary in straining. In this study, a new empirical GND model is developed, in which the GND density is a function of local plastic deformation; the GND density is distributed in the phase boundary in accordance with an “S” model of material plastic strain. The boundary conditions are applied to define the parameters. The proposed model is verified with DP600 steel. The effects of the GNDs and the width between ferrite and martensite on the strain hardening of DP600 steel are evaluated.

Abstract It is important to monitor the intra-/extracellular concentration of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in biological processes. However, miniaturized devices that enable portable and accurate H2O2 measurement are still in their infancy because of the difficulty of developing facile sensing strategies and highly integrated sensing devices. In this work, portable H2O2 sensors based on Pt-Ni hydrogels with excellent peroxidase-like and electrocatalytic activities are demonstrated. Thus, simple and sensitive H2O2 sensing is achieved through both colorimetric and electrochemical strategies. The as-fabricated H2O2 sensing chips exhibit favorable performance, with low detection limits (0.030 μM & 0.15 μM), wide linearity ranges (0.10 μM–10.0 mM & 0.50 μM–5.0 mM), outstanding long-term stability (up to 60 days), and excellent selectivity. With the aid of an M5stack development board, portable visual and electrochemical H2O2 sensors are successfully constructed without complicated and expensive equipment or professional operators. When applied to the detection of H2O2 released from HeLa cells, the results obtained by the developed sensors are in good agreement with those from an ultraviolet‒visible spectrophotometer (UV‒vis) (1.97 μM vs. 2.08 μM) and electrochemical station (1.77 μM vs. 1.84 μM).

Abstract We explore, in the framework of linearized quantum gravity, the quantum gravitational quadrupole-quadrupole interaction between two entangled non point-like objects in the presence of both Dirichlet and Neumann boundaries. The results show that, compared to the case without boundaries, the interaction can be either enhanced or weakened depending on the geometrical arrangement of the objects with respect to the boundaries. In the limit when the two-object system is placed very close to the Dirichlet boundary, the near-regime interaction potential is larger than that of the pure vacuum case when the two objects are placed perpendicular to the boundary but smaller when parallel to it, while, in the far regime, such strong and weak relations between potentials are just opposite to that in the near regime. And, there exists a new $$r^{-2}$$ r - 2 far-regime behavior of the interaction potential under the perpendicular configuration. For the case of Neumann boundary, the strong and weak relations between the interaction potentials under perpendicular or parallel configurations and the case without boundary are opposite to the Dirichlet circumstance both in the near and far regimes. Besides, the novel $$r^{-2}$$ r - 2 far-regime behavior occurs for the parallel rather than perpendicular configuration in the presence of Neumann boundary.

Abstract Jasmonic acid (JA) is an important and widely distributed plant hormone. However, the molecular and physiological mechanism of JA in improving drought tolerance in response to sodium selenite is limited. This work was performed to investigate the effects of exogenous sodium selenite application in promoting drought tolerance of cucumber. The drought tolerance of cucumber seedlings is enhanced under the application of selenite, positively influencing shoot fresh weight and chlorophyll relative content and altering the chloroplast ultrastructure. The contents of JA and JA-isoleucine (JA-ILE) increased significantly in response to selenite application under drought conditions. Furthermore, the expression of JA biosynthesis and regulatory genes, namely, LOX (Lipoxygenase), AOC (allene oxide cyclase), AOS (allene oxide synthase), and MYC2 (the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein) was upregulated to greater levels when selenite was added in combination with drought treatment. This study provides methods to mitigate drought stress and valuable theoretical support for further understanding the plant response to drought signals.

