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Abstract The auxin response factor (ARF) and auxin/indole-3-acetic acid (Aux/IAA) family of genes are central components of the auxin signaling pathway and play essential roles in plant growth and development. Their large-scale analysis and evolutionary trajectory of origin are currently not known. Here, we identified the corresponding ARF and Aux/IAA family members and performed a large-scale analysis by scanning 406 plant genomes. The results showed that the ARF and Aux/IAA gene families originated from charophytes. The ARF family sequences were more conserved than the Aux/IAA family sequences. Dispersed duplications were the common expansion mode of ARF and Aux/IAA families in bryophytes, ferns, and gymnosperms; however, whole-genome duplication was the common expansion mode of the ARF and Aux/IAA families in basal angiosperms, magnoliids, monocots, and dicots. Expression and regulatory network analyses revealed that the Arabidopsis thaliana ARF and Aux/IAA families responded to multiple hormone, biotic, and abiotic stresses. The APETALA2 and serum response factor-transcription factor gene families were commonly enriched in the upstream and downstream genes of the ARF and Aux/IAA gene families. Our study provides a comprehensive overview of the evolutionary trajectories, structural functions, expansion mechanisms, expression patterns, and regulatory networks of these two gene families.

Abstract Background CircRNAs play a crucial role in the regulation of various cancers. This study aims to investigate the involvement of circCHSY1 in the development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods RNA levels were quantified using qRT-PCR, and protein levels were measured by western blot. The stability of circCHSY1 was analyzed using RNase R. The functional effect of circCHSY1 on cell behavior was evaluated by CCK-8, EdU, flow cytometry, transwell, tube formation, and xenograft tumor model assays. The associations among circCHSY1, miR-1229-3p, and Tectonic-1 (TCTN1) were certified by bioinformatics analysis, dual-luciferase reporter assay, and RNA pull-down assay. Results CircCHSY1 was up-regulated in both ESCC tissues and cell lines in comparison with the control groups. Knockdown of circCHSY1 inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion, and tube formation and promoted apoptosis of ESCC cells. Mechanistically, circCHSY1 targeted miR-1229-3p, which was downregulated in ESCC tissues and cells. Inhibition of miR-1229-3p attenuated the effects mediated by circCHSY1 suppression. Besides, miR-1229-3p bound to TCTN1, and TCTN1 overexpression restored miR-1229-3p-induced effects in ESCC cells. Animal experiments revealed that circCHSY1 silencing suppressed tumor tumorigenesis in vivo. Conclusion CircCHSY1 contributed to ESCC cell malignancy, and the underlying mechanism involved the circCHSY1/miR-1229-3p/TCTN1 axis, providing potential therapeutic targets for ESCC.

Abstract Background To explore the role and mechanism of triptolide in regulating esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) progression by mediating the circular RNA (circRNA)‐related pathway. Methods The expression levels of circNOX4, miR‐153‐3p and special AT‐rich sequence binding protein‐1 (SATB1) were measured by qRT‐PCR. Cell proliferation was confirmed by cell counting kit‐8 assay and colony formation assay. Flow cytometry was employed to measure cell apoptosis and cell cycle process. Moreover, cell migration and invasion were detected using transwell assay. The protein levels of epithelial‐mesenchymal transformation markers and SATB1 were determined by western blot analysis. Furthermore, dual‐luciferase reporter assay and RIP assay were performed to confirm the interaction between miR‐153‐3p and circNOX4 or SATB1. Xenograft tumor models were built to verify the effects of triptolide and circNOX4 on ESCC tumor growth. Results CircNOX4 was highly expressed in ESCC tissues and cells, and its expression could be reduced by triptolide. Triptolide could inhibit ESCC proliferation, cell cycle process, migration, invasion, EMT process, and promote apoptosis, while these effects were reversed by circNOX4 overexpression. MiR‐153‐3p could be sponged by circNOX4, and the promotion effect of circNOX4 on the progression of triptolide‐treated ESCC cells was abolished by miR‐153‐3p overexpression. SATB1 was a target of miR‐153‐3p. Also, SATB1 knockdown reversed the enhancing effect of miR‐153‐3p inhibitor on the progression of triptolide‐treated ESCC cells. Triptolide reduced ESCC tumor growth by regulating the circNOX4/miR‐153‐3p/SATB1 axis. Conclusion Triptolide could hinder ESCC progression, which was mainly achieved by regulating the circNOX4/miR‐153‐3p/SATB1 axis.

