GCPDFFNet: Small Object Detection for Rice Blast Recognition.

Early detection of rice blast disease is pivotal to ensure rice yield. We collected in situ images of rice blast and constructed a rice blast dataset based on variations in lesion shape, size, and color. Given that rice blast lesions are small and typically exhibit round, oval, and fusiform shapes, we proposed a small object detection model named GCPDFFNet (global context-based parallel differentiation feature fusion network) for rice blast recognition. The GCPDFFNet model has three global context feature extraction modules and two parallel differentiation feature fusion modules. The global context modules are employed to focus on the lesion areas; the parallel differentiation feature fusion modules are used to enhance the recognition effect of small-sized lesions. In addition, we proposed the SCYLLA normalized Wasserstein distance loss function, specifically designed to accelerate model convergence and improve the detection accuracy of rice blast disease. Comparative experiments were conducted on the rice blast dataset to evaluate the performance of the model. The proposed GCPDFFNet model outperformed the baseline network CenterNet, with a significant increase in mean average precision from 83.6 to 95.4% on the rice blast test set while maintaining a satisfactory frames per second drop from 147.9 to 122.1. Our results suggest that the GCPDFFNet model can accurately detect in situ rice blast disease while ensuring the inference speed meets the real-time requirements.

Cetuximab plus FOLFOXIRI versus cetuximab plus FOLFOX as conversion regimen in RAS/BRAF wild-type patients with initially unresectable colorectal liver metastases (TRICE trial): A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: It remains unclear whether intensification of the chemotherapy backbone in tandem with an anti-EGFR can confer superior clinical outcomes in a cohort of RAS/BRAF wild-type colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with initially unresectable colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). To that end, we sought to comparatively evaluate the efficacy and safety of cetuximab plus FOLFOXIRI (triplet arm) versus cetuximab plus FOLFOX (doublet arm) as a conversion regimen (i.e., unresectable to resectable) in CRC patients with unresectable CRLM. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This open-label, randomized clinical trial was conducted from April 2018 to December 2022 in 7 medical centers across China, enrolling 146 RAS/BRAF wild-type CRC patients with initially unresectable CRLM. A stratified blocked randomization method was utilized to assign patients (1:1) to either the cetuximab plus FOLFOXIRI (n = 72) or cetuximab plus FOLFOX (n = 74) treatment arms. Stratification factors were tumor location (left versus right) and resectability (technically unresectable versus ≥5 metastases). The primary outcome was the objective response rate (ORR). Secondary outcomes included the median depth of tumor response (DpR), early tumor shrinkage (ETS), R0 resection rate, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (not mature at the time of analysis), and safety profile. Radiological tumor evaluations were conducted by radiologists blinded to the group allocation. Primary efficacy analyses were conducted based on the intention-to-treat population, while safety analyses were performed on patients who received at least 1 line of chemotherapy. A total of 14 patients (9.6%) were lost to follow-up (9 in the doublet arm and 5 in the triplet arm). The ORR was comparable following adjustment for stratification factors, with 84.7% versus 79.7% in the triplet and doublet arms, respectively (odds ratio [OR] 0.70; 95% confidence intervals [CI] [0.30, 1.67], Chi-square p = 0.42). Moreover, the ETS rate showed no significant difference between the triplet and doublet arms (80.6% (58/72) versus 77.0% (57/74), OR 0.82, 95% CI [0.37, 1.83], Chi-square p = 0.63). Although median DpR was higher in the triplet therapy group (59.6%, interquartile range [IQR], [50.0, 69.7] versus 55.0%, IQR [42.8, 63.8], Mann-Whitney p = 0.039), the R0/R1 resection rate with or without radiofrequency ablation/stereotactic body radiation therapy was comparable with 54.2% (39/72) of patients in the triplet arm versus 52.7% (39/74) in the doublet arm. At a median follow-up of 26.2 months (IQR [12.8, 40.5]), the median PFS was 11.8 months in the triplet arm versus 13.4 months in the doublet arm (hazard ratio [HR] 0.74, 95% CI [0.50, 1.11], Log-rank p = 0.14). Grade ≥ 3 events were reported in 47.2% (35/74) of patients in the doublet arm and 55.9% (38/68) of patients in the triplet arm. The triplet arm was associated with a higher incidence of grade ≥ 3 neutropenia (44.1% versus 27.0%, p = 0.03) and diarrhea (5.9% versus 0%, p = 0.03). The primary limitations of the study encompass the inherent bias in subjective surgical decisions regarding resection feasibility, as well as the lack of a centralized assessment for ORR and resection. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of cetuximab with FOLFOXIRI did not significantly improve ORR compared to cetuximab plus FOLFOX. Despite achieving an enhanced DpR, this improvement did not translate into improved R0 resection rates or PFS. Moreover, the triplet arm was associated with an increase in treatment-related toxicity. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03493048.

