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Here, we reported the complete profiling of the crotonylation proteome in common wheat. Through a combination of crotonylation and multi-omics analysis, we identified a TaPGK associated with wheat cold stress. Then, we confirmed the positive role of TaPGK-modulating wheat cold tolerance. Meanwhile, we found that cold stress induced lysine crotonylation of TaPGK. Moreover, we screened a lysine decrotonylase TaSRT1 interacting with TaPGK and found that TaSRT1 negatively regulated wheat cold tolerance. We subsequently demonstrated TaSRT1 inhibiting the accumulation of TaPGK protein, and this inhibition was possibly resulted from decrotonylation of TaPGK by TaSRT1. Transcriptome sequencing indicated that overexpression of TaPGK activated glycolytic key genes and thereby increased pyruvate content. Moreover, we found that exogenous application of pyruvate sharply enhanced wheat cold tolerance. These findings suggest that the TaSRT1-TaPGK model regulating wheat cold tolerance is possibly through mediating pyruvate. This study provided two valuable cold tolerance genes and dissected diverse mechanism of glycolytic pathway involving in wheat cold stress.

To accurately extract the gum line of teeth from the three-dimensional dental model, a new method based on the traditional Dijkstra shortest path algorithm with Sigmoid curvature transformation is proposed in this paper. The curvature of each vertex of the dental model is transformed based on the sigmoid function, and each edge of the model is assigned with corresponding weight, then the shortest path representing the gum line of teeth is calculated. Also, a queue optimization and storage structure optimization strategy is used to make the algorithm implementation efficient. The experimental results show that the proposed tooth segmentation method can extract the gum line of tooth boundary accurately.

Background Circular RNA (circRNA) has been shown to affect the pathological process of osteoarthritis (OA) and is expected to become a potential marker for disease diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate the association between circRNA derived from the gene of runt‐related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) and OA risk. Methods The expression profile of RUNX2‐derived circRNAs in serum of OA patients was detected. Then, the cytological localization of screened differential circRNAs was studied. Luciferase (LUC) reporter assay was used to identify the microRNA (miRNA) sponge capacity of the circRNAs. Bioinformatics analysis was used to construct the functional pathway of this circRNA‐miRNAs network. And then, the diagnostic value of RUNX2‐derived circRNAs in OA was evaluated. Results RUNX2‐derived hsa_circ_0005526 (circ_RUNX2) is significantly highly expressed in OA serum and mainly located in the cytoplasm within the cartilage cell by sponging multiple miRNAs (miR‐498, miR‐924, miR‐361‐3p, and miR‐665). Bioinformatics analysis showed ECM‐receptor interaction pathway ranked the most significant pathway of circ_RUNX2‐miRNAs regulatory network in KEGG database. The ROC curve showed that there may be good diagnostic value of serum circ_RUNX2 in OA. Conclusion RUNX2‐derived circ_RUNX2 may be involved in OA development via ECM‐receptor interaction pathways and may be used as potential clinical indicator of OA., RUNX2‐derived hsa_circ_0005526 (circ_RUNX2) was significantly highly expressed in OA serum and sponged by multiple miRNAs (miR‐498, miR‐924, miR‐361‐3p, and miR‐665), which may be served as potential diagnostic marker in OA.

BACKGROUND The present study evaluated the effects of diazine (DZN) on collagenase-induced osteoarthritis (OA) in rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS OA was produced via intra-articular injections of collagenase type II into the knee joint. The rats were then treated with DZN (25, 50, or 100 mg/kg, p.o.) for three weeks. At the end of the protocol, all rats were evaluated for paw latency, paw edema, and knee swelling. Additionally, serum concentrations of glycosaminoglycan (GAG), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined. X-rays were performed to estimate radiological and histopathological changes in the knee joint. The expressions of antioxidant enzymes, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) were estimated in the synovial tissues. RESULTS DZN treatment attenuated inflammation in osteoarthritic rats, as evidenced by decreases in paw edema and knee swelling and enhanced paw latency compared to the negative control group. Additionally, there were significant decreases in the serum levels of CRP and GAG and increases in ALP in the DZN-treated groups compared to the negative control group. The radiological and histopathological results showed that DZN protected against cartilage damage in the knee joint. Additionally, MMP levels decreased and there were significant reductions in the expressions of antioxidant enzymes and TIPMs in the DZN-treated groups compared to the negative control group. CONCLUSIONS The present findings demonstrated the chondroprotective effects of DZN via its modulation of the expressions of TIMP-1 and MMPs in the synovial tissues of osteoarthritic rats.