The NODULE-INCEPTION-like protein (NLP) family is a plant-specific transcription factor (TF) family involved in nitrate transport and assimilation in plants, which are essential for improving plant nitrogen use efficiency. Currently, the molecular nature and evolutionary trajectory of NLP genes in the C4 model crop foxtail millet are unknown. Therefore, we performed a comprehensive analysis of NLP and molecular evolution in foxtail millet by scanning the genomes of foxtail millet and representative species of the plant kingdom. We identified seven NLP genes in the foxtail millet genome, all of which are individually and separately distributed on different chromosomes. They were not structurally identical to each other and were mainly expressed on root tissues. We unearthed two key genes (Si5G004100.1 and Si6G248300.1) with a variety of excellent characteristics. Regarding its molecular evolution, we found that NLP genes in Gramineae mainly underwent dispersed duplication, but maize NLP genes were mainly generated via WGD events. Other factors such as base mutations and natural selection have combined to promote the evolution of NLP genes. Intriguingly, the family in plants showed a gradual expansion during evolution with more duplications than losses, contrary to most gene families. In conclusion, this study advances the use of NLP genetic resources and the understanding of molecular evolution in cereals.

Minimally invasive esophagectomy for cancer surgery remains associated with significant morbidity and surgical complications across the globe. Non-intubation video-assisted thoracic surgery (NIVATS) has been successfully employed in lung resection in recent years, but there are few reported cases with regard to the safety and feasibility of this approach in radical esophagectomy for patients with esophageal cancers. We present 4 consecutive cases with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who received minimally invasive McKeown’s esophagectomy under non-intubation general anesthesia from November 2022 to April 2023. All these patients were aged from 55 to 75 years old and were pathologically diagnosed with ESCC. All procedures of McKeown’s esophagectomy in these patients were completed with non-invasive ventilation by laryngeal mask-assisted anesthesia. Operation duration ranged from 185 to 395 minutes and the estimated blood loss ranged from 25 to 60 ml in these 4 cases. No severe hypoxia was observed and transient hypercapnia was resolved intraoperatively. None of them was converted to endotracheal intubation with mechanical ventilation or to thoracotomy. The number of retrieved lymph nodes in mediastinum were 21-27 and all patients received R0 surgery with pathological stage as T1bN0M0 to T3N2M0. There was no serious complication (Clavien-Dindo grade III-IV) observed perioperatively and they were all discharged 11-14 days after the surgery with resumption of oral feeding. They are all alive without tumor recurrence at the date of data collection. The safety and efficacy of minimally invasive esophagectomy with non-invasive ventilation by laryngeal mask-assisted anesthesia for patients with ESCC are warranted for explored in a larger cohort study.

Background: Prior pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) might be associated with the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the impact of prior PTB on the risk of incident COPD has not been studied in a large prospective cohort study of the European population. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association of prior PTB with the risk of COPD. Design: Prospective cohort study. Methods: A multivariable Cox proportional model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for the association of prior PTB with COPD. Subgroup analyses were further conducted among individuals stratified by age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, drinking status, physical activity, and polygenic risk score (PRS). Results: The study involved a total of 216,130 participants, with a median follow-up period of 12.6 years and 2788 incident cases of COPD. Individuals with a prior history of PTB at baseline had an 87% higher risk of developing incident COPD compared to those without such history [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.87; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.26–2.77; p = 0.002]. Subgroup analysis revealed that individuals having prior PTB history presented a higher risk of incident COPD among individuals who were aged from 50 to 59 years with aHR of 2.47 (1.02–5.95, p = 0.044), older than 59 years with aHR of 1.81 (1.16–2.81, p = 0.008), male with aHR of 2.37 (1.47–3.83, p

Abstract Background The inefficient utilization of plant residues leads to serious environmental pollution and loss of plant nutrition. Nevertheless, the herbal residues including valuable mugwort have been rarely explored. Ensiling has been considered as a promising technique to reuse plant residues. Thus, this study investigated the effect of mugwort residues (M) and Lactiplantibacillus pentosus (LAB) on the fermentation quality, bacterial diversity, and metabolites of alfalfa silage after 60 days of ensiling. Results The results showed that compared with control, adding LAB, M and their combination significantly decreased pH (P 2)-galactoside] relevant to flavonoids (P

