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Abstract Background Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is an etiologically heterogeneous disorder. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment of the underlying disease are of great significance. Herein, we present a rare case of MVP caused by anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA). Case presentation A 22-year-old female presented with a 16-year history of anterior mitral leaflet prolapse. However, she had never experienced any discomfort before. At a routine follow-up, a transthoracic echocardiogram showed anterior mitral leaflet prolapse (A2) with moderate mitral regurgitation, and a retrograde blood flow from an extremely dilated left coronary artery (LCA). Further coronary angiography and coronary computed tomography angiography confirmed the diagnosis of ALCAPA. She subsequently underwent successful LCA reimplantation and concomitant mitral valve replacement. Intraoperatively, her mitral annulus was mildly dilated, anterior mitral valve leaflet appeared markedly thickened with rolled edges, and a chordae tendineae connecting the anterior leaflet (A2) was ruptured and markedly shortened. Conclusions ALCAPA is a rare and potentially life-threatening congenital coronary artery anomaly that may cause mitral valve prolapse. Echocardiogram is an important screening tool for this disorder.

Abstract The abundant genetic variation harbored by wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) has provided a reservoir of useful genes for rice breeding. However, the genome of wild rice has not yet been comprehensively assessed. Here, we report the haplotype-resolved gapless genome assembly and annotation of wild rice Y476. In addition, we develop two sets of chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) using Y476 as the donor parent and cultivated rice as the recurrent parents. By analyzing the gapless reference genome and CSSL population, we identify 254 QTLs associated with agronomic traits, biotic and abiotic stresses. We clone a receptor-like kinase gene associated with rice blast resistance and confirm its wild rice allele improves rice blast resistance. Collectively, our study provides a haplotype-resolved gapless reference genome and demonstrates a highly efficient platform for gene identification from wild rice.

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an inflammatory chronic liver disease with persistent and recurrent immune-mediated liver injury. The exact cause of AIH is still not fully understood, but it is believed to be primarily due to an abnormal activation of the immune system, leading to autoimmune injury caused by the breakdown of autoimmune tolerance. Although the pathogenesis of AIH remains unclear, recent studies have shown that abnormalities in amino acid metabolism play significant roles in its development. These abnormalities in amino acid metabolism can lead to remodeling of metabolic processes, activation of signaling pathways, and immune responses, which may present new opportunities for clinical intervention in AIH. In this paper, we first briefly outline the recent progress of clinically relevant research on AIH, focusing on the role of specific amino acid metabolism (including glutamine, cysteine, tryptophan, branched-chain amino acids, etc.) and their associated metabolites, as well as related pathways, in the development of AIH. Furthermore, we discuss the scientific issues that remain to be resolved regarding amino acid metabolism, AIH development and related clinical interventions, with the aim of contributing to the future development of amino acid metabolism-based as a new target for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of AIH.

In recent years, TiO2-based catalysts have received extensive attention from researchers for their excellent oxidative desulfurization (ODS) performances. In this paper, a series of mesoporous TiO2/SiO2 catalysts with different TiO2 loadings are prepared, using an incipient wetness impregnation method with agricultural waste rice husk as both the silicon source and mesoporous template and tetrabutyl titanate as the titanium source. The effect of different TiO2 loadings on the ODS performance of the samples is investigated, and the appropriate TiO2 loading is 2.5%. Compared with pure TiO2, the 2.5%TiO2/SiO2 sample exhibits high catalytic activity for oxidative desulfurization. This is, on the one hand, due to the high specific surface area and mesopore volume of the 2.5%TiO2/SiO2 sample. On the other hand, it is due to the uniform dispersion of TiO2 grains with an average diameter of 6.1 nm on the surface of the mesoporous SiO2 carrier, which greatly increases the active sites of the 2.5%TiO2/SiO2 sample, thus improving the catalytic activity of the sample. The recycling performances of the 2.5%TiO2/SiO2 sample are further investigated. The results show that, after fifteen cycles, the 2.5%TiO2/SiO2 sample still maintains high conversions of dibenzothiophene (99.8%) and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (99.7%) without deactivation. In addition, the 2.5%TiO2/SiO2 sample treated with TBHP aqueous solution is characterized by the technique of UV-Vis, and the Ti-peroxo (Ti-OOtBu) species, the active intermediate for the ODS of bulky organic sulfides, is successfully captured. Finally, a possible reaction mechanism for the ODS process over the 2.5%TiO2/SiO2 sample is proposed.

