Twelve tips to virtually operationalize co-creation of educational design.

Co-creation is the active involvement of all stakeholders, including students, in educational design processes to improve the quality of education by embodying inclusivity, transparency and empowerment. Virtual co-creation has the potential to expand the utility of co-creation as an inclusive approach by overcoming challenges regarding the practicality and availability of stakeholders, typically experienced in face-to-face co-creation. Drawing from the literature and our experiences of virtual co-creation activities in different educational contexts, this twelve tips paper provides guidelines on how to effectively operationalize co-creation in a virtual setting. Our proposed three-phased approach (preparation, conduction, follow-up) might help those aiming to virtually co-create courses and programs by involving stakeholders beyond institutes and across borders.

Genome dosage alteration caused by chromosome pyramiding and shuffling effects on karyotypic heterogeneity, reproductive diversity, and phenotypic variation in Zea-Tripsacum allopolyploids.

KEY MESSAGE: We developed an array of Zea-Tripsacum tri-hybrid allopolyploids with multiple ploidies. We unveiled that changes in genome dosage due to the chromosomes pyramiding and shuffling of three species effects karyotypic heterogeneity, reproductive diversity, and phenotypic variation in Zea-Tripsacum allopolyploids. Polyploidy, or whole genome duplication, has played a major role in evolution and speciation. The genomic consequences of polyploidy have been extensively studied in many plants; however, the extent of chromosomal variation, genome dosage, phenotypic diversity, and heterosis in allopolyploids derived from multiple species remains largely unknown. To address this question, we synthesized an allohexaploid involving Zea mays, Tripsacum dactyloides, and Z. perennis by chromosomal pyramiding. Subsequently, an allooctoploid and an allopentaploid were obtained by hybridization of the allohexaploid with Z. perennis. Moreover, we constructed three populations with different ploidy by chromosomal shuffling (allopentaploid × Z. perennis, allohexaploid × Z. perennis, and allooctoploid × Z. perennis). We have observed 3 types of sexual reproductive modes and 2 types of asexual reproduction modes in the tri-species hybrids, including 2n gamete fusion (2n + n), haploid gamete fusion (n + n), polyspermy fertilization (n + n + n) or 2n gamete fusion (n + 2n), haploid gametophyte apomixis, and asexual reproduction. The tri-hybrids library presents extremely rich karyotype heterogeneity. Chromosomal compensation appears to exist between maize and Z. perennis. A rise in the ploidy of the trihybrids was linked to a higher frequency of chromosomal translocation. Variation in the degree of phenotypic diversity observed in different segregating populations suggested that genome dosage effects phenotypic manifestation. These findings not only broaden our understanding of the mechanisms of polyploid formation and reproductive diversity but also provide a novel insight into genome pyramiding and shuffling driven genome dosage effects and phenotypic diversity.

Microlearning Environment of Orthodontic Postgraduate Training Programmes in Pakistan: A Multicentre Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the perception of residents regarding the microlearning environment of orthodontic postgraduate training programmes across Pakistan. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional, multicentre study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Orthodontics, Dental College, HITEC Institute of Medical Sciences, Taxila, from February to July 2022. METHODOLOGY: This questionnaire-based study was conducted using a pre-validated HEMLEM tool for data collection. QuestionPro survey tool was utilised for data collection and SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis. Independent t-test and one-way ANOVA were performed for comparison of different subgroups. RESULTS: A total of 204 residents participated in this study and collectively showed a mean score of 45.2. Male residents showed significantly higher level of satisfaction than females. Residents below the age of 25 years and those in the first year of training showed maximum level of satisfaction with their learning environments. In general, participants perceived the teaching quality and supervision as more satisfactory than the staff attitude and behaviour. CONCLUSION: Overall, a higher HEMLEM score was recorded, which suggested that Pakistani orthodontic residents felt satisfied with their microlearning environment. Clinical supervisors, curriculum designers, and programme directors could use the findings of this study to further improve the learning environment of their training programmes. KEY WORDS: Learning environment, Microlearning environment, Residents, Clinical training, Supervision, Staff support.