Research on the impact and mechanism of financial development on new urbanization: A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Based on panel data of 108 cities in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2003 to 2019, a multiple mediation model is used in this study to assess the impact and mechanism of financial development on new urbanization. The main conclusions are that financial development can directly promote the improvement of new urbanization and indirectly improve the level of new urbanization by increasing infrastructure investment, optimizing industrial structure, and enhancing human capital. Further, the financial development of middle-upstream cities has a stronger promoting effect on new urbanization. Whereas the financial development of downstream cities mainly promotes the construction of new urbanization through both infrastructure investment and industrial structure optimization, middle-upstream cities rely more solely on infrastructure investment.

Whole-genome Duplication Reshaped Adaptive Evolution in A Relict Plant Species, Cyclocarya paliurus.

Cyclocarya paliurus is a relict plant species that survived the last glacial period and shows a population expansion recently. Its leaves have been traditionally used to treat obesity and diabetes with the well-known active ingredient cyclocaric acid B. Here, we presented three C. paliurus genomes from two diploids with different flower morphs and one haplotype-resolved tetraploid assembly. Comparative genomic analysis revealed two rounds of recent whole-genome duplication events and identified 691 genes with dosage effects that likely contribute to adaptive evolution through enhanced photosynthesis and increased accumulation of triterpenoids. Resequencing analysis of 45 C. paliurus individuals uncovered two bottlenecks, consistent with the known events of environmental changes, and many selectively swept genes involved in critical biological functions, including plant defense and secondary metabolite biosynthesis. We also proposed the biosynthesis pathway of cyclocaric acid B based on multi-omics data and identified key genes, in particular gibberellin-related genes, associated with the heterodichogamy in C. paliurus species. Our study sheds light on evolutionary history of C. paliurus and provides genomic resources to study the medicinal herbs.

Consequences of LED Lights on Root Morphological Traits and Compounds Accumulation in Sarcandra glabra Seedlings.

This study evaluated the effects of different light spectra (white light; WL, blue light; BL and red light; RL) on the root morphological traits and metabolites accumulation and biosynthesis in Sarcandra glabra. We performed transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling by RNA-seq and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS), respectively. When morphological features were compared to WL, BL substantially increased under-ground fresh weight, root length, root surface area, and root volume, while RL inhibited these indices. A total of 433 metabolites were identified, of which 40, 18, and 68 compounds differentially accumulated in roots under WL (WG) vs. roots under BL (BG), WG vs. roots under RL (RG), and RG vs. BG, respectively. In addition, the contents of sinapyl alcohol, sinapic acid, fraxetin, and 6-methylcoumarin decreased significantly in BG and RG. In contrast, chlorogenic acid, rosmarinyl glucoside, quercitrin and quercetin were increased considerably in BG. Furthermore, the contents of eight terpenoids compounds significantly reduced in BG. Following transcriptomic profiling, several key genes related to biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid-derived and terpenoids metabolites were differentially expressed, such as caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase) (COMT), hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT), O-methyltransferase (OMT), and 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthetase (DXS). In summary, our findings showed that BL was suitable for growth and accumulation of bioactive metabolites in root tissue of S. glabra. Exposure to a higher ratio of BL might have the potential to improve the production and quality of S. glabra seedlings, but this needs to be confirmed further.

Response of Soil Fungal Diversity and Community Composition to Varying Levels of Bamboo Biochar in Red Soils.

Soil fungi play a vital role in soil nutrient dynamics, but knowledge of their diversity and community composition in response to biochar addition into red soil is either limited or inconsistent. Therefore, we determined the impact of bamboo biochar (BB) with increasing concentrations (0, 5, 20, and 80 g kg-1 of soil, referred to as B0, BB5, BB20, and BB80, respectively) on soil physicochemical properties and fungal communities (Illumina high-throughput sequencing) in red soil under Fokenia hodginsii (Fujian cypress). We found that increasing BB levels effectively raised the soil pH and soil nutrients, particularly under BB80. BB addition significantly increased the relative abundance of important genera, i.e., Basidiomycota, Mucoromycota, and Chytridiomycota that could play a key role in ecological functioning, e.g., wood degradation and litter decomposition, improvement in plant nutrients uptake, and resistance to several abiotic stress factors. Soil amended with BB exhibited a substantial ability to increase the fungal richness and diversity; BB80 > BB20 > BB5 > B0. Basidiomycota, Mucoromycota, Glomeromycota, Rozellomycota, Aphelidiomycota, Kickxellomycota, and Planctomycetes were positively associated with soil pH, total nitrogen, phosphorous, and carbon, and available potassium and phosphorous. Besides, the correlation analysis between the soil fungal communities and soil properties also showed that soil pH was the most influential factor in shaping the soil fungal communities in the red soil. These findings have significant implications for a comprehensive understanding of how to ameliorate acidic soils with BB addition, as well as for future research on sustainable forest management, which might increase soil fungi richness, diversity, and functionality in acidic soils.