At present, many diseases are diagnosed by computer tomography (CT) image technology, which affects the health of the lives of millions of people. In the process of disease confrontation, it is very important for patients to detect diseases in the early stage by deep learning of 3D CT images. The paper offers a hybrid multi-instance learning model (HLFSRNN-MIL), which hybridizes high-low frequency feature fusion (HLFFF) with sequential recurrent neural network (SRNN) for CT image classification tasks. Firstly, the hybrid model uses Resnet-50 as the deep feature. The main feature of the HLFSRNN-MIL lies in its ability to make full use of the advantages of the HLFFF and SRNN methods to make up for their own weakness; i.e., the HLFFF can extract more targeted feature information to avoid the problem of excessive gradient fluctuation during training, and the SRNN is used to process the time-related sequences before classification. The experimental study of the HLFSRNN-MIL model is on two public CT datasets, namely, the Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) dataset on lung cancer and the China Consortium of Chest CT Image Investigation (CC-CCII) dataset on pneumonia. The experimental results show that the model exhibits better performance and accuracy. On the TCIA dataset, HLFSRNN-MIL with Residual Network (ResNet) as the feature extractor achieves an accuracy (ACC) of 0.992 and an area under curve (AUC) of 0.997. On the CC-CCII dataset, HLFSRNN-MIL achieves an ACC of 0.994 and an AUC of 0.997. Finally, compared with the existing methods, HLFSRNN-MIL has obvious advantages in all aspects. These experimental results demonstrate that HLFSRNN-MIL can effectively solve the disease problem in the field of 3D CT images.

Objective: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and irreversible interstitial lung disease with a poor prognosis. Alpinetin (ALP), derived from Alpinia katsumadai Hayata, has shown potential as a therapeutic measure of various diseases. However, the utilization of ALP in managing pulmonary fibrosis and its underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. Methods: A well-established mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin (BLM) was used in this study. The antifibrotic effects of ALP on histopathologic manifestations and expression levels of fibrotic markers were examined. Subsequently, the impact of ALP on fibroblast differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis, and associated signaling pathways was investigated to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Results: In the present study, we observed that ALP effectively mitigated BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice, as evidenced by histopathological manifestations and the expression levels of fibrotic markers. Furthermore, the in vitro experiments demonstrated that ALP treatment attenuated the ability of fibroblasts to differentiate into myofibroblasts. Mechanically, our findings provided evidence that ALP suppressed fibroblast-to-myofibroblast differentiation by repressing TGF-β/ALK5/Smad signaling pathway. ALP was found to possess the capability of inhibiting fibroblast proliferation and promoting apoptosis of fibroblasts induced by TGF-β. Conclusion: In general, ALP may exert therapeutic effects on pulmonary fibrosis by modulating the differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis of fibroblasts. Although its safety has been demonstrated in mice, further studies are required to investigate the efficacy of ALP in treatment of patients with IPF.

Abstract Background In the evolutionary study of gene families, exploring the duplication mechanisms of gene families helps researchers understand their evolutionary history. The tubby-like protein (TLP) family is essential for growth and development in plants and animals. Much research has been done on its function; however, limited information is available with regard to the evolution of the TLP gene family. Herein, we systematically investigated the evolution of TLP genes in seven representative Poaceae lineages. Results Our research showed that the evolution of TLP genes was influenced not only by whole-genome duplication (WGD) and dispersed duplication (DSD) but also by transposed duplication (TRD), which has been neglected in previous research. For TLP family size, we found an evolutionary pattern of progressive shrinking in the grass family. Furthermore, the evolution of the TLP gene family was at least affected by evolutionary driving forces such as duplication, purifying selection, and base mutations. Conclusions This study presents the first comprehensive evolutionary analysis of the TLP gene family in grasses. We demonstrated that the TLP gene family is also influenced by a transposed duplication mechanism. Several new insights into the evolution of the TLP gene family are presented. This work provides a good reference for studying gene evolution and the origin of duplication.

BackgroundCurrently, tuberculous pleurisy (TP) remains a serious problem affecting global public health, including in China. Our purpose was to comprehensively understand and identify the incidence of TP in mainland China between 2005 and 2018.MethodsThe data on registered TP cases from 2005 to 2018 were acquired from the National Tuberculosis Information Management System. We analyzed the demographics, epidemiology, and time-space distribution of TP patients. Then, the effects of potentially influential factors on TP incidences, such as medical expenses per capita, GDP per capita, and population density, were assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient.ResultsThe incidence of TP increased in mainland China from 2005 to 2018, with a mean incidence of 2.5 per 100,000 population. Interestingly, spring was the peak season for TP, with more notified cases. Tibet, Beijing, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia had the highest mean annual incidence. A moderate positive relationship was found between TP incidence, medical expenses per capita, and GDP per capita.ConclusionsThe notified incidence of TP had an elevated trend from 2005 to 2018 in mainland China. The findings of this study provide insight into the knowledge of TP epidemiology in the country, which can help optimize resource allocation to reduce the TP burden.