In the existing healing strategies, the consideration of the general homogeneous network model prevails, wherein conceptual nodes and edges are treated as the same type. The heterogeneity of combat entities within equipment systems is not considered in these studies, rendering the proposed algorithm inapplicable to the analysis of heterogeneous UAV combat networks. Furthermore, the current research on combat task allocation exhibits a relatively singular focus, primarily addressing tasks such as covering reconnaissance operation areas or segmenting tasks into independent categories like reconnaissance, decision-making, and strike, without delving into the coordinated operations of distinct tasks. This paper delves into the realm of task assignment within heterogeneous UAV combat networks through optimal trace planning. A novel trace planning model is devised based on the optimal subtask division, fragmenting all tasks into individual subtasks. In the event of a collapse in the UAV combat swarm following an attack, a robust task-adjusting algorithm is formulated to mitigate various faults. Two adjustment schemes are proposed: dynamic task adjustment and swarm healing in the face of communication link breakdowns. In instances where UAV swarm construction encounters failure, the task adjustment model should possess a degree of elasticity to facilitate the dragging of the failed swarm for restoration. The task adjustment is designed with significant elasticity to enhance network robustness and compatibility. Simulation results indicate that our algorithms and models exhibit high efficiency and incur minimal adjustment costs in adapting to the battlefield.

Objective To investigate the efficacy of different numbers of microhaplotype (MH) loci and the introduction of different reference samples on the identification of full sibling, half sibling and differentiation between full sibling and half sibling kinships, and to explore the effect of changing mutation rate on sibling testing. Methods First, a family map involving three generations was established, and four full sibling identification models, five half sibling identification models and five models distinguishing full and half siblings were constructed for different reference samples introduced. Based on the results of the previous study, two sets of nonbinary SNP-MH containing 34 and 54 loci were selected. Based on the above MH loci, 100 000 pairs of full sibling vs. unrelated individuals, 100 000 pairs of half sibling vs. unrelated individuals and 100 000 pairs of full sibling vs. half sibling were simulated based on the corresponding sibling kinship testing models, and the efficacy of each sibling kinship testing model was analyzed by the likelihood ratio algorithm under different thresholds. The mutant rate of 54 MH loci was changed to analyze the effect of mutation rate on sibling identification. Results In the same relationship testing model, the systematic efficacy of sibling testing was positively correlated with the number of MH loci detected. With the same number of MH loci, the efficacy of full sibling testing was better than that of uncle or grandfather when the reference sample introduced was a full sibling of A, but there was no significant difference in the identification efficacy of the four reference samples introduced for full sibling and half sibling differentiation testing. In addition, the mutation rate had a slight effect on the efficacy of sibling kinship testing. Conclusion Increasing the number of MH loci and introducing reference samples of known relatives can increase the efficacy of full sibling testing, half sibling testing, and differentiation between full and half sibling kinships. The level of mutation rate in sibling testing by likelihood ratio method has a slight but insignificant effect on the efficacy.

Abstract Background Fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) and bronchoscopic biopsy are the established methods for diagnosing and treating sputum crust. However, sputum crust in concealed locations can sometimes be missed or undiagnosed, even with bronchoscopy. Case presentation We present the case of a 44-year-old female patient who experienced initial extubation failure and postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) due to the missed diagnosis of sputum crust by FOB and low-resolution bedside chest X-ray. The FOB examination showed no apparent abnormalities prior to the first extubation, and the patient underwent tracheal extubation 2 h after aortic valve replacement (AVR). However, she was reintubated 13 h after the first extubation due to a persistent irritating cough and severe hypoxemia, and a bedside chest radiograph revealed pneumonia and atelectasis. Upon performing a repeat FOB examination prior to the second extubation, we serendipitously discovered the presence of sputum crust at the end of the endotracheal tube. Subsequently, we found that the sputum crust was mainly located on the tracheal wall between the subglottis and the end of the endotracheal tube during the “Tracheobronchial Sputum Crust Removal” procedure, and most of the crust was obscured by the retained endotracheal tube. The patient was discharged on the 20th day following therapeutic FOB. Conclusion FOB examination may miss specific areas in endotracheal intubation (ETI) patients, particularly the tracheal wall between the subglottis and distal end of the tracheal catheter, where sputum crust can be concealed. When diagnostic examinations with FOB are inconclusive, high-resolution chest CT can be helpful in identifying hidden sputum crust.