Divergent consequences of different biochar amendments on carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the red soil.

Climate change due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the global environmental matters of the 21st century. Biochar (BC) amendments have been proposed as a potential solution for improving soil quality and to mitigate GHGs emissions. Therefore, we evaluated the influence of different BCs on soil CO2 and N2O emissions in an outdoor pot experiment. The soil was mixed with three different types of BCs; bamboo, hardwood, and rice straw BCs as BB, BH, and BR, respectively, and control as B0 with four levels (0, 5, 20, and 80 g kg-1 of soil). Gas samples were collected on a bi-monthly basis for six months. A polyvinyl chloride (PVC) static chamber was placed on each replicate to collect the gas samples at 15, 30, 45, and 60 min, respectively. Compared to B0, the lowest cumulative N2O emissions were observed in BH80 (11%) followed by BH20, BH5, and BR80. However, for cumulative CO2 emissions, B0 and BC treatments showed no significant differences except for BB80 (>11%) and BB5 (<2%). BC type and level both had a significant (P < 0.001) impact on the cumulative N2O emissions with a significant interaction (P < 0.001). However, cumulative CO2 emissions were unaffected by BC type but BC level showed a significant influence on cumulative CO2 emissions (P < 0.05) and there was a significant (P < 0.001) interaction between the BC type and level on cumulative CO2 emissions. Overall, higher doses of BR and BB showed a pronounced effect on soil pH over BH. The soil pH and moisture showed a negative correlation with N2O emissions whereas soil temperature showed a positive correlation with the cumulative fluxes of N2O. Our results demonstrate that BC incorporation to soil may help to mitigate GHGs emissions but its influence may vary with BC type and level under different conditions and soil type.

Transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling reveals the effect of LED light quality on morphological traits, and phenylpropanoid-derived compounds accumulation in Sarcandra glabra seedlings.

BACKGROUND: Sarcandra glabra is an evergreen and traditional Chinese herb with anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor effects. Light is one of the most influential factor affecting the growth and quality of herbs. In recent times, the introduction of Light Emission Diode (LED) technology has been widely used for plants in greenhouse. However, the impact of such lights on plant growth and the regulatory mechanism of phenylpropanoid-derived compounds in S. glabra remain unclear. RESULTS: The red LED light (RL) substantially increased the plant height and decreased the stem diameter and leaf area relative to the white LED light (WL), while the blue LED light (BL) significantly reduced the height and leaf area of S. glabra. According to transcriptomic profiling, 861, 378, 47, 10,033, 7917, and 6379 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified among the groups of leaf tissue under BL (BY) vs. leaf tissue under RL (RY), BY vs. leaf tissue under WL (WY), RY vs. WY, root tissue under WL (WG) vs. WY, stem tissue under WL (WJ) vs. WG, and WJ vs. WY, respectively. We identified 46 genes encoding for almost all known enzymes involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, e.g., phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), chalcone synthase (CHS), and flavonol synthase (FLS). We found 53 genes encoding R2R3-MYB proteins and bHLH proteins, respectively, where several were related to flavonoids biosynthesis. A total of 454 metabolites were identified based on metabolomic profiling, of which 44, 87, and 296 compounds were differentially produced in WY vs. RY, WY vs. BY, and WY vs. WG. In BY there was a substantial reduction in the production of esculetin, caffeic acid, isofraxidin, and fraxidin, while the yields of quercitrin and kaempferol were significantly up-regulated. In RY, the contents of cryptochlorogenic acid, cinnamic acid, and kaempferol decreased significantly. Besides, in WG, the production of metabolites (e.g. chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, and scopolin) declined, while their yields increased significantly (e.g. esculetin, fraxetin, isofraxidin, and fraxidin). CONCLUSION: These results provide further insight into the regulatory mechanism of accumulation patterns of phenylpropanoid-derived compounds in S. glabra under various light conditions, allowing optimum breeding conditions to be developed for this plant.

Complete chloroplast genome sequence of Bambusa subtruncata (Bambusodae).

Bambusa subtruncata is found in Xinyi county, Maoming city, Guangdong province, China. In the current study, we sequenced the complete chloroplast genome of B. subtruncata and reported for the first time. The genome was 139,444 bp in total length, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 82,956 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 12,897 bp, and a pair of invert repeats (IR) regions of 21,798 bp. Plastid genome comprised of 127 genes in total; 82 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on 25 chloroplast genomes indicates that B. subtruncata is closely related to Bambusa emeiensis in Bambusodae.