Abstract Background When researchers perform gene family analysis, they often analyze the structural characteristics of the gene, such as the distribution of introns and exons. At the same time, characteristic structural analysis of amino acid sequence is also essential, for example, motif and domain features. Researchers often integrate these analyses into one image to dig out more information, but the tools responsible for this integration are lacking. Results Here, we developed a tool (CFVisual) for drawing gene structure and protein architecture. CFVisual can draw the phylogenetic tree, gene structure, and protein architecture in one picture, and has rich interactive capabilities, which can meet the work needs of researchers. Furthermore, it also supports arbitrary stitching of the above analysis images. It has become a useful helper in gene family analysis. The CFVisual package was implemented in Python and is freely available from https://github.com/ChenHuilong1223/CFVisual/ . Conclusion CFVisual has been used by some researchers and cited by some articles. In the future, CFVisual will continue to serve as a good helper for researchers in the study of gene structure and protein architecture.

BackgroundNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) poses a substantial socioeconomic burden and is becoming the fastest growing driver of chronic liver disease, potentially accompanied by a poor prognosis. ObjectiveWe aim to elucidate the global and regional epidemiologic changes in NAFLD during the past 30 years and explore the interconnected diseases. MethodsData on NAFLD incidence, prevalence, death, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The age-standardized incident rate (ASIR), age-standardized prevalent rate (ASPR), age-standardized death rate (ASDR), and age-standardized DALYs were calculated to eliminate the confounding effects of age when comparing the epidemiologic changes between different geographical regions. In addition, we also investigated the correlation between the NAFLD burden and the sociodemographic index (SDI). Finally, the associations of the 3 common comorbidities with NAFLD were determined. ResultsGlobally, the incidence and prevalence of NAFLD both increased drastically during the past 3 decades (incidence: from 88,180 in 1990 to 172,330 in 2019, prevalence: from 561,370,000 in 1990 to 1,235,700,000 in 2019), mainly affecting young adults who were aged from 15 to 49 years. The ASIR increased slightly from 1.94 per 100,000 population in 1990 to 2.08 per 100,000 population in 2019, while ASPR increased from 12,070 per 100,000 population in 1990 to 15,020 per 100,000 population in 2019. In addition, the number of deaths and DALYs attributable to NAFLD increased significantly as well from 93,760 in 1990 to 168,970 in 2019 and from 2,711,270 in 1990 to 4,417,280 in 2019, respectively. However, the ASDR and age-standardized DALYs presented decreasing trends with values of estimated annual percentage change equaling to –0.67 and –0.82, respectively (ASDR: from 2.39 per 100,000 population in 1990 to 2.09 per 100,000 population in 2019; age-standardized DALYs: from 63.28 per 100,000 population in 1990 to 53.33 per 100,000 population in 2019). Thereinto, the burden of death and DALYs dominated the patients with NAFLD who are older than 50 years. Moreover, SDI appeared to have obvious negative associations with ASPR, ASDR, and age-standardized DALYs among 21 regions and 204 countries, although there is no marked association with ASIR. Finally, we found that the incidence and prevalence of NAFLD were positively related to those of diabetes mellitus type 2, stroke, and ischemic heart disease. ConclusionsNAFLD is leading to increasingly serious health challenges worldwide. The morbidity presented a clear shift toward the young populations, while the heavier burden of death and DALYs in NAFLD was observed in the aged populations and in regions with relatively low SDI. Comprehensive acquisition of the epidemiologic pattern for NAFLD and the identification of high-risk comorbidities may help policy makers and clinical physicians develop cost-effective prevention and control strategies, especially in countries with a high NAFLD burden.

Abstract Background Maternal sepsis and other maternal infections (MSMI) have considerable impacts on women’s and neonatal health, but data on the global burden and trends of MSMI are limited. Comprehensive knowledge of the burden and trend patterns of MSMI is important to allocate resources, facilitate the establishment of tailored prevention strategies and implement effective clinical treatment measures. Methods Based on data from the Global Burden of Disease database, we analysed the global burden of MSMI by the incidence, death, disability-adjusted life year (DALY) and maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in the last 30 years. Then, the trends of MSMI were assessed by the estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) of MMR as well as the age-standardized rate (ASR) of incidence, death and DALY. Moreover, we determined the effect of sociodemographic index (SDI) on MSMI epidemiological parameters. Results Although incident cases almost stabilized from 1990 to 2015, the ASR of incidence, death, DALY and MMR steadily decreased globally from 1990 to 2019. The burden of MSMI was the highest in the low SDI region with the fastest downward trends. MSMI is still one of the most important causes of maternal death in the developed world. Substantial diversity of disease burden and trends occurred in different regions and individual countries, most of which had reduced burden and downward trends. The MMR and ASR were negatively correlated with corresponding SDI value in 2019 in 204 countries/territories and 21 regions. Conclusion These findings highlight significant improvement in MSMI care in the past three decades, particularly in the low and low-middle SDI regions. However, the increased burden and upward trends of MSMI in a few countries and regions are raising concern, which poses a serious challenge to maternal health. More tailored prevention measures and additional resources for maternal health are urgently needed to resolve this problem.

