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Abstract Background Coevolution between modern aphids and their primary obligate, bacterial endosymbiont, Buchnera aphidicola, has been previously reported at different classification levels based on molecular phylogenetic analyses. However, the Buchnera genome remains poorly understood within the Rhus gall aphids. Results We assembled the complete genome of the endosymbiont Buchnera in 16 aphid samples, representing 13 species in all six genera of Rhus gall aphids by shotgun genome skimming method. We compared the newly assembled genomes with those from GenBank to comprehensively investigate patterns of coevolution between the bacteria Buchnera and their aphid hosts. Buchnera genomes were mostly collinear, and the pan-genome contained 684 genes, in which the core genome contained 256 genes with some lineages having large numbers of tandem gene duplications. There has been substantial gene-loss in each Buchnera lineage. We also reconstructed the phylogeny for Buchnera and their host aphids, respectively, using 72 complete genomes of Buchnera, along with the complete mitochondrial genomes and three nuclear genes of 31 corresponding host aphid accessions. The cophylogenetic test demonstrated significant coevolution between these two partner groups at individual, species, generic, and tribal levels. Conclusions Buchnera exhibits very high levels of genomic sequence divergence but relative stability in gene order. The relationship between the symbionts Buchnera and its aphid hosts shows a significant coevolutionary pattern and supports complexity of the obligate symbiotic relationship.

Background Dysphagia, a prevalent geriatric syndrome, has been witnessing an upward trend in incidence rates, potentially leading to severe complications like aspiration pneumonia and asphyxia. Despite its significance, research on the prevalence and determinants of dysphagia among community-dwelling elderly remains scarce. Objective This study aims to ascertain the prevalence of dysphagia among Shanghai's elderly community by identifying influencing factors and analyzing occurrence rates and determinants across different age brackets. Methods Employing a cross-sectional survey approach, the study was conducted from July 2022 to May 2023. Using convenience sampling, the study involved 358 individuals aged 60 and above, selected from the outpatient and home care services of five community health service centers in Huangpu, Baoshan and Fengxian Districts of Shanghai. Demographic data were collected, and measurements of the Appendicular Skeletal Muscle Index (ASMI), grip strength, and walking speed were taken. The Eating Assessment Tool-10 (EAT-10) was utilized to assess the risk of dysphagia among the elderly. Results Out of the 358 community-dwelling elderly individuals surveyed, 80 (22.3%) exhibited symptoms of dysphagia (EAT-10≥3) (dysphagia group). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis identified advanced age (≥80 years) (OR=18.484, 95%CI=3.571-95.679), depressive state (OR=4.135, 95%CI=1.280-13.364), and a history of choking (OR=13.650, 95%CI=4.345-42.877) as significant risk factors for dysphagia (P

This study presents the first-ever complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of Oxytropis ochrocephala Bunge 1874, a member of the Fabaceae family. The cp genome spans 126,996 base pairs and includes 109 genes, comprising 76 protein-coding genes, 29 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. Notably, the genome lacks an inverted repeat (IR) region. Additionally, we constructed phylogenetic trees for 34 species within Trib. Galegeae, employing both maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods. These analyses robustly support the monophyly of the Oxytropis species, evidenced by high bootstrap values (BP = 100) and posterior probabilities (PP = 1). Within this clade, O. ochrocephala exhibits a sister relationship with other Oxytropis species. Our findings provide valuable insights into the genetic makeup and evolutionary relationships of O. ochrocephala within the Galegeae tribe.

Abstract Magnetic resonance-diffusion tensor imaging (MR-DTI) has been used in the microvascular decompression and gamma knife radiosurgery in trigeminal neuralgia (TN) patients; however, use of percutaneous stereotactic radiofrequency rhizotomy (PSR) to target an abnormal trigeminal ganglion (ab-TG) is unreported. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean and radial diffusivity (MD and RD, respectively), and axial diffusivity (AD) of the trigeminal nerve (CNV) were measured in 20 TN patients and 40 healthy control participants immediately post PSR, at 6-months, and at 1 year. Longitudinal alteration of the diffusivity metrics and any correlation with treatment effects, or prognoses, were analyzed. In the TN group, either low FA (value 17% defined an ab-TG. Two-to-three days post PSR, all 15 patients reported decreased pain scores with increased FA at the ab-TG (P

Predation on livestock by large carnivores, such as snow leopard (Panthera uncia), is a global issue that leads to human-wildlife conflicts (HWC). In the Sanjiangyuan National Park (SNP) located in western China, traditional grazing practices have resulted in extensive utilization of snow leopard habitats as pasturelands. The presence of domestic animals in snow leopard habitats increases the likelihood of predation by snow leopards, thereby exacerbating human-snow leopard conflict. In this study, questionnaire surveys were utilized to investigate the attitudes of local herders in Bagan, a township at the southeastern periphery of SNP, towards snow leopard attacks on livestock. Additionally, infrared camera trapping was employed to explore the spatial and temporal overlap between snow leopards, bharals (Pseudois nayaur) and free-ranging livestock. The resulting overlap coefficients were utilized to quantify the competition in the space use and the overlap of daily activity rhythms respectively between these species based on infrared camera records. The questionnaire surveys revealed that snow leopards primarily targeted livestock during nocturnal hours, leading to negative attitudes among herders. Spatial overlap results indicated that bharal and livestock exhibited the highest degree of spatial utilization overlap (OI = 0.78), followed by snow leopard and bharal (OI = 0.75), as well as snow leopard and livestock (OI = 0.75). Furthermore, the temporal overlap results for daily activity rhythms demonstrated a high level of consistency between bharal and livestock (Δ = 0.95). Our findings indicated a high spatial overlap between free-ranging livestock and snow leopards, thereby increasing the likelihood of encounters between these two groups and subsequently heightening the potential for predation on livestock by snow leopards. This heightened predation risk was considered one of the primary drivers behind HWC. To mitigate retaliatory killing on snow leopards by herders and to safeguard herders’ interests, we have proposed a multipronged conservation program encompassing regular removal of animal traps, regulation of grazing areas, and reinforcement of supervision to minimize livestock susceptibility to predation.

The evolutionary analysis showed that the GF14 family was conserved, however, there was limited evidence linking GF14s to plant height. In our investigations, we discovered a co-expression relationship between ZmGF14s and functionally characterized genes linked to plant height. In the co-expression network, we identified ZmGF14-3, a gene expression exhibiting a positive correlation with plant height in three maize varieties, we postulated that this gene could be intimately linked to plant height development. Subsequently, we cloned ZmGF14-3 from the maize B73 inbred line and overexpressed it in Arabidopsis, resulting in markedly dwarfed transgenic phenotypes. Measurements of endogenous phytohormones disclosed a significant reduction in concentrations of Gibberellic Acid 7 (GA7) and Indole-3-Acetic Acid (IAA) in the overexpressed Arabidopsis, furthermore, qPCR results highlighted a pronounced decrease in the expression levels of plant height-related genes when compared to the wild type, therefore, it is plausible to posit that ZmGF14-3 plays a pivotal role in regulating the growth and development of maize through interactions with various phytohormone-related genes. Thus, delving into the potential interactions between ZmGF14-3 and these genes holds the promise of yielding valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underpinning plant height development in maize.