With the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, wine is widely loved by consumers in our country. In recent years, the Chinese wine market has grown stronger. However, at the same time, wine counterfeiting has become a serious problem. Therefore, it is particularly important to carry out studies on the authenticity of wine. This article reviews the literature on the application of 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy in wine authentication in the past 16 years, focusing on recent progress in the application of 1H-NMR in the authentication of the geographical origin, variety and vintage of wine, aiming to provide ideas and references for enlightening and promoting the authentication of wine in China and promoting in-depth research in this regard.

Abstract Deletions of chromosome 17p, where TP53 gene locates, are the most frequent chromosome alterations in human cancers and associated with poor outcomes in patients. Our previous work suggested that there were p53–independent mechanisms involved in chromosome 17p deletions-driven cancers. Here, we report that altered arachidonate metabolism, due to the deficiency of mouse Alox8 on chromosome 11B3 (homologous to human ALOX15B on chromosome 17p), contributes to the B cell malignancy. While the metabolites produced from lipoxygenase pathway reduced, chromosome 11B3 deletions or Alox8 loss, lead to upregulating its paralleling cyclooxygenase pathway, indicated by the increased levels of oncometabolite prostaglandin E2. Ectopic PGE2 prevented the apoptosis and differentiation of pre-B cells. Further studies revealed that Alox8 deficiency dramatically and specifically induced Cox-2(Ptgs2) gene expression. Repressing Cox-2 by its shRNAs impaired the tumorigenesis driven by Alox8 loss. And, in turn, tumor cells with Alox8 or 11B3 loss were sensitive to the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib. This correlation between COX-2 upregulation and chromosome 17p deletions was consistent in human B-cell lymphomas. Hence, our studies reveal that the arachidonate metabolism abnormality with unbalanced ALOX and COX pathways underlies human cancers with 17p deletions and suggest new susceptibility for this disease.

Based on previous research that the Chaoyang virus is an insect-specific flavivirus, only able to replicate in insects and insect cells, authors present this proof-of-concept mosquito-delivered vaccine; they construct a Zika virus focused candidate that can be delivered by mosquito bite, and assess the immune response and protection in mice.

Although a portion of patients with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) present mental disorders, there is currently a lack of appropriate technologies to evaluate brain functions that are relevant to neurovascular coupling. Furthermore, there are no established objective criteria for diagnosing and distinguishing CSVD-induced mental disorders and psychiatric diseases. In this study, we report the first comprehensive investigation of the cerebral hemodynamics of CSVD patients who also presented with mental disorders. Two CSVD patients with similar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes but with non-identical mental symptoms participated in this study. The patients were instructed to perform the verbal fluency task (VFT), high-level cognition task (HCT), as well as voluntary breath holding (VBH). A functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure the cerebral oxygenation responses. Additionally, a diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) was used to measure the cerebral blood flow (CBF) responses. Both technologies were also applied to a healthy subject for comparison. The fNIRS results showed that both CSVD patients presented abnormal cerebral oxygenation responses during the VFT, HCT, and VBH tasks. Moreover, the patient with cognition impairment showed fluctuations in CBF during these tasks. In contrast, the patient without cognition impairment mostly presented typical CBF responses during the tasks, which was consistent with the healthy subject. The cognitive impairment in CSVD patients may be due to the decoupling of the neurons from the cerebrovascular, subsequently affecting the autoregulation capacity. The results of the fNIRS and DCS combined provide a comprehensive evaluation of the neurovascular coupling and, hence, offer great potential in diagnosing cerebrovascular or psychiatric diseases.