IntroductionInfective endocarditis (IE) presents with increasing incidence and mortality in some regions and countries, as well as serious socioeconomic burden. The current study aims to compare and interpret the IE burden and temporal trends globally and in different regions from 1990 to 2019.MethodsData on the incidence, deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) caused by IE were extracted and analyzed from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) were adopted to quantify the change trends of age-standardized rates (ASRs). Besides, potential contributors of serious IE burden were also evaluated including age, gender, social-demographic index (SDI), and age-standardized incident rate (ASIR) in 1990.ResultsGlobally, the number of IE cases and deaths has increased sharply during the past 30 years from 478,000 in 1990 to 1,090,530 in 2019 and from 28,750 in 1990 to 66,320 in 2019, and both presented an upward temporal trend annually (EAPC:1.2 for incidence and 0.71 for death). However, the EAPC of age-standardized DALYs demonstrated a negative temporal trend despite increasing DALYs from 1,118,120 in 1990 to 1,723,590 in 2019. Moreover, older patients and men were more severely affected. Meanwhile, different SDI regions had different disease burdens, and correlation analyses indicated that SDI presented a positive association with ASIR (R = 0.58, P < 0.0001), no association with age-standardized death rate (R = −0.06, P = 0.10), and a negative association with age-standardized DALYs (R = −0.40, P < 0.0001). In addition, the incidence of IE increased in most countries during the past 30 years (190 out of 204 countries). However, the change trends of deaths and DALYs were heterogeneous across regions and countries. Finally, we discovered positive associations of the EAPC of ASRs with the SDI in 2019 among 204 countries and territories but few associations with the ASIR in 1990.ConclusionGenerally, the global burden of IE is increasing, and there is substantial heterogeneity in different genders, ages and regions, which may help policy-makers and medical staff respond to IE and formulate cost-effective interventional measures.

Objective To analyze the serotypes and molecular type of Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated from food, clinical case and environment in Fujian Province, so as to provide reference for the outbreak identification and traceability of foodborne diseases. Methods Using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) serotyping, immune serum agglutination and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to classify the strains. Results The 117 strains of Listeria monocytogenes strains were divided into 4 PCR serotypes, 67.5% (79/117) of which were 1/2a (3a), 23.1% (27/117) were 1/2b (3b), 5.1% (6/117) were 1/2c (3c) and 4.3% (5/117) were 4b (4d, 4e). Among the 9 strains isolated from cases, 6 strains were 1/2a, 2 strains were 4b and 1 strain was 1/2b. 117 Listeria monocytogenes strains were divided into 83 different PFGE types by Asc I restriction endonucleases, and 10 strains of which had unique and single types. Nine clinical case isolates were divided into 8 different PFGE types. Conclusion 1/2a serotype was dominant in Listeria monocytogenes isolated from food and clinical specimens in Fujian Province, and 4b serotype should be concerned.

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a newly emerging infectious disease and rapidly escalating epidemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The pathogenesis of COVID-19 remains to be elucidated. We aimed to clarify correlation of systemic inflammation with disease severity and outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Methods In this retrospective study, baseline characteristics, laboratory findings, and treatments were compared among 317 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients with moderate, severe, or critically ill form of the disease. Moreover, the longitudinal changes of serum cytokines, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and hsCRP to lymphocyte count ratio (hsCRP/L) as well as their associations with disease severity and outcomes were investigated in 68 COVID-19 patients. Results Within 24 h of admission, the critically ill patients showed higher concentrations of inflammatory markers including serum soluble interleukin (IL)-2 receptor, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), ferritin, procalcitonin, LDH, hsCRP, and hsCRP/L than patients with severe or moderate disease. The severe cases displayed the similar response patterns when compared with moderate cases. The longitudinal assays showed the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, LDH, hsCRP, and hsCRP/L gradually declined within 10 days post admission in moderate, severe cases or those who survived. However, there was no significant reduction in cytokines, LDH, hsCRP, and hsCRP/L levels in critically ill or deceased patients throughout the course of illness. Compared with female patients, male cases showed higher serum concentrations of soluble IL-2R, IL-6, ferritin, procalcitonin, LDH, and hsCRP. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that IL-6 > 50 pg/mL and LDH > 400 U/L on admission were independently associated with disease severity in patients with COVID-19. Conclusion Exuberant inflammatory responses within 24 h of admission in patients with COVID-19 may correlate with disease severity. SARS-CoV-2 infection appears to elicit a sex-based differential immune response. IL-6 and LDH were independent predictive parameters for assessing the severity of COVID-19. An early decline of these inflammation markers may be associated with better outcomes.