With the advancement of Convolutional Neural Networks, numerous convolutional neural network-based methods have been proposed for depth estimation and have achieved significant achievements. However, the repetitive convolutional layers and spatial pooling layers in these networks often lead to a reduction in spatial resolution and loss of local information, such as edge contours. To address this issue, this study presents a multi-scale monocular depth estimation model. Specifically, a Global Understanding Module was introduced on top of a generic encoder to increase the receptive field and capture contextual information. Additionally, the decoding process incorporates a Difference Module and a Multi-scale Cascade Module to guide the decoding information and refine edge contour details. Finally, extensive experiments were conducted using the KITTI and NYUv2 datasets. For the KITTI dataset, the Absolute Relative Error (Abs. Rel) was 0.057, and the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) was 2.415. On the NYUv2 dataset, Abs.Rel was 0.104, and RMSE was 0.380. These results indicate that the model performs well in accurately estimating depth information.

Abstract Background Krascheninnikovia ceratoides, a perennial halophytic semi-shrub belonging to the genus Krascheninnikovia (Amarathaceae), possesses noteworthy ecological, nutritional, and economic relevance. This species is primarily distributed across arid, semi-arid, and saline-alkaline regions of the Eurasian continent, encompassing Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, and Tibet. Results We reported the comprehensive chloroplast (cp) genome of K. ceratoides, characterized by a circular conformation spanning 151,968 bp with a GC content of 36.60%. The cp genome encompassed a large single copy (LSC, 84,029 bp), a small single copy (SSC, 19,043 bp), and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) regions (24,448 bp each). This genome harbored 128 genes and encompassed 150 simple sequence repeats (SSRs). Through comparative analyses involving cp genomes from other Cyclolobeae (Amarathaceae) taxa, we observed that the K. ceratoides cp genome exhibited high conservation, with minor divergence events in protein-coding genes (PCGs) accD, matK, ndhF, ndhK, ycf1, and ycf2. Phylogenetic reconstructions delineated K. ceratoides as the sister taxon to Atriplex, Chenopodium, Dysphania, and Suaeda, thus constituting a robust clade. Intriguingly, nucleotide substitution ratios (Ka/Ks) between K. ceratoides and Dysphania species for ycf1 and ycf2 genes surpassed 1.0, indicating the presence of positive selection pressure on these loci. Conclusions The findings of this study augment the genomic repository for the Amarathaceae family and furnish crucial molecular instruments for subsequent investigations into the ecological adaptation mechanisms of K. ceratoides within desert ecosystems.

Abstract Background Cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) has proven to be an invaluable tool in the practice of cardiology. Patients who have undergone CIED surgery with local anesthesia may result in fear, insecurity and suffering. Some studies have put efforts on ways to improve intraoperative experience of patients with local anesthesia, but researches concerning experiences of CIED patients during surgery is in its infancy. Methods Based on semi-structured and in-depth interviews, a qualitative design was conducted in a tertiary general hospital in China from May 2022 to July 2023.Purposeful sampling of 17 patients received CIED surgery and 20 medical staff were interviewed. Thematic analysis with an inductive approach was used to identify dominant themes. Results Four themes emerged from the data: (1) Safety and success is priority; (2) Humanistic Caring is a must yet be lacking; (3) Paradox of surgery information given; (4) Ways to improve surgery experiences in the operation. Conclusions Intraoperative care is significant for CIED surgery. To improve care experience during surgery, healthcare professionals should pay attention to patients’ safety and the factors that affecting humanistic caring in clinical practice. In addition, information support should consider information-seeking styles and personal needs. Besides, the four approaches presented in this study are effective to improve the intraoperative care experience.

Abstract Biochar is an effective ameliorator for soil quality improvement and nutrient reuse from biomass; however, the effect of biochar application on soil potassium (K) availability, plant K uptake, and the underlying mechanisms have not been well‐elucidated. To address this, the variation in the soil K forms, soil aggregate stability, and aggregate‐associated K concentration, as well as maize K uptake, were investigated in a field experiment after 9 years of biochar amendment. The treatments included no biochar and NPK fertilizer (CK); NPK fertilizer treatment (F); biochar applied annually at the rate of 2.625 t ha−1 (C1), and biochar applied annually at rate of 2.625 t ha−1 with NPK fertilizers (C1F); one‐time biochar applied with NPK fertilizers, with biochar rate of 31.5 (C2F) and 47.25 t ha−1 (C3F). The results showed that after 9 years of field application, biochar inhibited the downward K migration to the deeper layer, thus increasing water‐soluble potassium (WSK), exchangeable potassium (EK), non‐exchangeable potassium (NEK), and total potassium (TK) in 0–20 cm soil, with C1F exhibiting better performance than C2F and C3F. Biochar also increased aggregate‐associated EK, NEK, and TK pools, mainly due to an increase in the macroaggregate proportion (>0.25 mm). Biochar amendment promoted maize K uptake by an average of 35.69%, the path analysis indicated that the positive effect was an outcome of the synergetic effect of the increase in surface soil WSK content and promoted macroaggregate EK pools, which was primarily attributed to biochar improved soil properties, including soil organic carbon, pH, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and cation exchange capacity. These factors explained 76% of the variance in maize K uptake. In conclusion, biochar is an effective ameliorator for improving soil K content and availability.

Abstract Ancient whole-genome duplication (WGD) or polyploidization is prevalent in plants and has played a crucial role in plant adaptation. However, the underlying genomic basis of ecological adaptation and subsequent diversification after WGD are still poorly understood in most plants. Here, we report a chromosome-scale genome assembly for the genus Orinus (Orinus kokonorica as representative) and preform comparative genomics with its closely related genus Cleistogenes (Cleistogenes songorica as representative), both belonging to a newly named subtribe Orininae of the grass subfamily Chloridoideae. The two genera may share one paleo-allotetraploidy event before 10 million years ago, and the two subgenomes of O. kokonorica display neither fractionation bias nor global homoeolog expression dominance. We find substantial genome rearrangements and extensive structural variations (SVs) between the two species. With comparative transcriptomics, we demonstrate that functional innovations of orthologous genes may have played an important role in promoting adaptive evolution and diversification of the two genera after polyploidization. In addition, copy number variations and extensive SVs between orthologs of flower and rhizome related genes may contribute to the morphological differences between the two genera. Our results provide new insights into the adaptive evolution and subsequent diversification of the two genera after polyploidization.