Purpose The ideal web reconstruction for syndactyly requires both satisfactory function and aesthetic appearance. In this study, we report a dorsal hexagon local flap with adequate size and that leaves most of the scars in the interdigital space. Methods Between June 2015 and June 2017, 16 patients (10 males and 6 females) with 22 syndactylies underwent surgical reconstruction using the dorsal hexagon local flap technique. All patients had simple syndactyly. The postoperative evaluation included the quality of scarring, the extent of flexion and extension deformity, web creep, lateral flexion deformity, and rotational deformity of the digit. Results All flaps survived and there were no postoperative complications. All patients achieved satisfactory interdigital commissure depth. During 12 to 34 months of follow-up, no case of flexion contracture or web creep after reconstruction was noted. Conclusions The dorsal hexagon local flap is an alternative method for syndactyly reconstruction. Type of study/level of evidence Therapeutic IV.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent disease, which is associated with extracellular matrix degradation and cell death in articular cartilage. The aim of the present study was to identify whether tetrahydrohyperforin (IDN5706) ameliorates the degeneration of articular cartilage and affects autophagy in OA. The rat model of experimental OA was induced by intra-articular injection of collagenase solution. IDN5706 was administered intragastrically to rats for 6 weeks. Histopathological changes in articular cartilage were examined using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and safranin O staining, and Mankin scoring systems. The effect of IDN5706 on autophagy was examined using western blotting. ELISA was performed to detect cartilage inflammation. H&E and safranin O staining, Mankin scores, and electron microscopy indicated that IDN5706 could lessen the degeneration of articular cartilage in OA rats. In addition, western blotting revealed that IDN5706 treatment may activate the suppressed autophagy in OA rats. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that IDN5706 was able to reduce the severity of experimental OA, alleviate the degeneration of articular cartilage, and affect autophagy in OA model rats.

Osteosarcomas (OSs) represent a huge challenge to improve the overall survival, especially in metastatic patients. Increasing evidence indicates that both tumor-associated elements but also on host-associated elements are under a remarkable effect on the prognosis of cancer patients, especially systemic inflammatory response. By analyzing a series prognosis of factors, including age, gender, primary tumor size, tumor location, tumor grade, and histological classification, monocyte ratio, and NLR ratio, a clinical predictive model was established by using stepwise logistic regression involved circulating leukocyte to compute the estimated probabilities of metastases for OS patients. The clinical predictive model was described by the following equations: probability of developing metastases = ex/(1 + ex), x = −2.150 + (1.680 × monocyte ratio) + (1.533 × NLR ratio), where is the base of the natural logarithm, the assignment to each of the 2 variables is 1 if the ratio >1 (otherwise 0). The calculated AUC of the receiver-operating characteristic curve as 0.793 revealed well accuracy of this model (95% CI, 0.740–0.845). The predicted probabilities that we generated with the cross-validation procedure had a similar AUC (0.743; 95% CI, 0.684–0.803). The present model could be used to improve the outcomes of the metastases by developing a predictive model considering circulating leukocyte influence to estimate the pretest probability of developing metastases in patients with OS.

In the past decade, grating-based X-ray phase contrast imaging has attracted increasing attention. Particular efforts have been devoted to develop new information extraction method for its forthcoming practical applications. Here we discuss the noise properties of a new acquisition protocol, dubbed the "reverse projection" (RP) method, using the error propagation formula. We present a quantitative analysis of the signal-to-noise ratio of X-ray grating interferometry with this new method. As the major sources of noise, the contributions from photon statistics and mechanical errors are discussed in detail. The results show how the system parameters impact on the extracted absorption and refraction images and how they can be used to optimize the system design for foreseen practical applications, such as biomedical imaging and materials science. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The photoionization of Ne·CO complex in the energy region of 13.8–14.2 eV was investigated with photoionization mass spectrometry using a synchrotron radiation source in Hefei. The ionization energy (IE) of Ne·CO is determined to be 13.965 eV from its photoionization efficiency curve whose characterization is affected by the photoabsorption of CO molecule. The equilibrium geometry and harmonic vibrational frequencies of Ne·CO and Ne·CO + are calculated using cc-pVTZ basis sets at the QCISD level of theory. The results indicate that they are of a skewed T-shaped structure and show the configuration changes accompanying the ionization of Ne·CO complex. The parameters of thermo-chemistry of Ne·CO and Ne·CO + are calculated using Gaussian-2 method, which provide information concerning the reduction of the ionization potentials of CO in the Ne·CO complex, relative to that of the bare molecule.