Growth-regulating factor (GRF) is a multigene family that plays a vital role in the growth and development of plants. In the past, the GRF family of many plants has been studied. However, there is not a report about identification and evolution of GRF in foxtail millet (Setaria italia). Here, we identified 10 GRF genes in foxtail millet. Seven (70.00%) were regulated by Sit-miR396, and there were 19 optimal codons in GRFs of foxtail millet. Additionally, we found that WGD or segmental duplication have affected GRFs in foxtail millet between 15.07 and 45.97 million years ago. Regarding the GRF gene family of land plants, we identified a total of 157 GRF genes in 15 representative land plants. We found that GRF gene family originated from Group E, and the GRF gene family in monocots was gradually shrinking. Also, more loss resulted from the small number of GRF genes in lower plants. Exploring the evolution of GRF and functional analysis in the foxtail millet help us to understand GRF better and make a further study about the mechanism of GRF. These results provide a basis for the genetic improvement of foxtail millet and indicate an improvement of the yield.

Clinical Trial Registrationwww.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04365634.ContextDiabetes mellitus was associated with increased severity and mortality of disease in COVID-19 pneumonia. So far the effect of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) or hyperglycemia on the immune system among COVID-19 disease has remained unclear.ObjectiveWe aim to explore the clinical and immunological features of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among COVID-19 patients.Design and MethodsIn this retrospective study, the clinical and immunological characteristics of 306 hospitalized confirmed COVID-19 patients (including 129 diabetic and 177 non-diabetic patients) were analyzed. The serum concentrations of laboratory parameters including cytokines and numbers of immune cells were measured and compared between diabetic and non-diabetic groups.ResultsCompared with non-diabetic group, diabetic cases more frequently had lymphopenia and hyperglycemia, with higher levels of urea nitrogen, myoglobin, D-dimer and ferritin. Diabetic cases indicated the obviously elevated mortality and the higher levels of cytokines IL‐2R, IL‐6, IL‐8, IL‐10, and TNF‐α, as well as the distinctly reduced Th1/Th2 cytokines ratios compared with non-diabetic cases. The longitudinal assays showed that compared to that at week 1, the levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were significantly elevated at week 2 after admission in non-survivors of diabetic cases, whereas there were greatly reductions from week 1 to week 2 in survivors of diabetic cases. Compared with survival diabetic patients, non-survival diabetic cases displayed distinct higher serum concentrations of IL-2R, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF‐α, and lower Th1/Th2 cytokines ratios at week 2. Samples from a subset of participants were evaluated by flow cytometry for the immune cells. The counts of peripheral total T lymphocytes, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells and NK cells were markedly lower in diabetic cases than in non-diabetic cases. The non-survivors showed the markedly declined counts of CD8+ T cells and NK cells than survivors.ConclusionThe elevated cytokines, imbalance of Th1/Th2 cytokines ratios and reduced of peripheral numbers of CD8+ T cells and NK cells might contribute to the pathogenic mechanisms of high mortality of COVID-19 patients with T2DM.

Background: Dengue is one of the most common vector-borne diseases globally, however, its burden is poorly quantified. Hence, we aimed to report the dengue burden in 195 countries and territories between 1990 and 2017, using data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017. Methods: Following the methodology framework and analytical strategies used in the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, we analysed the incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of dengue in geographically defined populations worldwide between 1990 and 2017. We also determined the association between development levels and dengue burden. All estimates were reported as numbers and rates per 100 000 population, with 95% uncertainty intervals. Findings: Globally, the total number of dengue cases increased from 23 283 274 (95% UI 453 180.7–51 840 670) in 1990 to 104 771 911 (95% UI 63 759 019–158 870 031) in 2017. The age-standardised incidence rate increased from 431.6 (8.4–961.0) per 100 000 population in 1990 to 1371.3 (834.5–2079.3) per 100 000 population in 2017. In addition, the number of deaths due to dengue increased from approximately16 957 (7 613–30 091) in 1990 to 40 467 (17 620–49 778) in 2017. Meanwhile, the global age-standardised death rate increased from 0.31 (0.14–0•56) per 100 000 population in 1990 to 0.53 (0.23–0•65) per 100 000 population in 2017. Overall, there were 2 922 630 DALYs (1 629 424–3 967 492) attributed to dengue in 2017 globally, an increase of 107.6% since 1990 (1 407 571 DALYs [624 016.4–2 510 025]), and the age-standardised DALY rate increased from 26.10 (11.57–46.53) per 100 000 population to 38.25 (21.33–51.93) per 100 000 population between 1990 and 2017. The association between socio-demographic index (SDI) and dengue-related DALYs suggested that the lowest age-standardised DALY rates were found in countries in the low and high-SDI quintile in 2017, and from 1990 to 2017, the age-standardized DALY rate tended to increase in regions with the lowest SDI but declined in regions with the highest SDI. There was a nonlinear association between the socio-demographic index and the healthcare access and quality index and age-standardised DALY rates. Interpretation: Dengue is a major public health challenge worldwide. While there is remarkable international variation in its incidence, the dengue burden is increasing globally. The results of this study could be useful for policy makers to implement cost-effective interventions and reduce the dengue burden, particularly in countries with high incidence or increasing burden. Funding: This work was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (grant numbers 81,800,041 and 82,000,078).