This paper proposes an effective material delivery algorithm to address the challenges associated with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) material transportation and delivery, which include complex route planning, low detection precision, and hardware limitations. This novel approach integrates the Whale-Swarm Hybrid Algorithm (WSHA) with the APCR-YOLOv8 model to enhance efficiency and accuracy. For path planning, the placement paths are transformed into a Generalized Traveling Salesman Problem (GTSP) to be able to compute solutions. The Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) is improved for balanced global and local searches, combined with an Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithm and adaptive weight adjustment to quicken convergence and reduce path costs. For precise placement, the YOLOv8 model is first enhanced by adding the SimAM attention mechanism to the C2f module in the detection head, focusing on target features. Secondly, GhoHGNetv2 using GhostConv is the backbone of YOLOv8 to ensure accuracy while reducing model Params and FLOPs. Finally, a Lightweight Shared Convolutional Detection Head (LSCDHead) further reduces Params and FLOPs through shared convolution. Experimental results show that WSHA reduces path costs by 9.69% and narrows the gap between the best and worst paths by about 34.39%, compared to the Improved Whale Optimization Algorithm (IWOA). APCR-YOLOv8 reduces Params and FLOPs by 44.33% and 34.57%, respectively, with mAP@0.5 increasing from 88.5 to 92.4 and FPS reaching 151.3. This approach can satisfy the requirements for real-time responsiveness while effectively preventing missed, false, and duplicate detections during the inspection of emergency airdrop stations. In conclusion, combining bionic optimization algorithms and image processing significantly enhances the efficiency and precision of material placement in emergency management.

T cells play critical role in multiple immune processes including antigen response, tumor immunity, inflammation, self-tolerance maintenance and autoimmune diseases et. Fetal liver or bone marrow-derived thymus-seeding progenitors (TSPs) settle in thymus and undergo T cell-lineage commitment, proliferation, T cell receptor (TCR) rearrangement, and thymic selections driven by microenvironment composed of thymic epithelial cells (TEC), dendritic cells (DC), macrophage and B cells, thus generating T cells with diverse TCR repertoire immunocompetent but not self-reactive. Additionally, some self-reactive thymocytes give rise to Treg with the help of TEC and DC, serving for immune tolerance. The sequential proliferation, cell fate decision, and selection during T cell development and self-tolerance establishment are tightly regulated to ensure the proper immune response without autoimmune reaction. There are remarkable progresses in understanding of the regulatory mechanisms regarding ubiquitination in T cell development and the establishment of self-tolerance in the past few years, which holds great potential for further therapeutic interventions in immune-related diseases.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are RNA molecules longer than 200 nt, which lack the ability to encode proteins and are involved in multifarious growth, development, and regulatory processes in plants and mammals. However, the environmental-regulated expression profiles of lncRNAs in Orinus that may associated with their adaptation on the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (QTP) have never been characterized. Here, we utilized transcriptomic sequencing data of two Orinus species (O. thoroldii and O. kokonoricus) to identify 1624 lncRNAs, including 1119 intergenic lncRNAs, 200 antisense lncRNAs, five intronic lncRNAs, and 300 sense lncRNAs. In addition, the evolutionary relationships of Orinus lncRNAs showed limited sequence conservation among 39 species, which implied that Orinus-specific lncRNAs contribute to speciation adaptation evolution. Furthermore, considering the cis-regulation mechanism, from 286 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) and their nearby protein coding genes (PCGs) between O. thoroldii and O. kokonoricus, 128 lncRNA-PCG pairs were obtained in O. thoroldii, whereas 92 lncRNA-PCG pairs were obtained in O. kokonoricus. In addition, a total of 19 lncRNA-PCG pairs in O. thoroldii and 14 lncRNA-PCG pairs in O. kokonoricus were found to participate in different biological processes, indicating that the different expression profiles of DElncRNAs between O. thoroldii and O. kokonoricus were associated with their adaptation at different elevations on the QTP. We also found several pairs of DElncRNA nearby transcription factors (TFs), indicating that these DElncRNAs regulate the expression of TFs to aid O. thoroldii in adapting to the environment. Therefore, this work systematically identified a series of lncRNAs in Orinus, laying the groundwork for further exploration into the biological function of Orinus in environmental adaptation.

Potato black scurf, caused by Rhizoctonia solani, is a severe soil-borne disease that affects the quality and production of potatoes worldwide. In our study, we used Paenibacillus polymyxa YF and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens HT to determine the antagonistic ability of R. solani, with a particular focus on the antagonistic action of P. polymyxa YF to R. solani and its biocontrol effect on potato black scurf. In fermentation, filtrate assay, 50% filtrate of P. polymyxa YF and B. amyloliquefaciens HT inhibited the growth of R. solani by 85.55% and 82.86%, respectively. Microscopic observations showed notable morphological changes with mycelial collapse, atrophy, and deformation following treatment with the antagonistic filtrates. Moreover, cell membrane permeability results showed increased conductivity in bacteria-treated samples compared to the control. P. polymyxa YF exhibited stable colonization on potato plants and secreted various extracellular enzymes (protease, amylase, and cellulase), along with the synthetic substances with growth-promoting effects, such as siderophores and Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Whether it is in the excised tissue inoculation or potted experiment, the negative control showed the highest rank of disease symptoms. In the pot experiment, after YF treatment, physiological parameters showed remarkable changes in plant height, root length, stem thickness, and dry and fresh weight. Compared to blank control, the activities of the four resistant enzymes increased significantly in the P. polymyxa YF treatment group. The upregulation in the P. polymyxa YF group was 4.04, 0.54, 0.46, and 3.10 times, respectively. PCR analysis identified genes in both bacterial strains coding for antimicrobial lipopeptides, including fenB, ituC, and srfAA, which are associated with fengycin, iturin, and surfactin synthesis. These findings demonstrated that P. polymyxa YF has a prominent antagonistic effect on R. solani, suggesting its potential as an effective biological control agent for controlling potato black scurf.

Abstract Objectives Radiofrequency thermocoagulation (RFT) is a type of Gasserian ganglion-level ablative intervention that is used for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. Guidance technologies are used to assist in the cannulation of the foramen ovale (FO) or foramen rotundum (FR) target. We conducted a systematic review to assess the value of different guidance technologies for RFT. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane database, Web of Science, and PROSPERO for studies published from January 2005 until December 2020. Randomized or nonrandomized comparative studies and nonrandomized studies without internal controls were included. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and the nonrandomized studies of interventions-I tool were used to assess individual study characteristics and overall quality. Results Our query identified 765 publications, and we were able to analyze 11 studies on patients suffering from trigeminal neuralgia. Only one study involved randomized controlled trials, whereas the others featured nonrandomized designs, predominantly before-and-after comparisons. Most of them were observational studies. A total of 222 participants were included, with a median number (range) of 20 (3–53) participants. The objective response rate (ORR) of the one-puncture success rate of RFT using puncture guidance for trigeminal neuralgia was 92% [95% CI (0.79–1), P

Objective: To understand bacterial composition and obtain isolated fermentative strains found in kombucha. Methods: The bacterial composition and dominant strains were analyzed using 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing technology and traditional microbial culture method. Results: High-throughput sequencing showed that the bacterial community is richer and more diverse than the fungi community. Komagataeibacter, Acetobacter and Lactobacillus were the dominant bacterial strains, while Dekkera and Zygosacchaormyces were the dominant fungal strains. At the same time, 7 strains of acetic acid bacteria, 3 strains of yeast and 1 strain of lactic acid bacteria were isolated by traditional plate culture method, including 1 strain of Komagataeibacter saccharivorans, 1 strain of Acetobacter malorum, 4 strains of Komagataeibacter xylinus, 1 strain of Acetobacter, 2 strains of Zygosaccharomyces bailii, 1 strain of Dekkera bruxelensis and 1 strain of Lactobacillus plantarum. Conclusion: The results from high throughput sequencing were consistent with those obtained from traditional culture method.