Purpose: We investigated the effect of awake prone positioning on endotracheal intubation rates in spontaneously breathing patients with COVID-19 not undergoing endotracheal intubation. Methods: We searched the CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PUBMED, MEDLINE, and Web of Science databases until December 31, 2022. Prospective randomized controlled, cohort, and case-control studies were included. A meta-analysis was performed on the primary outcome measure, tracheal intubation rates, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Results: Ten studies with a total of 2641 patients were included. The tracheal intubation rate in the awake prone position was 34% (95%CI: 0.59–1.10; P = 0.18; I2 = 55%), showing a non-significant benefit. Mortality was lower in prone-positioned than in supine-positioned patients (odds ratio: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.61–0.93; P = 0.007; I2 = 46%), prone positioning significantly improved the PaO2/FiO2 ratio (mean difference −29.17; 95%CI: −50.91 to −7.43; P = 0.009; I2 = 44%). Conclusions: Prone positioning can improve the PaO2/FIO2 ratio in patients with COVID-19 but we found no significant effect on tracheal intubation rates. Awake prone positioning seems to be associated with lower mortality, however, and may thus be a beneficial and effective intervention for patients with COVID-19. The optimal timing, duration, and target population need to be determined in future studies.

This investigation focused on the suppressive impact of varying NaHCO3 concentrations on cucumber seed germination and the ameliorative effects of 2,4-Epibrassinolide (EBR). The findings revealed a negative correlation between NaHCO3 concentration and cucumber seed germination, with increased NaHCO3 concentrations leading to a notable decline in germination. Crucially, the application of exogenous EBR significantly counteracted this inhibition, effectively enhancing germination rates and seed vigor. Exogenous EBR was observed to substantially elevate the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD), thereby mitigating oxidative damage triggered under NaHCO3 stress conditions. Additionally, EBR improved enzyme activity under alkaline stress conditions and reduced starch content in the seeds. Pertinently, EBR upregulated genes that were associated with gibberellin (GA) synthesis (GA20ox and GA3ox), and downregulated genes that were linked to abscisic acid (ABA) synthesis (NCED1 and NCED2). This led to an elevation in GA3 concentration and a reduction in ABA concentration within the cucumber seeds. Therefore, this study elucidates that alleviating oxidative stress, promoting starch catabolism, and regulating the GA and ABA balance are key mechanisms through which exogenous EBR mitigates the suppression of cucumber seed germination resulting from alkaline stress.

Regarding the application of high-strength steel welded components to large marine equipment, prolonged exposure to marine environments results in the infiltration of hydrogen, leading to a significant decline in mechanical performance. In this study, the electrochemical hydrogenation characteristics of Q690 high-strength steel welded components at room temperature are examined under various conditions to investigate their mechanical properties. The welded specimens initially undergo electrochemical hydrogenation and, subsequently, uniaxial tensile testing to explore the influences of hydrogenation methods on their mechanical properties such as tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation after fracture. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are utilized to observe changes in the microstructure features in heat-affected zones (HAZs) and highlight the mechanisms affecting material mechanical properties. The results indicate that the tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation after fracture of the material decrease with increasing hydrogenation time, solution concentration, and current density. Moreover, the fracture modes of Q690 high-strength steel welded components shift from ductile fracture to brittle fracture with increasing hydrogen atom penetration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveThis study aims to compare the binocular visual functions and balance among monocular myopic adolescents and adults and binocular low myopic adolescents and explore whether monocular myopia requires glasses.MethodsA total of 106 patients participated in this study. All patients were divided into three groups: the monocular myopia children group (Group 1 = 41 patients), the monocular myopia adult group (Group 2 = 26 patients) and the binocular low myopia children group (Group 3 = 39 patients). The refractive parameters, accommodation, stereopsis, and binocular balance were compared.ResultsThe binocular refractive difference in Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3 was −1.37 ± 0.93, −1.94 ± 0.91, and −0.32 ± 0.27 D, respectively. Moreover, uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), spherical equivalent (SE) and monocular accommodative amplitude (AA) between myopic and emmetropic eyes in Group 1 and Group 2 were significantly different (all P < 0.05). There was a significant difference in the accommodative facility (AF) between myopic and emmetropic eyes in Group 2 (t = 2.131, P = 0.043). Furthermore, significant differences were found in monocular AA (t = 6.879, P < 0.001), binocular AA (t = 5.043, P < 0.001) and binocular AF (t = −3.074, P = 0.003) between Group 1 and Group 2. The normal ratio of stereopsis according to the random dots test in Group 1 was higher than in Group 2 (χ2 = 14.596, P < 0.001). The normal ratio of dynamic stereopsis in Group 1 was lower than in Group 3 (χ2 = 13.281, P < 0.001). The normal signal-to-noise ratio of the binocular balance point in Group 1 was lower than Group 3 (χ2 = 4.755, P = 0.029).ConclusionFirst, monocular myopia could lead to accommodative dysfunction and unbalanced input of binocular visual signals, resulting in myopia progression. Second, monocular myopia may also be accompanied by stereopsis dysfunction, and long-term uncorrected monocular myopia may worsen stereopsis acuity in adulthood. In addition, patients with monocular myopia could exhibit stereopsis dysfunction at an early stage. Therefore, children with monocular myopia must wear glasses to restore binocular balance and visual functions, thereby delaying myopia progression.