In order to study the effect of groove parameters on solid particles’ deposition in mechanical face seal lubrication film, a multi-phase flow calculation model for the sealing micro-gap lubricating film was established based on the Laminar model, mixture multi-phase flow model, Zwart–Gerber–Belamri cavitation model, and DPM model in Fluent, and a numerical simulation of the effect of groove parameters is presented. The results show that, with the increase of groove depth, the circumferential sedimentary zone in the dam area decreases or even disappears, and the groove area becomes the main sedimentary part; the particle deposition rate decreases first and then increases with the increase of groove depth and spiral angle. The influence of groove depth on the deposition rate at low speed is more significant than that at high speed. The increase of deposition rate caused by a spiral angle that is too large is greater than that caused by a spiral angle that is too small. The optimal groove depth and spiral angle are around 6 µm and 18°, respectively; when the rotating speed is 1000 rpm, the deposition rate increases obviously with the increase of the groove diameter ratio; meanwhile, when the rotating speed increases to more than 2000 rpm, the deposition rate increases first and then decreases with the increase of the groove diameter ratio. When the groove diameter ratio is about 0.5, the deposition rate is the largest. For example, when the rotating speed is 2000 rpm, the deposition rate of the groove diameter ratio, 0.5, is about 200% higher than that of groove diameter ratio, 0.2. The lower the speed, the more sensitive the deposition rate is to the groove diameter ratio. The sensitivity at 1000 rpm is 14 times that at 5000 rpm. The deposition rate increases with the increase of the groove width ratio. The higher the rotating speed, the smaller the rate of deposition rate increase. However, when the rotating speed is 5000 rpm and the groove width ratio is higher than 0.7, the deposition rate increases sharply.

Safety and reliable operation is one of the most important research areas for centrifugal pump systems, due to the interaction of complex flow, large structural load, and vibration caused by the operation of the impeller. To analyze the internal flow and impeller deformation of the centrifugal pump, the single-stage single-suction centrifugal pump titled IS100-80-160 was selected as the research object. Under the principle of single variable, the turbulent flow and structural response of three impellers designed by different parameters were calculated by CFX and ANSYS Workbench. A numerical simulation of steady flow at different flow rates of the centrifugal pump was carried out, and its hydraulic performance is consistent with the corresponding experimental results. By comparing the deformation of the impeller rotor system, it was found that the closed impeller has the worst stability with the best hydraulic performance; the impeller with split blades has the worst stability with the best hydraulic performance. This study could enhance the understanding of impeller FSI on centrifugal pump stability and provide a reference for improving the operational stability of centrifugal pumps.

Three-dimensional hierarchical Co3O4 nanobooks have been synthesized successfully on a large scale by calcining orthorhombic Co(CO3)0.5(OH)·0.11H2O precursors with identical morphologies. Based on the influence of reaction time and urea concentration on the nanostructures of the precursors, a stepwise splitting growth mechanism can be proposed to understand the formation of the 3D nanobooks. The 3D Co3O4 nanobooks exhibit excellent pseudocapacitive performances with specific capacitances of 590, 539, 476, 453, and 421 F/g at current densities of 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 A/g, respectively. The devices can retain ca. 97.4% of the original specific capacitances after undergoing charge–discharge cycle tests 1000 times continuously at 4 A/g.