The ideal outcome of wound healing is the complete restoration of the structure and function of the original tissue. Stem cells are one of the key factors in this process. Currently, the strategy of periodontal regeneration based on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is generally used to expand stem cells in vitro and then transplant them in vivo. However, their clinical application is limited. In fact, the human body has the capacity to regenerate through stem cells residing in different tissues, even without external therapeutic intervention. Stem cell niches are present in many adult tissues, such as the periodontal ligament and gingiva, and stem cells might remain in a quiescent state in their niches until they are activated in response to a regenerative need. Activated stem cells can exit the niche and proliferate, self-renew, and differentiate to regenerate original structures. Thus, harnessing the regenerative potential of endogenous stem cells in situ has gained increasing attention as a simpler, safer, and more applicable alternative to stem cell transplantation. Nevertheless, there are several key problems to be solved in the application of periodontal mesenchymal stem cells. Thus, animal studies will be especially important to deepen our knowledge of the in vivo mechanisms of mesenchymal stem cells. Studies with conditional knockout mice, in which the expression of different proteins can be eliminated in a tissue-specific manner, are especially important. Post-natal cells expressing the paired-related homeobox protein 1 (PRX1 or PRRX1), a transcription factor expressed in the mesenchyme during craniofacial and limb development, have been shown to have characteristics of skeletal stem cells. Additionally, following wounding, dermal Prx1+ cells are found out of their dermal niches and contribute to subcutaneous tissue repair. Postnatal Prx1+ cells are uniquely injury-responsive. Meanwhile, current evidence shows that Prx1+ cells contribute to promote dentin formation, wound healing of alveolar bone and formation of mouse molar and periodontal ligament. Initial result of our research group also indicates Prx1-expressing cells in bone tissue around the punch wound area of gingiva increased gradually. Collectively, this review supports the future use of PRX1 cells to stimulate their potential to play an important role in endogenous regeneration during periodontal therapy.

Background. In the percutaneous treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN), the difficulty in accessing the foramen ovale (FO) has been widely recognized. However, the most efficient percutaneous treatment target is the so-called trigeminal ganglion target (TGT). We propose that the TGT in a puncture can be identified by magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (MR-DTI). Objectives. To observe the effect of the characteristics of the TGT as detected by MR-DTI on percutaneous stereotactic radiofrequency rhizotomy (PSR) in TN patients. Methods. In our observational study, we preoperatively performed MR-DTI and/or 3D-CT for 48 TN patients, analyzed the characteristics of the TGT and/or FO, and designed appropriate surgical schemes for producing an accurate PSR trajectory according to these characteristics. The position and size of the TGT aided in adjusting the puncture angle and guiding the approach. Then, we successfully performed a customized PSR guided by the characteristics of the FO or TGT. During the postoperative and follow-up periods, we assessed the effect of treatment with pain scores and MR-DTI findings. Results. The characteristics of the TGT vary from patient to patient. We performed PSR with a single puncture guided by MR-DTI and 3D-CT in 16 patients, and only one patient required three punctures. All three of these punctures reached the FO target, as confirmed by intraoperative C-arm X-ray. We finally reached the TGT successfully after 2 additional attempts, confirming that the probe reached the TGT that accurately covered the pain territory with an electrophysiology test. The characteristics of the TGT were negatively correlated with the number of PSR punctures. Fewer complications occurred for PSRs guided by the TGT than for PSRs guided by the FO. Conclusions. The characteristics of the TGT are correlated with the number of punctures in the PSR. The application of MR-DTI for detecting the size of the TGT is an important step in predicting the difficulty of puncture. The PSR approach can be guided by the TGT and FO for TN patients who present with multiple adverse factors and thus may be beneficial in reducing the number of complications.

Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (FON), is a predominant and devastating soil-borne disease that results in significant yield losses in watermelon cultivation. In this study, a strain MM isolated from the herbage rhizosphere soil, exhibited an inhibition rate of 65.46% against FON, leading to mycelial collapse, atrophy, and deformation. In pot experiments, strain MM effectively controlled Fusarium wilt of watermelon, showing a control efficacy of 74.07%. Through morphological observation and 16S rDNA gene sequencing, strain MM was identified as Serratia plymuthica. Additionally, S. plymuthica MM demonstrated antagonistic activity against eight plant pathogens, indicating that MM had broad-spectrum antifungal activity. The strain also exhibited the ability to synthesize siderophores and indole acetic acid (IAA), both of which are growth-promoting compounds. Moreover, strain MM secreted various extracellular enzymes, including protease, chitinase, β-glucanase, and cellulase. This ability allowed S. plymuthica MM to readily colonize watermelon roots and promote seedling growth. Inoculation with S. plymuthica MM increased the activity of PAL, POD, PPO, and CAT enzymes associated with watermelon defense. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis revealed up-regulation of LOX, POD, PAL, ClPR3, and C4H genes, which are related to plant disease resistance. The results indicated that S. plymuthica MM enhances watermelon plants’ resistance to FON by activating the JA, SA, and shikimic acid phenylpropanoid–lignin synthesis pathways. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of S. plymuthica MM culture supernatant identified piperazinedione, pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine-1,4-dione, and octadecenamide as the main antimicrobial substances. Overall, S. plymuthica MM shows promise as a biocontrol agent against Fusarium wilt of watermelon, suggesting its potential for the development of a new biocontrol agent.

ObjectiveThe occurrence of cardiovascular adverse events in the first year after ST-acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains high; therefore, identification of patients with poor prognosis is essential for early intervention. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of metabolomics-based biomarkers in STEMI patients and explore their functional mechanisms.MethodsMetabolite profiling was performed using nuclear magnetic resonance. The plasma concentration of Kynurenine (Kyn) was measured using ultraperformance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Major adverse cardiac and cerebral events were assessed for 1 year. A functional metabolomics strategy was proposed for investigating the role of Kyn in both vitro and vivo models.ResultsThe adjusted hazard ratios in STEMI patients for Kyn in the 4th quartile 7.12(5.71-10.82) was significantly higher than that in the 3rd quartile 3.03(2.62-3.74), 2nd quartile 1.86(1.70-2.03), and 1st quartile 1.20(0.93-1.39).The incidence of MACCE was significantly different among Kyn quartiles and the highest incidence of MACCE was observed in the 4th quartile when compared with the 1st quartile (9.84% vs.2.85%, P