RgNO (Rg=He, Ne, Ar and Kr) complexes were studied using ab initio calculations. The neutral RgNO complex geometry and vibrational frequencies were calculated with the cc-pVDZ basis set at the CCSD(T) level of theory. The calculations show that the geometry of the RgNO complexes is a skewed T-shape with the Rg atom on the oxygen side of the NO molecule, and that the RgNO bond angle increases with mass. The dissociation energies (DE) and ionization energies (IE) of the neutral RgNO complexes, and the dissociation energies of RgNO+ ionic complexes were calculated using Gaussian-2 (G2) methods and a high accuracy energy model. The ionization energies of the neutral RgNO complexes range from 9.265 eV for HeNO to 9.132 eV for KrNO and the dissociation energies of RgNO+ range from 0.017 eV for HeNO+ to 0.156 eV for KrNO+, in line with the expectation based on the increasing polarizability of the Rg atom.

VUV dissociative photoionization of CHF 2 Cl in an energy region ∼12–22 eV was investigated with photoionization mass spectroscopy (PIMS) using synchrotron radiation (SR). The ionization energy of CHF 2 Cl and appearance energies for its fragment ions, CHF 2 + , CF + , CHF + , CHFCl + , CF 2 + , Cl + , CFCl + , CCl + , HCl + , CF 2 Cl + , H + and CHCl + , were determined with photoionization efficiency spectroscopy (PIES). The dissociation energies of some possible dissociation channels to produce those fragment ions were also determined experimentally. The total energies of CHF 2 Cl and its main photofragments were calculated using Gaussian 98 program and Gaussian – 2 calculations. And then, the ionization energy of CHF 2 Cl, appearance potentials for its fragment ions, and the dissociation energies to produce them were predicted using high accuracy energy model. The mechanism of photoionization and photodissociation of CHF 2 Cl was discussed deeply based on comparison of our experimental results with those predicted theoretically. According to our research results, the experimental dissociation energies were in reasonable agreement with either the calculated dissociation energies ( E d ) or the reaction barriers V (G2) of possible photodissociation channels of CHF 2 Cl.

Photoionization and fragmentation of CHF 2 Cl were studied with photoionization mass spectroscopy (PIMS) and photoionization efficiency spectroscopy (PIES) at NSRL. Ionization potential of CHF 2 Cl was obtained and major fragment ions CHF 2 + , CHFCl + , CHF + , and CF + were observed with their appearance energies, respectively. Dissociation energies of some possible dissociation channels were deduced. The processes of photoionization and fragmentation of CHF 2 Cl are discussed based on the comparison between determined appearance energies and energies predicted by the Gaussian-2 calculations.

Photoionization of Ar⋅NO complex is studied with photoionization mass spectroscopy (PIMS) and Photoionization efficiency spectroscopy (PIES) by synchrotron radiation, supersonic molecule beam and reflection time of flight mass spectrum (RTOF‐MS). In the PIES of Ar⋅NO, an intensive semi‐resonance structure is observed. The ionization energy (IE) of Ar⋅NO and dissociation energy (DE) of Ar⋅NO+ and Ar⋅NO are calculated using Gaussian‐2 method calculation. The equilibrium geometry and harmonic vibrational frequencies of Ar⋅NO+ and Ar⋅NO complexes are calculated using a variety of basis sets and different theories.

At the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, The University of Science and Technology of China, an atomic and molecular physics beamline with an energy range of 7.5-124 eV has been constructed for studying the spectroscopy and dynamics of atoms, molecules and clusters. The undulator-based beamline, with a high-resolution spherical-grating monochromator (SGM), is connected to the atomic and molecular physics end-station. This end-station includes a main experimental chamber for photoionization studies and an additional multi-stage photoionization chamber for photoabsorption spectroscopy. A mid-photon flux of 5 x 10(12) photons s(-1) and a high resolving power is provided by this SGM beamline in the energy range 7.5-124 eV. The size of the synchrotron radiation beam spot at the sample is about 0.5 mm in the vertical direction and 1.0 mm in the horizontal direction. Some experimental results of photoionization efficiency spectroscopy and photoabsorption spectroscopy of atoms and molecules are also reported.

Female-specific vs conventional knee prostheses after total knee arthroplasty: A meta-analysis

We have developed an efficient and applicable apparatus that combines mass-analyzed threshold ionization (MATI) with continuous molecular-beam mass spectrometry using tunable vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation at National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. The new design, in which the spoiling field and the pulsed ionization field are perpendicular to each other, can obtain efficiently the ionic spectra of molecule. The MATI spectra of Ar and N-2 have been recorded in the energy region between 15.5 and 17.5 eV to illustrate the feasibility of this scheme. With its unique features, the important experiment considerations are potentially a powerful tool for study of information of ionization energies and ionic states of complex organic compounds. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.