Abstract SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV are genetically related coronavirus and share the same cellular receptor ACE2. By replacing the VSV glycoprotein with the spikes (S) of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV, we generated two replication-competent recombinant viruses, rVSV-SARS-CoV-2 and rVSV-SARS-CoV. Using wild-type and human ACE2 (hACE2) knock-in mouse models, we found a single dose of rVSV-SARS-CoV could elicit strong humoral immune response via both intranasal (i.n.) and intramuscular (i.m.) routes. Despite the high genetic similarity between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV, no obvious cross-neutralizing activity was observed in the immunized mice sera. In macaques, neutralizing antibody (NAb) titers induced by one i.n. dose of rVSV-SARS-CoV-2 were eight-fold higher than those by a single i.m. dose. Thus, our data indicates that rVSV-SARS-CoV-2 might be suitable for i.n. administration instead of the traditional i.m. immunization in human. Because rVSV-SARS-CoV elicited significantly stronger NAb responses than rVSV-SARS-CoV-2 in a route-independent manner, we generated a chimeric antigen by replacing the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV S with that from the SARS-CoV-2. rVSV expressing the chimera (rVSV-SARS-CoV/2-RBD) induced significantly increased NAbs against SARS-CoV-2 in mice and macaques than rVSV-SARS-CoV-2, with a safe Th1-biased response. Serum immunized with rVSV-SARS-CoV/2-RBD showed no cross-reactivity with SARS-CoV. hACE2 mice receiving a single i.m. dose of either rVSV-SARS-CoV-2 or rVSV-SARS-CoV/2-RBD were fully protected against SARS-CoV-2 challenge without obvious lesions in the lungs. Our results suggest that transplantation of SARS-CoV-2 RBD into the S protein of SARS-CoV might be a promising antigen design for COVID-19 vaccines.

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to explore whether team-based learning (TBL) was more effective than traditional didactic lectures (TDLs) in improving medical students' problem-solving and study skills in the clinical course of ophthalmology. In addition, we were also concerned about Chinese students' satisfaction with TBL.MethodsOur study program involved 275 students of the 5-year clinical medicine program from Central South China University, of which 140 were enrolled in a modified TBL course. A questionnaire that included closed-ended and open-ended items was distributed to students immediately following the completion of the TBL session, and 108 valid questionnaires were collected. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data. The effects of the TBL module on students' performance were measured between the groups using a one-way between-group analysis of variance (ANOVA) test by the individual readiness assurance test (IRAT), the group readiness assurance test (GRAT), and final examination scores (FESs), compared with a class without the TBL session.ResultsWith our modified TBL strategy, 140 students achieved a mean test score of 72.65 on test questions that assessed their knowledge of ophthalmology compared to 135 students who achieved a mean score of 70.8 using the TDL method (p = 0.3434). The performance in a pre-class quiz was significantly better in the GRAT compared to the IRAT. In comparison to the TDL session, the modified TBL was preferred and acceptable by most medical students.ConclusionsBy applying the modified TBL to ophthalmology, students improved their performance, self-study, and teamwork, and their class engagement and satisfaction were enhanced. However, TBL should be further optimized and developed to enhance educational outcomes.