METTL3-mediated RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent modification that participates in tumor initiation and progression via governing the expression of their target genes in cancers. However, its role in tumor cell metabolism remains poorly characterized. In this study, m6A microarray and quantitative proteomics were employed to explore the potential effect and mechanism of METTL3 on the metabolism in GC cells. Our results showed that METTL3 induced significant alterations in the protein and m6A modification profile in GC cells. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment indicated that down-regulated proteins were significantly enriched in intracellular mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Moreover, the protein-protein Interaction (PPI) network analysis found that these differentially expressed proteins were significantly associated with OXPHOS. A prognostic model was subsequently constructed based on the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, and the high-risk group exhibited a worse prognosis in GC patients. Meanwhile, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) demonstrated significant enrichment in the energy metabolism signaling pathway. Then, combined with the results of the m6A microarray analysis, the intersection molecules of DEPs and differential methylation genes (DMGs) were significantly correlated with the molecules of OXPHOS. Besides, there were significant differences in prognosis and GSEA enrichment between the two clusters of GC patients classified according to the consensus clustering algorithm. Finally, highly expressed and highly methylated molecules regulated by METTL3 were analyzed and three (AVEN, DAZAP2, DNAJB1) genes were identified to be significantly associated with poor prognosis in GC patients. These results signified that METTL3-regulated DEPs in GC cells were significantly associated with OXPHOS. After combined with m6A microarray analysis, the results suggested that these proteins might be implicated in cell energy metabolism through m6A modifications thus influencing the prognosis of GC patients. Overall, our study revealed that METTL3 is involved in cell metabolism through an m6A-dependent mechanism in GC cells, and indicated a potential biomarker for prognostic prediction in GC.

The 2021 WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System (fifth edition) was released. One of the biggest differences between new edition tumors classification and the previous editions is that the pediatric ⁃ type diffuse low ⁃ grade gliomas and the pediatric ⁃ type diffuse high ⁃ grade gliomas are classified into independent tumor families. This change is based on the fact that although pediatric ⁃ type diffuse gliomas morphologically resemble their adult counterparts, while their molecular genetics features are completely different, and the prognosis of these tumors with different molecular genetics features is different accordingly, so different treatment strategies are needed. Physicians and surgeons need to know of the features of these pediatric ⁃ type diffuse gliomas. This paper reviews the existing literature, and the pathological reports and imaging data of our hospital, summarizes the imaging and pathological diagnostic features, as well as the clinical manifestations, prognostic features and treatment suggestions of these pediatric⁃type diffuse gliomas. This review will provide an annotation from the view of diagnosis and treatment on pediatric⁃type diffuse gliomas for the physicians and surgeons.

Abstract Psammochloa villosa is an ecologically important desert grass that occurs in the Inner Mongolian Plateau where it is frequently the dominant species and is involved in sand stabilization and wind breaking. We sought to generate a preliminary demographic framework for P. villosa to support the future studies of this species, its conservation, and sustainable utilization. To accomplish this, we characterized the genetic diversity and structure of 210 individuals from 43 natural populations of P. villosa using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. We obtained 1,728 well‐defined amplified bands from eight pairs of primers, of which 1,654 bands (95.7%) were polymorphic. Results obtained from the AFLPs suggested effective alleles among populations of 1.32, a Nei's standard genetic distance value of 0.206, a Shannon index of 0.332, a coefficient of gene differentiation (GST) of 0.469, and a gene flow parameter (Nm) of 0.576. All these values indicate that there is abundant genetic diversity in P. villosa, but limited gene flow. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that genetic variation mainly exists within populations (64.2%), and we found that the most genetically similar populations were often not geographically adjacent. Thus, this suggests that the mechanisms of gene flow are surprisingly complex in this species and may occur over long distances. In addition, we predicted the distribution dynamics of P. villosa based on the spatial distribution modeling and found that its range has contracted continuously since the last interglacial period. We speculate that dry, cold climates have been critical in determining the geographic distribution of P. villosa during the Quaternary period. Our study provides new insights into the population genetics and evolutionary history of P. villosa in the Inner Mongolian Plateau and provides a resource that can be used to design in situ conservation actions and prioritize sustainable utilization.

BackgroundSichuan Radiation Environmental Management and Monitoring Center participated in the radiation environmental monitoring quality assessment organized by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2020. Two total radioactivity standards prepared by Eckert & Zigler Analytics Corporation were used for test samples in this assessment.PurposeThis study aims to establish an indirect method for the estimation of total α or total β activities in the test samples based on HPGe spectrometer, and to provide some useful references for the application of this method in the analysis of aerosol total radioactivity.MethodsThe low background BE6530 HPGe spectrometer produced by Canberra (US) was used to identify nuclides of test samples and to collect their γ spectra data. Laboratory sourceless calibration software (LabSOCS) was used to calibrate the efficiency of the HPGe spectrometer. A γ-rays standard sample with multiple nuclides in an aerosol filter membrane and a self-made reference sample in an aerosol filter membrane were applied to confirm the reliability of the method established in this work.ResultsA formula is derived for the estimation of total α or total β activities by γ spectra data. The measurement results and uncertainties of total α and total β activities in the two test samples are 61.2 Bq and 73.2 Bq, 6.6% (k=2) and 3.6% (k=2), respectively. The results are all qualified after the Z-score evaluation. In addition, the parameter setting in LabSOCS, background deduction of γ spectra, γ peak selection and γ cascade radiation correction are discussed, which provides a useful reference for the application of this method in the total radioactivity analysis.ConclusionsThe indirect method established in this work has a good accuracy and can be applied in the analysis of aerosol total radioactivity.

Abnormal N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification levels caused by METTL3 have been identified to be a critical regulator in human cancers, and its roles in the immune microenvironment and the relationship between targeted therapy and immunotherapy sensitivity in gastric cancer (GC) remain poorly understood. In this study, we assessed the transcriptome-wide m6A methylation profile after METTL3 overexpression by m6A sequencing and RNA sequencing in BGC-823 cells. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were performed to analyze the function of core targets of METTL3. Eighteen methylation core molecules were identified in GC patients by combining transcriptome and methylome sequencing. GC patients can be separated into two subtypes based on the expression of 18 methylation core molecules. Furthermore, subgroup analysis showed that patients with different subtypes had a different OS, PFS, stage, grade, and TMB. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) showed that immune-related pathways were enriched among subtype A. The ESTIMATE analysis suggested that the extent of infiltration of immune cells was different in two subtypes of GC patients. Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) and The Cancer Immunome Atlas (TCIA) database also showed that there were significant differences in the efficacy of immunotherapy among different types of GC patients. Altogether, our results reveal that METTL3-mediated m6A methylation modification is associated with the immune microenvironment and the effects of immunotherapy in GC patients. Our findings provide novel insights for clinicians in the diagnosis and optimal treatment of GC patients.

Abstract Objective To determine the role of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) imaging to guide stereotactic biopsy for the diagnosis of intracranial angiitis. Case presentation In a 28-year-old woman who had experienced inactive headache and right limbs numbness for 4 days, preoperative magnetic resonance (MR) scanning, enhanced scanning, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and ADC image scanning were performed. Stereotactic biopsy was performed in one target where the area of edema detected with MR FLAIR, and two targets where the area shown as a high-value and a lower value area in the DWI/ADC image. Pathological examinations together with computed tomographic and enhanced MRI scans were conducted after surgery. A preoperative enhanced MRI scan showed a uniform low-intensity lesion in the patient’s left centrum semiovale, with a volume of 3.1 cm3. The DWI and ADC images showed uneven high-intensity signals and different ADC values in the lesion area, respectively. During surgery, tissues around the lesion and the lesion center were sampled at the three selected targets. The postoperative pathological diagnosis was primary angiitis of the central nervous system, and the patient was given anti-inflammatory medication and hormone therapy. The 3-year follow-up confirmed that the patient had recovered well, with a Glasgow Outcome Scale score of five. Conclusion DW-MRI and ADC images can be reliably used to determine the location of small intracranial lesions, and guide stereotactic biopsy to facilitate the diagnosis of primary vasculitis of the central nervous system.