Abstract: Interest in glutinous rice consumption has been expanding in East Asia. However, the extent of metabolite variation between common and glutinous rice has not been fully explored to identify metabolic targets for rice quality improvement. Thus, the objective of this study was to provide insights into the variation of metabolites and nutraceuticals between common and glutinous rice. Two black rice (common rice, BL-N, and glutinous rice, BL-G) and two white rice (common rice, WH-N, and glutinous rice, WH-G) types were analysed via LC-MS-based widely targeted metabolic profiling. We identified 441 and 343 types, including 160 key overlapping differentially accumulated metabolites between BL-N_vs_BL-G and WH-N_vs_WH-G, respectively. Glutinous rice showed a higher relative content of most categories of metabolites, except for quinones (in BL-N) and tannins (in WH-N). Seven vitamins, including B6, B3, B5, B13, isonicotinic acid, N-(beta-D-glucosyl)nicotinate, and 4-pyridoxic acid-O-glucoside, were significantly up-regulated in BL-G compared to BL-N. The biosynthesis of cofactors, zeatin biosynthesis, citrate cycle, amino acid metabolism, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, and glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism was the most differentially regulated pathway. Key differential metabolites in citrate cycle include citrate, isocitrate, fumarate, malate, succinate, and 2-oxoglutarate; in amino acid metabolism (L-serine, L-cysteine, L-lysine, L-glutamine, L-methionine, and L-tryptophan); and in glycolysis (UDP-glucose, D-glucose-1P, D-glucose-6P, and D-fructose-6P). The data resources in this study may contribute to a better understanding of the function and nutritional value of glutinous rice.

This paper presents a numerical simulation analysis of the flow and combustion characteristics of a fuel-rich LOX (liquid oxygen)/kerosene gas generator in an ATR (air turbo rocket) engine, examining the effects of local parameters on the combustion flow field and performance. The analysis considers variations in unit injector mixing ratios and unit mass flow rates. The results indicate that as the mixing ratio in the inner-ring injectors increases (while the mixing ratio in the middle-ring injectors decreases), the oxygen concentration area near the axis zone and the 50% radius zone of the gas generator expands. Conversely, the kerosene concentration area near the axis zone decreases while gradually increasing near the 50% radius zone. In the flow direction section, there is an inverse relationship between the variation trend of local temperature and the oxygen concentration in the local area. As the oxygen concentration increases, the temperature decreases. The temperature distribution across the cross-section of the gas generator exhibits a circular pattern. When the mixing ratio (or mass flow rates) of the unit injector are perfectly balanced, the temperature distribution becomes highly uniform. A larger disparity in flow rate between the inner ring injector and the middle ring injector leads to a lower combustion efficiency. This effect differs from the effect of the mixing ratio difference between the two injector rings. Increasing the mixing ratio in the inner-ring injectors (or decreasing the mixing ratio in the middle-ring injectors) initially leads to a rise in combustion efficiency, followed by a subsequent decline. The maximum combustion efficiency of 89.10% is achieved when the mixing ratio is set to Km-1 = 0.7 and Km-2 = 2.79, respectively. Increasing the flow rate in the inner-ring injectors (or decreasing the flow rate in the middle-ring injectors) initially leads to an improvement in combustion efficiency, followed by a subsequent reduction. The maximum combustion efficiency of 86.13% is achieved when the mass flow rate is set to m-1 = m-2 = 0.1 kg/s.

Glycerol-induced resistance to various pathogens has been reported in different plants. Glycerol kinase (GK), a vital rate-limiting enzyme that catalyzes glycerol conversion to glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P), participates in responses to both abiotic and biotic stresses. However, its physiological importance in rice defenses against pathogens remains unclear. In this research, quantification analysis revealed that GK levels were significantly induced in rice leaves infected by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) strain PXO99. A typical GK-encoding gene OsNHO1 was cloned in rice. The transcriptional levels of OsNHO1 were significantly induced by salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and Xoo-PXO99. Ectopic expression of OsNHO1 partially rescued the resistance to P. s. pv. phaseolicola in the Arabidopsis nho1 mutant. In the overexpressing transgenic rice lines (OsNHO1-OE), the content of GK and the transcriptional level of OsNHO1 were increased and the resistance to bacterial blight and blast was improved, while reduced OsNHO1 expression impaired the resistance in OsNHO1-RNAi lines. The wax contents and expression of the wax synthesis regulatory genes were significantly increased in the overexpression lines but decreased in the OsNHO1-RNAi lines. We then confirmed the interaction partner of OsNHO1 using yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. The transcription of the interaction partner-encoding genes OsSRC2 and OsPRs in OsNHO1-RNAi lines was downregulated but upregulated in OsNHO1-OE lines. Thus, we concluded that OsNHO1 provided disease resistance by affecting the wax content and modulating the transcription levels of PR genes.