Aim: Myopia is a prevalent public health problem. The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) mechanisms for dysregulated retinal signaling in the myopic eye have remained elusive. The aim of this study was to analyze the expression profiles and possible pathogenic roles of lncRNAs in mouse form-deprived myopia (FDM) retinas.Methods: A mouse FDM model was induced and retinas from the FDM right eyes and the contralateral eyes were collected for RNA sequencing. Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment, and lncRNA-mRNA coexpression network analyses were conducted to explore the biological functions of the differentially expressed lncRNAs. In addition, the levels of differentially expressed lncRNAs in the myopic retinas were validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT–PCR). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to detect the localization of lncRNAs in mouse retinas.Results: FDM eyes exhibited reduced refraction and increased ocular axial length compared to control fellow eyes. RNA sequencing revealed that there were 655 differentially expressed lncRNAs between the FDM and control retinas. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that the differentially expressed RNAs were mostly enriched in cellular processes, cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions, retinol metabolism, and rhythmic processes. Differentially expressed lncRNAs were validated by qRT–PCR. Additionally, RNA FISH showed that XR_384718.4 (Gm35369) localized in the ganglion cell (GCL) and inner nuclear layers (INL).Conclusion: This study identified the differential expression profiles of lncRNAs in myopic mouse retinas. Our results provide scientific evidence for investigations of myopia and the development of putative interventions in the future.

Millimeter-wave FMCW radar has been widely used in joint range-velocity estimation of multiple targets. However, most existing algorithms are unable to estimate the range-velocity information with high accuracy simultaneously and fail to discriminate the targets with either closely spaced ranges or closely spaced velocities in the 2D range-Doppler spectrum. In order to deal with these problems, this paper proposes a 2D-Unitary ESPRIT-based joint range and velocity estimation algorithm of multiple targets for FMCW radar. Firstly, The 1D-IF signal is constructed into a 2D virtual array signal, the virtual array signals are preprocessed by a 2D-spatial smoothing technique to generate a new matrix signal. Then, according to the 2D-Unitary ESPRIT algorithm, the 2D real-valued information of the target parameters is obtained from this matrix signal, and then a new complex-value matrix is constructed. Finally, the eigenvalue decomposition of this new complex-value matrix is performed, and the range-velocity estimates of multiple targets are, respectively, calculated from the real and imaginary parts of the eigenvalues, and paired automatically. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed algorithm not only provides highly accurate range-velocity estimates but also has high-resolution performance and achieves automatic pairing of the range-velocity estimates in multi-target scenarios, thus effectively improving the multi-target joint range and velocity estimation performance of FMCW radar.

Multiplicity fluctuations play a crucial role in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. In this work, we explore how the multiplicity fluctuations can be effectively suppressed in the measurement of particle correlations. In particular, through proper normalization, particle correlations can be evaluated in a manner irrelevant to multiplicity. When the multiplicity fluctuations are adequately extracted, Monte Carlo simulations show that the remaining correlations possess distinct features buried in the otherwise overwhelming fluctuations. Moreover, we argue that such a normalization scheme naturally agrees with the multi-particle correlator, which can be evaluated using the Q-vectors. The implications of the present study in the data analysis are also addressed.

Grafting can overcome problems with soil sensitivity, enhance plant stress tolerance, improve product quality, and increase crop yield and value. This paper reviews the various mechanisms of vegetable grafting, the graft survival process and its influencing factors, the practical applications of grafting, and the molecular regulation of grafting in vegetables. The importance of germplasm and rootstock interactions, the mechanization of vegetable grafting, and future aspects, including intelligence and digitalization, are discussed.