Abstract Sulforaphane (SFN) extracted from broccoli sprout has previously been investigated for its potential properties in cancers, however, the underlying mechanisms of the anticancer activity of SFN remain not fully understood. In the present study, we investigate the effects of SFN on cell proliferation, cell cycle, cell apoptosis, and also the expression of several cell cycle and apoptosis-related genes by MTT assay, flow cytometry and western blot analysis in gastric cancer (GC) cells. The results showed that SFN could impair the colony-forming ability in BGC-823 and MGC-803 cell lines compared with the control. In addition, SFN significantly suppressed cell proliferation by arresting the cell cycle at the S phase and enhancing cell apoptosis in GC cells in a dose-dependent manner. Western blot results showed that SFN treatment significantly increased the expression levels of p53, p21 and decreased CDK2 expression, which directly regulated the S phase transition. The Bax and cleaved-caspase-3 genes involved in apoptosis executive functions were significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner in BGC-823 and MGC-803 cells. These results suggested that SFN-induced S phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through p53-dependent manner in GC cells, which suggested that SFN has a potential therapeutic application in the treatment and prevention of GC.

Solar activities lead to Sun variation with an 11 yr periodicity. The periodic variation affects space weather and heliophysics research. So it is important to accurately predict solar cycle variations. In this paper, we predicted the ongoing Solar Cycle 25 using neural basis expansion analysis for the interpretable time series deep learning method. 13 months of smoothed monthly total sunspot numbers taken by sunspot Index and Long-term Solar Observations are selected to train and evaluate our model. We used root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute time lag (MATL) to evaluate our model performance. RMSE and MATL measure the difference between our predicted values and the actual values along the Y- and X -axis, respectively. The RMSE value is 26.62 ± 1.56 and the MATL value is 1.34 ± 0.35, demonstrating that our model is able to better predict sunspot number variation. Finally, we predicted the variation of the sunspot numbers for Solar Cycle 25 using the model. The sunspot number of Solar Cycle 25 will peak around 2024 February with an amplitude of 133.9 ± 7.2. This means that Solar Cycle 25 will be slightly more intense than Solar Cycle 24.

An appropriate detection network is required to extract building information in remote sensing images and to relieve the issue of poor detection effects resulting from the deficiency of detailed features. Firstly, we embed a transposed convolution sampling module fusing multiple normalization activation layers in the decoder based on the SegFormer network. This step alleviates the issue of missing feature semantics by adding holes and fillings, cascading multiple normalizations and activation layers to hold back over-fitting regularization expression and guarantee steady feature parameter classification. Secondly, the atrous spatial pyramid pooling decoding module is fused to explore multi-scale contextual information and to overcome issues such as the loss of detailed information on local buildings and the lack of long-distance information. Ablation experiments and comparison experiments are performed on the remote sensing image AISD, MBD, and WHU dataset. The robustness and validity of the improved mechanism are demonstrated by control groups of ablation experiments. In comparative experiments with the HRnet, PSPNet, U-Net, DeepLabv3+ networks, and the original detection algorithm, the mIoU of the AISD, the MBD, and the WHU dataset is enhanced by 17.68%, 30.44%, and 15.26%, respectively. The results of the experiments show that the method of this paper is superior to comparative methods such as U-Net. Furthermore, it is better for integrity detection of building edges and reduces the number of missing and false detections.

In this study, we analyzed GPC family genes in colorectal cancer (CRC) and the possible mechanism of action of GPC1 in CRC. CRC patient data were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas, and the prognostic significance of GPC1 expression and its association with clinicopathological features were identified by Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. CRC patients with high GPC1 expression had poor overall survival compared with patients with low GPC1 expression. In vitro experiments demonstrated that knockdown of GPC1 significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration and promoted cell apoptosis in CRC cell lines. Gene Ontology analysis of differential genes indicated that GPC1 may influence the TGF-β1 signaling pathway. Additional experiments revealed that silencing GPC1 suppressed the levels of TGF-β1 and p-SMAD2 but increased the expression of SMAD2. Taken together, these findings suggest that GPC1 may function as a tumor promoter in CRC cells through promoting TGF-β signaling pathway. Our results also indicate that GPC1 may serve as a critical effector in CRC progression and a new potential target for CRC therapy.

In this paper, a key to separate the Chinese species of genus Cyrtomorphus Lacordaire is provided for the first time. A new species, Cyrtomorphus rufobrunneus sp. nov., is described and illustrated, and one species, Cyrtomorphus connexus Gorham, 1896 is newly recorded to China.

The sumac Rhus chinensis Mill. is an economically and ecologically important shrub or tree species in the family of Anacardiaceae with a wide distribution in East to Southeast Asia. We assembled the complete chloroplast genome of 159,187 bp in length and the GC content of 37.8%. The genome encoded 132 genes, including 86 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, 8 rRNA genes, and 1 pseudogene, and 77 SSRs were identified as well as the interval regions, totaling 46,425 bp in length. The mauve alignment revealed one gene rearrangement among the Rhus species. All the SSRs were divided into five types, most of which consisted of mono- and tri- repeat motifs. Our genome exhibited the longest size and more annotated genes compared to the three other genomes of R. chinensis reported in GenBank. We also discovered some relatively highly variable regions in the complete chloroplast genomes of the Rhus species. The ML phylogenetic analysis of the available chloroplast sequences of the Anacardiaceae well supported the monophyly of each tribe and each genus; the tribe Rhoideae was close to the tribe Anacardiaceae with a high support of 100%, and they then grouped with the tribe Spondiadeae. R. chinensis was sister to R. potaninii, and they then grouped with the species R. typhina.