In this paper, a synchronous vibration control method was proposed to avoid the high-cycle fatigue fracture of aeroengine rotor blade. Firstly. The harmonic force, causing synchronous vibration, was derived by Fourier series expansion by the mean of simplifying the aerodynamic exciting forces into the periodic rectangular pulse wave forces. It was found that the synchronous vibration can be controlled by adjusting the primary excitation forces parameters. Based on this, the additional secondary excitation forces were introduced to control the synchronous vibration caused by primary excitation forces. Secondly, the influences of the number, position, direction, duration of additional secondary excitation forces and the phase difference between additional secondary excitation forces and primary excitation forces on the synchronous vibration control were obtained through theoretical analysis, which was simulated and verified by a single-degree-of-freedom model. Thirdly, a high-speed straight blade test bench was established, and the feasibility of the method in controlling synchronous vibration of rotor blade was proved by adding additional magnet excitation forces on the basis of fixed magnet excitation forces. Finally, the suppression strategy of synchronous vibration of rotor blade by introducing additional secondary excitation forces was given. It can provide theoretical and technical support for effectively controlling the synchronous vibration amplitude and avoiding the high-cycle fatigue fracture of rotor blade in engineering practice.

Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia is common in Latino Americans. Here, the authors conduct a genome-wide association study in a Californian cohort containing children of Latino heritage, and identify loci on 17q12 and 8q24 which may affect hematopoietic and growth-regulation pathways.

Objective MicroRNA (miR)-421 plays a key role in cancer progression. It has been reported that circulating miR-421may be a potential tumor marker for the diagnosis of several cancers. However, the role of miR-421 in plasma as a potential biomarker in the diagnosis of precancerous gastric lesions (Pre) and early-stage gastric cancer (GC) remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated miR-421 in plasma as a novel potential biomarker for the detection of precancerous gastric lesions and early-stage (GC). Materials & Methods The miRNA content was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). MiR-421 content in all subjects was normalized by endogenous miRNA (miR-16). The diagnostic value of miR-421 for Pre and GC was assessed by comparing receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis with traditional tumor markers, including CEA, CA125, CA153, CA211 and CA50. The correlation between the expression of miR-421 and the pathological characteristics of Pre and GC was analyzed. Results Elevated expression of miR-421 in plasma can robustly distinguish the normal population from Pre and GC cases, especially in the early stages of gastric cancer cases (all p

Identification of genes involved in mangrove species' adaptation to salt stress can provide valuable information for developing salt-tolerant crops and understanding the molecular evolution of salt tolerance in halophiles. Ceriops tagal is a salt-tolerant mangrove tree growing in mudflats and marshes in tropical and subtropical areas, without any prior genome information. In this study, we assessed the biochemical and transcriptional responses of C. tagal to high salt treatment (500 mmol/L NaCl) by hydroponic experiments and RNA-seq. In C. tagal root tissues under salt stress, proline accumulated strongly from 3 to 12 h of treatment; meanwhile, malondialdehyde content progressively increased from 0 to 9 h, then dropped to lower than control levels by 24 h. These implied that C. tagal plants could survive salt stress through biochemical modification. Using the Illumina sequencing platform, approximately 27.39 million RNA-seq reads were obtained from three salt-treated and control (untreated) root samples. These reads were assembled into 47,111 transcripts with an average length of 514 bp and an N50 of 632 bp. Approximately 78% of the transcripts were annotated, and a total of 437 genes were putative transcription factors. Digital gene expression analysis was conducted by comparing transcripts from the untreated control to the three salt treated samples, and 7,330 differentially expressed transcripts were identified. Using k-means clustering, these transcripts were divided into six clusters that differed in their expression patterns across four treatment time points. The genes identified as being up- or downregulated are involved in salt stress responses, signal transduction, and DNA repair. Our study shows the main adaptive pathway of C. tagal in saline environments, under short-term and long-term treatments of salt stress. This provides vital clues as to which genes may be candidates for breeding salt-tolerant crops and clarifying molecular mechanisms of salt tolerance in C. tagal. The expression levels of 20 candidate genes measured by RNA-Seq were validated via qRT-PCR. Eighteen genes showed consistent expression patterns in RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR results, suggesting that the RNA-seq dataset was dependable for gene expression pattern analysis.