Abstract Background To compare the correction effect and optical quality after small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and femtosecond laser assisted laser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) for high myopia. Methods 51 high myopia eyes after SMILE and 49 high myopia eyes after FS-LASIK were enrolled and divided into two groups retrospectively. The OQAS and iTrace analyzer were used for optical quality inspection. Between the two groups the spherical equivalent (SE), astigmatism, uncorrected distant visual acuity (UDVA), strehl ratio (SR), modulation transfer function cutoff frequency (MTF cutoff), objective scatter index (OSI) and wavefront aberrations were analyzed and compared before surgery and at 1, 6 and 12 months after surgery. Results After the operation: (1) SE and astigmatism declined and UDVA increased significantly in both groups, and UDVA was better after SMILE than FS-LASIK. (2) SR and MTF cutoff reduced and OSI increased significantly after SMILE and FS-LASIK. SR and MTF cutoff were significantly higher after SMILE than FS-LASIK. OSI was significantly lower after SMILE than FS-LASIK. (3) The total wavefront aberration, total low-order wavefront aberration, defocus and astigmatism aberration as well as trefoil aberration reduced significantly in both groups. The total high-order wavefront aberration increased significantly after FS-LASIK. The spherical and coma aberration increased significantly in both groups. The total high-order wavefront aberration and coma aberration at 1 month were higher after FS-LASIK than SMILE. Conclusion The optical quality descended after SMILE and FS-LASIK. SMILE was superior to FS-LASIK at the correction effect and optical quality for high myopia. The combination of OQAS and iTrace analyzer is a valuable complementary measurement in evaluating the optical quality after the refractive surgery. Trial registration This is a retrospective study. This research was approved by the ethics committee of Xiangya Hospital and the IRB approval number is 201612074.

Abstract Cardamine enshiensis is a well-known selenium (Se)-hyperaccumulating plant. Se is an essential trace element associated with many health benefits. Despite its critical importance, genomic information of this species is limited. Here, we report a chromosome-level genome assembly of C. enshiensis, which consists of 443.4 Mb in 16 chromosomes with a scaffold N50 of 24 Mb. To elucidate the mechanism of Se tolerance and hyperaccumulation in C. enshiensis, we generated and analyzed a dataset encompassing genomes, transcriptomes, and metabolomes. The results reveal that flavonoid, glutathione, and lignin biosynthetic pathways may play important roles in protecting C. enshiensis from stress induced by Se. Hi-C analysis of chromatin interaction patterns showed that the chromatin of C. enshiensis is partitioned into A and B compartments, and strong interactions between the two telomeres of each chromosome were correlated with histone modifications, epigenetic markers, DNA methylation, and RNA abundance. Se supplementation could affect the 3D chromatin architecture of C. enshiensis at the compartment level. Genes with compartment changes after Se treatment were involved in selenocompound metabolism, and genes in regions with topologically associated domain insulation participated in cellular responses to Se, Se binding, and flavonoid biosynthesis. This multiomics research provides molecular insight into the mechanism underlying Se tolerance and hyperaccumulation in C. enshiensis.

Abstract The present study aimed to construct and evaluate a novel experiment-based hypoxia signature to help evaluations of GBM patient status. First, the 426 proteins, which were previously found to be differentially expressed between normal and hypoxia groups in glioblastoma cells with statistical significance, were converted into the corresponding genes, among which 212 genes were found annotated in TCGA. Second, after evaluated by single-variable Cox analysis, 19 different expressed genes (DEGs) with prognostic value were identified. Based on λ value by LASSO, a gene-based survival risk score model, named RiskScore, was built by 7 genes with LASSO coefficient, which were FKBP2 , GLO1, IGFBP5, NSUN5, RBMX, TAGLN2 and UBE2V2. Kaplan–Meier (K–M) survival curve analysis and the area under the curve (AUC) were plotted to further estimate the efficacy of this risk score model. Furthermore, the survival curve analysis was also plotted based on the subtypes of age, IDH, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Meanwhile, immune infiltration, GSVA, GSEA and chemo drug sensitivity of this risk score model were evaluated. Third, the 7 genes expression were evaluated by AUC, overall survival (OS) and IDH subtype in datasets, importantly, also experimentally verified in GBM cell lines exposed to hypoxic or normal oxygen condition, which showed significant higher expression in hypoxia than in normal group. Last, combing the hypoxia RiskScore with clinical and molecular features, a prognostic composite nomogram was generated, showing the good sensitivity and specificity by AUC and OS. Meanwhile, univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were used for performed to identify variables in nomogram that were significant in independently predicting duration of survival. It is a first time that we successfully established and validated an independent prognostic risk model based on hypoxia microenvironment from glioblastoma cells and public database. The 7 key genes may provide potential directions for future biochemical and pharmaco-therapeutic research.