Abstract We performed analyses of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) in order to characterize the evolutionary history of Orinus according to its population genetic structure, as well as to investigate putative hybrid origins of O. intermedius and to provide additional insights into relationships among species. The genus Orinus comprises three clonal grasses that are dominant species within xeric alpine grasslands of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). Here, we used eight selectively obtained primer pairs of EcoRI/MseI to perform amplifications in 231 individuals of Orinus representing 48 populations and all three species. We compared our resulting data to genetic models of hybridization using a Bayesian algorithm within NewHybrids software. We determined that genetic variation in Orinus was 56.65% within populations while the among‐species component was 30.04% using standard population genetics statistics. Nevertheless, we detected that species of Orinus were clustered into three highly distinct genetic groups corresponding to classic species identities. Our results suggest that there is some introgression among species. Thus, we tested explicit models of hybridization using a Bayesian approach within NewHybrids software. However, O. intermedius likely derives from a common ancestor with O. kokonoricus and is probably not the result of hybrid speciation between O. kokonoricus and O. thoroldii. We suspect that recent isolation of species of Orinus in allopatry via vicariance may explain the patterns in diversity that we observed, and this is corroborated by a Mantel test that showed significant positive correlation between geographic and genetic distance (r = 0.05, p

Runway incursions have become an important factor that threaten the safe operation of aviation. Based on the thoughts of system engineering, main factors causing runway incursion incidents and their associated relationships are analyzed and a runway incursion risk assessment index system is established from three aspects of airports, air traffic control, and airlines; The traditional analytic network process is improved by triangular fuzzy numbers, and a research model for runway incursion risk assessment is established based on this; Through the analysis of examples, the main factors affecting the runway incursion risk are obtained. The results show that the method is feasible and effective, which can reflect the relationship between risk factors and reduce the influence of subjective judgment on the index weight, and help develop effective measures to prevent runway incursions. The workload of controller, lost situation awareness and deviation operation/negligence of pilot are main risk factors during the production of runway incursion.

ABSTRACTInfluenza A virus infections occur in different species, causing mild to severe respiratory symptoms that lead to a heavy disease burden. Eurasian avian-like swine influenza A(H1N1) viruses (EAS-H1N1) are predominant in pigs and occasionally infect humans. An influenza A(H1N1) virus was isolated from a boy who was suffering from fever and headache and designated as A/Tianjin-baodi/1606/2018(H1N1). Full-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed that A/Tianjin-baodi/1606/2018(H1N1) is a novel reassortant EAS-H1N1 containing gene segments from EAS-H1N1 (HA and NA), classical swine H1N1(NS) and A(H1N1)pdm09(PB2, PB2, PA, NP and M) viruses. The isolation and analysis of A/Tianjin-baodi/1606/2018(H1) provide further evidence that EAS-H1N1 poses a threat to human health and greater attention should be paid to surveillance of influenza virus infection in pigs and humans.

Horizontal transfer of transposons (HTT) is an essential source of genomic evolution in eukaryotes. The HTT dynamics are well characterized in eukaryotes, including insects; however, there is a considerable gap in knowledge about HTT regarding many eukaryotes’ species. In this study, we analyzed the events of the HTT between Rhus gall aphids (Hemiptera) and other insects. We analyzed the Mariner-like transposable elements (MLEs) belonging to Rhus gall aphids for the possible HT events. The MLEs have a patchy distribution and high similarity over the entire element length with insect MLEs from different orders. We selected representative sequences from the Rhus gall MLEs and identified five events of HT between MLEs of Rhus gall aphids and other insects from five different orders. We also found multiple HTT events among the MLEs of insects from the five orders, demonstrating that these Mariner elements have been involved in recurrent HT between Rhus gall aphids and other insects. Our current study closed the knowledge gap surrounding HTT and reported the events between Rhus gall aphids and other insects for the first time. We believe that this study about HTT events will help us understand the evolution and spread of transposable elements in the genomes of Rhus gall aphids.

Objective: This study aimed to clarify the novel role of homeostatic calmodulin S100B and determined whether S100B genetic variants affected atherosclerosis progression in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients.Methods: Plasma levels of S100B were measured systemically in AMI patients, stable angina pectoris patients, and control subjects. S100B was obtained from the human coronary artery thrombi using a thrombectomy catheter and quantified via immunohistochemical analysis, qRT-PCR and Western blot analyse. We also screened for S100B variations (rs9722, rs9984765, rs2839356, rs1051169, and rs2186358) via direct sequencing, and investigated the relationship between these variants and AMI patients in the Chinese Han population.Results: Plasma S100B levels increased significantly in AMI patients compared to the levels in stable angina pectoris patients and control subjects (119.45 ± 62.46, 161.96 ± 73.30, and 312.91 ± 127.59 pg/ml, respectively). Immunohistochemical staining results showed that S100B expression was increased in the neutrophils of coronary artery thrombi obtained from AMI patients, as compared to that in normal blood clot, and S100B expression was significantly increased in fresh thrombi tissues, as compared to that in organized thrombi tissues. Western blot and qRT-PCR analysis showed that S100B expression increased in coronary artery thrombi, as compared to that in normal blood clots. After pre-treating the neutrophils with siRAGE, the neutrophils migration induced by S100B were abolished through the NFκB-IL1β/IL6 signaling pathway. Compared to their corresponding wild-type genotypes, the S100B rs9722 variant was associated with increased susceptibility to AMI (OR = 1.35, 95%CI: 1.12–1.65, P = 0.02). Individuals with the S100B 9722 A allele had higher plasma S100B levels than those with the G allele in control subjects and AMI patients (141.70 ± 76.69 vs. 107.31 ± 56.05 and 347.13 ± 148.94 vs. 273.05 ± 133.62, respectively).Conclusions: Levels of neutrophil-derived S100B, a novel homeostatic calmodulin, were elevated in the early stages of myocardial infarction. The S100B rs9722 allele was independently associated with AMI patients in the Han Chinese population.

The recent advances in gene chip technology have led to the identification of multiple metabolism-related genes that are closely associated with colorectal cancer (CRC). Nevertheless, none of these genes could accurately diagnose or predict CRC. The prognosis of CRC has been made by previous prognostic models constructed by using multiple genes, however, the predictive function of multi-gene prognostic models using metabolic genes for the CRC prognosis remains unexplored. In this study, we used the TCGA-CRC cohort as the test dataset and the GSE39582 cohort as the experimental dataset. Firstly, we constructed a prognostic model using metabolic genes from the TCGA-CRC cohort, which were also associated with CRC prognosis. We analyzed the advantages of the prognostic model in the prognosis of CRC and its regulatory mechanism of the genes associated with the model. Secondly, the outcome of the TCGA-CRC cohort analysis was validated using the GSE39582 cohort. We found that the prognostic model can be employed as an independent prognostic risk factor for estimating the CRC survival rate. Besides, compared with traditional clinical pathology, it can precisely predict CRC prognosis as well. The high-risk group of the prognostic model showed a substantially lower survival rate as compared to the low-risk group. In addition, gene enrichment analysis of metabolic genes showed that genes in the prognostic model are enriched in metabolism and cancer-related pathways, which may explain its underlying mechanism. Our study identified a novel metabolic profile containing 11 genes for prognostic prediction of CRC. The prognostic model may unravel the imbalanced metabolic microenvironment, and it might promote the development of biomarkers for predicting treatment response and streamlining metabolic therapy in CRC.