In order to study the cavitation area of the Upstream Pumping Mechanical Seal, three-dimensional microgap inner flow field of the Upstream Pumping Mechanical Seal was simulated with multiphase flow cavitation model and dynamic mesh technique based on hydrodynamic lubrication theory. Furthermore, the simulated result was compared with the experimental data. The results show that the simulated result with the Zwart-Gerber-Belamri cavitation model was much closer to the experimental data. The area of cavitation inception mainly occurred at the concave side of the spiral groove and surrounding region without spiral grooves, which was nearly covered by the inner diameter to roots of grooves; in addition, the region near the surface of the stationary ring was primary cavitation location. The area of cavitation has little relationship with the medium pressure; however, it became larger following increasing rotating speed in the range of researched operating conditions. Moreover the boundary of cavitated area was transformed from smooth to rough, which occurred in similar film thickness. When cavitation number was decreasing, which was conducive to improving the lubrication performance of sealed auxiliary, it made the sealing stability decline.

A new approach to optimizing a double-channel pump was presented, based on combined use of orthogonal test, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and experimental analysis. First, a preliminary pump was designed according to design specifications, implementing the traditional design method. Later, a standard L 9 (3 4 ) orthogonal table including 9 representative design schemes was implemented to find the best parameter combination for the impeller of the pump. Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations accompanied by Smith modified k -ε turbulence model were solved to obtain the inner flow fields of the pump as well as its hydraulic performance for each design scheme. The optimized design scheme was obtained after range analysis. Finally, CFD analyses and experiments were carried out to evaluate the optimized design. The results show that the characteristics of the optimized pump were obviously improved, and the simulated pump head and efficiency increased by 3.622% and 9.379%, respectively. This research not only provides an effective way to improve the hydraulic design of double-channel pumps, but also has certain reference value in multiobjectiveoptimization design of other pumps.

Model reuse is a key issue to be resolved in parallel and distributed simulation at present. However, component models built by different domain experts usually have diversiform interfaces, couple tightly, and bind with simulation platforms closely. As a result, they are difficult to be reused across different simulation platforms and applications. To address the problem, this paper first proposed a reusable component model framework. Based on this framework, then our reusable model development approach is elaborated, which contains two phases: (1) domain experts create simulation computational modules observing three principles to achieve their independence; (2) model developer encapsulates these simulation computational modules with six standard service interfaces to improve their reusability. The case study of a radar model indicates that the model developed using our approach has good reusability and it is easy to be used in different simulation platforms and applications.

Lung cancer with the highest mortality rate has attracted public attention. For the difficulty of treating lung cancer increases sharply over time, detecting lung cancer symptoms early on chest computed tomography (CT) is crucial for the subsequent treatment. The number of slices can affect the accuracy of lung cancer examination, so a deep multiple instance learning algorithm was designed and proposed to classify lung cancer effectively. First, feature information is extracted in the patient 3D CT image using the high and low frequency high dimensional features (HLFHD) to balance local detail and global overall information of images. Secondly, to find the decisive features, a sliding recurrent neural network (MSRNN) module is used to take into account the feature variations between slices. The experimental studies in this paper were constructed on two public datasets, namely, CIA and CC-CCII data. Finally, the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve an ACC of 0.97 and an AUC of 0.99 on the datasets. These results suggest that the proposed algorithm is well suited for lung cancer classification of any number of CT slices, and it can be effectively employed in computer-aided systems to achieve state-of-the-art performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimally invasive esophagectomy for cancer surgery remains associated with significant morbidity and surgical complications across the globe. Nonintubation video-assisted thoracic surgery (NIVATS) has been successfully employed in lung resection in recent years, but there are few reported cases with regard to the safety and feasibility of this approach in radical esophagectomy for patients with esophageal cancers. We present 4 consecutive cases with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who received minimally invasive McKeown's esophagectomy under non-intubation general anesthesia from November 2022 to April 2023. All these patients were aged from 55 to 75 years old and were pathologically diagnosed with ESCC. All procedures of McKeown's esophagectomy in these patients were completed with non-invasive ventilation by laryngeal mask-assisted anesthesia. Operation duration ranged from 185 to 395 minutes and the estimated blood loss ranged from 25 to 60 ml in these 4 cases. No severe hypoxia was observed and transient hypercapnia was resolved intraoperatively. None of them was converted to endotracheal intubation with mechanical ventilation or to thoracotomy. The number of retrieved lymph nodes in mediastinum were 21-27 and all patients received R0 surgery with pathological stage as T1bN0M0 to T3N2M0. There was no serious complication (Clavien-Dindo grade III-IV) observed perioperatively and they were all discharged 11-14 days after the surgery with resumption of oral feeding. They are all alive without tumor recurrence at the date of data collection. The safety and efficacy of minimally invasive esophagectomy with non-invasive ventilation by laryngeal mask-assisted anesthesia for patients with ESCC are warranted for explored in a larger cohort study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]