Paternity testing and sibling testing become more complex and difficult when samples degrade. But the commonly used genetic markers (STR and SNP) cannot completely solve this problem due to some disadvantages. The novel genetic marker microhaplotype proposed by Kidd’s research group combines the advantages of STR and SNP and is expected to become a promising genetic marker for kinship testing in degraded samples. Therefore, in this study, we intended to select an appropriate number of highly polymorphic SNP-based microhaplotype loci, detect them by the next-generation sequencing technology, analyze their ability to detect degraded samples, calculate their forensic parameters based on the collected 96 unrelated individuals, and evaluate their effectiveness in paternity testing and sibling testing by simulating kinship relationship pairs, which were also compared to 15 STR loci. Finally, a short and highly polymorphic microhaplotype panel was developed, containing 36 highly polymorphic SNP-based microhaplotype loci with lengths smaller than 100 bp and Ae greater than 3.00, of which 29 microhaplotype loci could not reject the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage equilibrium after the Bonferroni correction. The CPD and CPE of these 29 microhaplotype loci were 1-2.96E-26 and 1-5.45E-09, respectively. No allele dropout was observed in degraded samples incubated with 100°C hot water for 40min and 60min. According to the simulated kinship analysis, the effectiveness at the threshold of 4/−4 reached 98.39% for relationship parent-child vs. unrelated individuals, and the effectiveness at the threshold of 2/−2 for relationship full-sibling vs. unrelated individuals was 93.01%, which was greater than that of 15 STR loci (86.75% for relationship parent-child vs. unrelated individuals and 81.73% for relationship full-sibling vs. unrelated individuals). After combining our 29 microhaplotype loci with other 50 short and highly polymorphic microhaplotype loci, the effectiveness values at the threshold of 2/−2 were 82.42% and 90.89% for relationship half-sibling vs. unrelated individuals and full-sibling vs. half-sibling. The short and highly polymorphic microhaplotype panel we developed may be very useful for paternity testing and full sibling testing in degraded samples, and in combination with short and highly polymorphic microhaplotype loci reported by other researchers, may be helpful to analyze more distant kinship relationships.

ObjectiveThe prevalence of glaucoma is rising due to an increasing aging population. Because of its insidious and irreversible nature, glaucoma has gradually become the focus of attention. We assessed primary open angle glaucoma, the most common type of glaucoma, to study its present status, global trend, and state of clinical research.MethodsPublications from 2000 to 2021 in Web of Science database were retrieved and analyzed by bibliometrics. VOSviewer and Citespace were used for analysis.ResultsA total of 6,401 publications were included in this review, and we found that the number of publications increased from 139 in 2000 to 563 in 2021. American researchers have published the most papers and had the highest h-index and the most citations, while the Journal of Glaucoma has published the most papers on this topic. Some key researchers, contributing institutions, their partnerships, and scientific masterpieces were identified. The publications we reviewed fall into seven categories: publications on intraocular pressure, normal tension glaucoma, risk factors, the trabecular meshwork, optical coherence tomography, surgery, and mutation. Clear study hotspots were described, which began with epidemiology and transitioned to pathogenesis and diagnosis and then to treatment.ConclusionStudies on primary open angle glaucoma extend well beyond ophthalmology to biochemistry molecular biology, general internal medicine, pharmacology, pharmacy, science technology, and other areas. Interest, research and publications on primary open angle glaucoma are on the rise.