Background: Little is known about the effects of dietary quality on the risk of ischemic stroke among Southwest Chinese, and evidence from prospective studies is needed. We aimed to evaluate the associations of ischemic stroke with dietary quality assessed by the Chinese Diet Balance Index 2016 (DBI-2016). Methods: The Guizhou Population Health Cohort Study (GPHCS) recruited 9280 residents aged 18 to 95 years from 12 areas in Guizhou Province, Southwest China. Baseline investigations, including information collections of diet and demographic characteristics, and anthropometric measurements were performed from 2010 to 2012. Dietary quality was assessed by using DBI-2016. The primary outcome was incident ischemic stroke diagnosed according to the International Classification of Diseases 10th revision (ICD-10) until December 2020. Data analyzed in the current study was from 7841 participants with complete information of diet assessments and ischemic stroke certification. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the risk of ischemic stroke associated with dietary quality. Results: During a median follow-up of 6.63 years (range 1.11 to 9.53 years), 142 participants were diagnosed with ischemic stroke. Participants with ischemic stroke had a more excessive intake of cooking oils, alcoholic beverages, and salt, and had more inadequacy in meats than those without ischemic stroke. (p < 0.05). Compared with participants in the lowest quartile (Q1), those in the highest quartile (Q4) of the higher bound score (HBS) and of the dietary quality distance (DQD) had an elevated risk for ischemic stroke, with the corresponding hazard ratios (HRs) of 3.31 (95%CI: 1.57–6.97) and 2.26 (95%CI: 1.28–4.00), respectively, after adjustment for age, ethnic group, education level, marriage status, smoking and waist circumference, and the medical history of diabetes and hypertension at baseline. In addition, excessive intake levels (score 1–6) of cooking oils, excessive intake levels (score 1–6) of salt, and inadequate intake levels (score −12 to −7) of dietary variety were positively associated with an increased risk for ischemic stroke, with the multiple HRs of 3.00 (95%CI: 1.77–5.07), 2.03 (95%CI: 1.33–3.10) and 5.40 (95%CI: 1.70–17.20), respectively. Conclusions: Our results suggest that unfavorable dietary quality, including overall excessive consumption, excessive intake of cooking oils and salt, or under adequate dietary diversity, may increase the risk for ischemic stroke.

A terrain skeleton determines the overall structure and characteristics of the terrain and indicates the presence of significant terrain features, such as ridges and valleys. It plays an important role in terrain representation and reconstruction, hydrological analysis of watersheds, and other scientific studies and engineering applications. Previous studies of terrain skeleton have been mostly focused on the extraction of terrain skeletons, ignoring their important effect on terrain analysis. Therefore, this work proposes a new terrain skeleton, which includes three types of terrain skeleton points and two types of terrain skeleton lines. The terrain control points are peak, saddle, and valley nodes, while the terrain skeleton lines are connection lines of peaks and saddles and connection lines of saddles and valley nodes. The terrain skeleton connects isolated terrain control points together. The data structure is designed, and three analysis indicators, namely, nearest-neighbor index, topological connectivity index and landscape shape index are selected. Results show that the three selected indicators can reflect the spatial structure of the terrain skeleton and describe the landform development to a certain extent. Different areas of the same landform, such as the two sample areas in Shenmu County, show variations.

Dracocephalum heterophyllum (Lamiaceae: tribe Mentheae) is an annual aromatic herb native to East Asia with a long record of human uses, including medicinal, alimentary, and ornamental values. However, no information is available about its molecular biology, and no genomic study has been performed on D. heterophyllum. Here, we report the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of D. heterophyllum and a series of comparative genomic analyses between this and closely related species of Lamiaceae. Results indicated that the cp genome has a typical circular structure of 150,869 bp in length, consisting of a long single-copy (LSC) region with 82,410 bp, a short single-copy (SSC) region with 17,098 bp, and two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 51,350 bp. A total of 133 genes were identified, including 37 tRNA genes, 8 rRNA genes and 88 protein-coding genes, with a GC content of 37.8%. The gene content, organization, and GC values observed here were similar to those of other Dracocephalum species. We detected 99 different simple sequence repeat loci, and the codon usage analysis revealed a preferential use of the Leu codon with an A/U ending. Comparative analysis of cp genome sequences revealed five highly variable regions with remarkably higher Pi values (>0.03). The mean Ka/Ks between D. heterophyllum and three other Dracocephalum species ranged from 0.01079 (psbB) to 1.0497 (ycf2). Two cp genes, ycf2 and rps11, were proven to have high ratios of Ka/Ks, implying that cp genes may had undergone positive selection in the evolutionary history. We performed multiple sequence alignments using the cp genome of 22 species and constructed maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian trees, and found that D. heterophyllum were more closely related to D. moldavica and D. palmatum. In addition, the phylogenetic relationships between Dracocephalum and other members of Lamiaceae were consistent with previous results. These results are valuable for further formulating effective strategies of conservation and management for species in Dracocephalum, as well as providing a foundation for future research on the genetic resources of Dracocephalum.

To accurately evaluate expression levels of target genes, stable internal reference genes is required for normalization of quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) data. However, there have been no systematical investigation on the stability of reference genes used in the bedstraw weed, Galium aparine L. (BGA). In this study, the expression profiles of seven traditionally used reference genes, namely 18S, 28S, ACT, GAPDH, EF1α, RPL7 and TBP in BGA were assessed under both biotic (developmental time and tissue), and abiotic (temperature, regions and herbicide) conditions. Four analytical algorithms (geNorm, Normfinder, BestKeeper and the ΔCt method) were used to analyze the suitability of these genes as internal reference genes. RefFinder, a comprehensive analytical software, was used to rank the overall stability of the candidate genes. The optimal normalization internal control genes were ranked as: 28S and RPL7 were best for all the different experimental conditions (developmental stages, tissues, temperature, regions and herbicide treatment); 28S and RPL7 for developmental stages; TBP and GAPDH for different tissues; 28S and GAPDH were relatively stable for different temperature; 28S and TBP were suitable for herbicide treatment. A specific set of reference genes were recommended for each experimental condition in BGA.

Background: Use of dried blood spots (DBS) offers advantages over serum samples in studies conducted in resource-poor settings. The aim of this study was to compare the number of adequate spots collected across different demographic groups. Methods: Five DBS were collected from 3316 individuals aged 0–49 years in Tianjin, China for a measles antibody study; DBS were rated “adequate” or “inadequate.” Linear regression, with the number of adequate DBS on a card as the outcome variable, was used to test for predictors of DBS adequacy. Results: There were 0 adequate DBS for 23% of participants and 5 adequate DBS for 24%. Mean number of adequate DBS was 1.68 in infants (

To explore the origin and evolution of local flora and vegetation, we examined the evolutionary history of Rhus chinensis, which is widely distributed in China’s temperate and subtropical zones, by sequencing three maternally inherited chloroplast DNAs (cpDNA: trnL-trnF, psbA-trnH, and rbcL) and the biparentally inherited nuclear DNA (nuDNA: LEAFY) from 19 natural populations of R. chinensis as well as the ecological niche modeling. In all, 23 chloroplast haplotypes (M1–M23) and 15 nuclear alleles (N1–N15) were detected. The estimation of divergence time showed that the most recent common ancestor dated at 4.2 ± 2.5 million years ago (Mya) from cpDNA, and the initial divergence of genotypes occurred at 4.8 ± 3.6 Mya for the nuDNA. Meanwhile, the multimodality mismatch distribution curves and positive Tajima’s D values indicated that R. chinensis did not experience population expansion after the last glacial maximum. Besides, our study was also consistent with the hypothesis that most refugia in the temperate and subtropical zones of China were in situ during the glaciation.