Measuring Health Care Work-Related Contextual Factors: Development of the McGill Context Tool.

INTRODUCTION: Contextual factors can influence healthcare professionals' (HCPs) competencies, yet there is a scarcity of research on how to optimally measure these factors. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a comprehensive tool for HCPs to document the contextual factors likely to influence the maintenance, development, and deployment of professional competencies. METHODS: We used DeVellis' 8-step process for scale development and Messick's unified theory of validity to inform the development and validation of the context tool. Building on results from a scoping review, we generated an item pool of contextual factors articulated around five themes: Leadership and Agency, Values, Policies, Supports, and Demands. A first version of the tool was pilot tested with 127 HCPs and analyzed using the classical test theory. A second version was tested on a larger sample (n = 581) and analyzed using the Rasch rating scale model. RESULTS: First version of the tool: we piloted 117 items that were grouped as per the themes related to contextual factors and rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Cronbach alpha for the set of 12 retained items per scale ranged from 0.75 to 0.94. Second version of the tool included 60 items: Rasch analysis showed that four of the five scales (ie, Leadership and Agency, Values, Policies, Supports) can be used as unidimensional scales, whereas the fifth scale (Demands) had to be split into two unidimensional scales (Demands and Overdemands). DISCUSSION: Validity evidence documented for content and internal structure is encouraging and supports the use of the McGill context tool. Future research will provide additional validity evidence and cross-cultural translation.

Functional analysis of ZmG6PE reveals its role in responses to low-phosphorus stress and regulation of grain yield in maize.

A previous metabolomic and genome-wide association analysis of maize screened a glucose-6-phosphate 1-epimerase (ZmG6PE) gene, which responds to low-phosphorus (LP) stress and regulates yield in maize's recombinant inbred lines (RILs). However, the relationship of ZmG6PE with phosphorus and yield remained elusive. This study aimed to elucidate the underlying response mechanism of the ZmG6PE gene to LP stress and its consequential impact on maize yield. The analysis indicated that ZmG6PE required the Aldose_epim conserved domain to maintain enzyme activity and localized in the nucleus and cell membrane. The zmg6pe mutants showed decreased biomass and sugar contents but had increased starch content in leaves under LP stress conditions. Combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis showed that LP stress activated plant immune regulation in response to the LP stress through carbon metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and fatty acid metabolism. Notably, LP stress significantly reduced the synthesis of glucose-1-phosphate, mannose-6-phosphate, and ß-alanine-related metabolites and changed the expression of related genes. ZmG6PE regulates LP stress by mediating the expression of ZmSPX6 and ZmPHT1.13. Overall, this study revealed that ZmG6PE affected the number of grains per ear, ear thickness, and ear weight under LP stress, indicating that ZmG6PE participates in the phosphate signaling pathway and affects maize yield-related traits through balancing carbohydrates homeostasis.

Membership inference attack on differentially private block coordinate descent.

The extraordinary success of deep learning is made possible due to the availability of crowd-sourced large-scale training datasets. Mostly, these datasets contain personal and confidential information, thus, have great potential of being misused, raising privacy concerns. Consequently, privacy-preserving deep learning has become a primary research interest nowadays. One of the prominent approaches adopted to prevent the leakage of sensitive information about the training data is by implementing differential privacy during training for their differentially private training, which aims to preserve the privacy of deep learning models. Though these models are claimed to be a safeguard against privacy attacks targeting sensitive information, however, least amount of work is found in the literature to practically evaluate their capability by performing a sophisticated attack model on them. Recently, DP-BCD is proposed as an alternative to state-of-the-art DP-SGD, to preserve the privacy of deep-learning models, having low privacy cost and fast convergence speed with highly accurate prediction results. To check its practical capability, in this article, we analytically evaluate the impact of a sophisticated privacy attack called the membership inference attack against it in both black box as well as white box settings. More precisely, we inspect how much information can be inferred from a differentially private deep model's training data. We evaluate our experiments on benchmark datasets using AUC, attacker advantage, precision, recall, and F1-score performance metrics. The experimental results exhibit that DP-BCD keeps its promise to preserve privacy against strong adversaries while providing acceptable model utility compared to state-of-the-art techniques.