Comparative effects of sulfuric and nitric acid rain on litter decomposition and soil microbial community in subtropical plantation of Yangtze River Delta region.

Acid rain is mainly caused by dissolution of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere, and has a significant negative effect on ecosystems. The relative composition of acid rain is changing gradually from sulfuric acid rain (SAR) to nitric acid rain (NAR) with the rapidly growing amount of nitrogen deposition. In this study, we investigated the impact of simulated SAR and NAR on litter decomposition and the soil microbial community over four seasons since March 2015. Results first showed that the effects of acid rain on litter decomposition and soil microbial were positive in the early period of the experiment, except for SAR on soil microbes. Second, soil pH with NAR decreased more rapidly with the amount of acid rain increased in summer than with SAR treatments. Only strongly acid rain (both SAR and NAR) was capable of depressing litter decomposition and its inhibitory effect was stronger on leaf than on fine root litter. Meanwhile, NAR had a higher inhibitory effect on litter decomposition than SAR. Third, in summer, autumn and winter, PLFAs were negatively impacted by the increased acidity level resulting from both SAR and NAR. However, higher acidity level of NAR (pH=2.5) had the strongest inhibitory impact on soil microbial activity, especially in summer. In addition, Gram-negative bacteria (cy19:0) and fungi (18:1ω9) were more sensitive to both SAR and NAR, and actinomycetes was more sensitive to SAR intensity. Finally, soil total carbon, total nitrogen and pH were the most important soil property factors affecting soil microbial activity, and high microbial indices (fungi/bacteria) with high soil pH. Our results suggest that the ratio of SO42- to NO3- in acid rain is an important factor which could affect litter decomposition and soil microbial in subtropical forest of China.

Laparoscopic common bile duct exploration: a safe and definitive treatment for elderly patients.

BACKGROUND: Common bile duct (CBD) stone is one of the most common diseases among elderly people. In recent decades, there are numerous studies regarding the safety and efficacy of laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (LCBDE). Elderly patients are often regarded as high-risk patients because they are more likely to present with age-specific deterioration of organ function and coexisting chronic diseases, which may reduce their tolerance of laparoscopic surgery. Although laparoscopic surgery for choledocholithiasis is now widely accepted as the treatment for CBD stone, its appropriateness for the treatment of elderly patients or those with coexisting high-risk patients has not been well established. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to analyze the safety and efficacy of LCBDE in elderly patients. METHODS: Between January 2012 and November 2015, 376 patients underwent LCBDE in our center. Based on their ages, they were divided into two groups, and a retrospective study was performed. By making comparisons between younger group who were younger than 70 years (n = 253) and elderly group who were 70 years old or older (n = 123), the demographics, clinical characteristics, laboratory data, operative parameters and outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: Before operation, elderly patients had more coexisting chronic diseases and risk factors, such as arterial hypertension, heart diseases, pulmonary diseases and previous abdominal surgery (P < 0.05). In both groups, LCBDE was equally successful with a high clearance rate (100 % in elderly patients vs. 98.8 % in younger group, P = 0.554). Besides, the operating time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay, total costs and overall complication showed no significant difference between two groups (P > 0.05). There was no major bile duct injury or death in either group. CONCLUSION: Although elderly patients are frequently confronted with coexisting disorders, LCBDE can be considered as a safe and effective technique in choledocholithiasis treatment for elderly patients.

[Effect of laparoscopic proctectomy and open proctectomy on plasma levels of vascular endothelial growth factor].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of laparoscopic and open proctectomy on plasma levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). METHODS: From January 2011 to December 2012, 100 rectal cancer patients in Shantou Central Hospital were enrolled in the study. Patients were divided into laparoscopic (LR) group and open (OR) group based on the decision of the patients. There were 63 patients in the LR group (44 cases undergoing low anterior resection and 19 abdominoperineal resection) and 37 patients in the OR group(26 cases undergoing low anterior resection and 11 abdominoperineal resection). Double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunohistochemistry was used to detect the level of VEGF on 1-day before and 1-day, 3-day, 7-day after operation. RESULTS: In the LR group, the postoperative levels of VEGF increased slowly, and the level of VEGF was significantly higher than that before operation until the 7-day after operation(P<0.05) regardless of the procedure. In the OR group, all the postoperative levels of VEGF were significantly increased(P<0.05). There was no significant difference of the VEGF level on 1-day before and 1-day after operation between the two groups(all P>0.05). The VEGF level in the OR group was significantly higher than that in the LR group on the day 3 and day 7 after operation(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Compared with open approach, laparoscopic proctectomy has smaller short-term impact on the plasma level of VEGF in rectal cancer patients.