Developing multisectoral strategies to promote evidence-based practice in rehabilitation: findings from an end-of-grant knowledge translation symposium.

PURPOSE: Following a longitudinal study to understand how evidence-based practice evolves during the initial years of occupational therapy (OT) and physiotherapy (PT) practice, we held an end-of-grant symposium with representatives from education, practice, research, and policy. The objectives were to: (1) elicit feedback on the implications of the study results; and (2) co-develop a list of actionable recommendations for each sector. METHODS: Qualitative participatory approach. The symposium was held over two half days and consisted of a presentation of study findings, a discussion on the implications of the research for each sector and future recommendations. Discussions were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. RESULTS: The themes related to implications of the longitudinal study included: (1) A need to rethink what evidence-based practice (EBP) really is; (2) How to practice EBP; and (3) The continuing challenge of measuring EBP. The co-development of actionable recommendations resulted in nine strategies. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted how we may collectively promote EBP competencies in future OTs and PTs. We generated sector-specific avenues that may be pursued to promote EBP and argued for the importance of pooling efforts from the four sectors so that we may achieve the intended ethos of EBP.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONThere is a need to revisit the definition of evidence-based practice (EBP) and the traditional 3-circle model in rehabilitation to include a broader conceptualization of what constitutes evidence.We recommend using EBP measures as tools for self-reflection and professional development that can support practitioners to be reflective and accountable evidence-based practitioners.Optimal promotion of EBP competencies in occupational therapists and physiotherapists should rest upon collaborative efforts from the education, practice, research, and policy sectors.

It is not about the destination but the journey: A dive into student-staff partnership processes.

Student-staff partnership advocates the active involvement of students' voices in the design of education. Although the concept of student-staff partnership is rapidly gaining momentum in health professions education, the current practices are more outcome-focused and pay less attention to the partnership process itself. Students' involvement in most of the claimed partnerships has been viewed as input information to the educational design process rather than inviting them to the more pronounced role as partners. In this commentary, we elaborate on different levels of students' involvement in educational design, before highlighting the possible dynamics between students and staff in partnership. We propose five key features of dynamics involved in the process of real student-staff partnerships and a Process-Outcome Model for Student-staff Partnership. We advocate that moving beyond outcomes and diving deeper into the partnership processes is the way forward to establishing true student-staff partnerships.

QTL-seq and transcriptomic integrative analyses reveal two positively regulated genes that control the low-temperature germination ability of MTP-maize introgression lines.

KEY MESSAGE: Two candidate genes (ZmbZIP113 and ZmTSAH1) controlling low-temperature germination ability were identified by QTL-seq and integrative transcriptomic analyses. The functional verification results showed that two candidate genes positively regulated the low-temperature germination ability of IB030. Low-temperature conditions cause slow maize (Zea mays L.) seed metabolism, resulting in slow seedling emergence and irregular seedling emergence, which can cause serious yield loss. Thus, improving a maize cultivar's low-temperature germination ability (LTGA) is vital for increasing yield production. Wild relatives of maize, such as Z. perennis and Tripsacum dactyloides, are strongly tolerant of cold stress and can thus be used to improve the LTGA of maize. In a previous study, the genetic bridge MTP was constructed (from maize, T. dactyloides, and Z. perennis) and used to obtain a highly LTGA maize introgression line (IB030) by backcross breeding. In this study, IB030 (Strong-LTGA) and Mo17 (Weak-LTGA) were selected as parents to construct an F2 offspring. Additionally, two major QTLs (qCS1-1 and qCS10-1) were mapped. Then, RNA-seq was performed using seeds of IB030 and the recurrent parent B73 treated at 10 °C for 27 days and 25 °C for 7 days, respectively, and two candidate genes (ZmbZIP113 and ZmTSAH1) controlling LTGA were located using QTL-seq and integrative transcriptomic analyses. The functional verification results showed that the two candidate genes positively regulated LTGA of IB030. Notably, homologous cloning showed that the source of variation in both candidate genes was the stable inheritance of introgressed alleles from Z. perennis. This study was thus able to analyze the LTGA mechanism of IB030 and identify resistance genes for genetic improvement in maize, and it proved that using MTP genetic bridge confers desirable traits or phenotypes of Z. perennis and tripsacum essential to maize breeding systems.

The Definitions and Conceptualizations of the Practice Context in the Health Professions: A Scoping Review.

INTRODUCTION: Health care professionals work in different contexts, which can influence professional competencies. Despite existing literature on the impact of context on practice, the nature and influence of contextual characteristics, and how context is defined and measured, remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to map the breadth and depth of the literature on how context is defined and measured and the contextual characteristics that may influence professional competencies. METHODS: A scoping review using Arksey and O'Malley's framework. We searched MEDLINE (Ovid) and CINAHL (EBSCO). Our inclusion criteria were studies that reported on context or relationships between contextual characteristics and professional competencies or that measured context. We extracted data on context definitions, context measures and their psychometric properties, and contextual characteristics influencing professional competencies. We performed numerical and qualitative analyses. RESULTS: After duplicate removal, 9106 citations were screened and 283 were retained. We compiled a list of 67 context definitions and 112 available measures, with or without psychometric properties. We identified 60 contextual factors and organized them into five themes: Leadership and Agency, Values, Policies, Supports, and Demands. DISCUSSION: Context is a complex construct that covers a wide array of dimensions. Measures are available, but none include the five dimensions in one single measure or focus on items targeting the likelihood of context influencing several competencies. Given that the practice context plays a critical role in health care professionals' competencies, stakeholders from all sectors (education, practice, and policy) should work together to address those contextual characteristics that can adversely influence practice.

Exploring if and how evidence-based practice of occupational and physical therapists evolves over time: A longitudinal mixed methods national study.

BACKGROUND: Occupational therapists (OTs) and physiotherapists (PTs) are expected to provide evidence-based services to individuals living with disabilities. Despite the emphasis on evidence-based practice (EBP) by professional entry-level programs and professional bodies, little is known about their EBP competencies upon entry to practice and over time or what factors impact EBP use. The aim of the study was to measure and understand how EBP evolves over the first three years after graduation among Canadian OTs and PTs, and how individual and organizational factors impact the continuous use of EBP. METHODS: A longitudinal, mixed methods sequential explanatory study. We administered a survey questionnaire measuring six EBP constructs (knowledge, attitudes, confidence, resources, use of EBP and evidence-based activities) annually, followed by focus group discussions with a subset of survey participants. We performed group-based trajectory modeling to identify trajectories of EBP over time, and a content analysis of qualitative data guided by the Theoretical Domains Framework. RESULTS: Of 1700 graduates in 2016-2017, 257 (response rate = 15%) responded at baseline (T0) (i.e., at graduation), and 83 (retention rate = 32%), 75 (retention rate = 29%), and 74 (retention rate = 29%) participated at time point 1 (T1: one year into practice), time point 2 (T2: two years into practice, and time point 3 (T3: three years into practice) respectively. Group-based trajectory modeling showed four unique group trajectories for the use of EBP. Over 64% of participants (two trajectories) showed a decline in the use of EBP over time. Fifteen practitioners (7 OTs and 8 PTs) participated in the focus group discussions. Personal and peer experiences, client needs and expectations, and availability of resources were perceived to influence EBP the most. CONCLUSIONS: Though a decline in EBP may be concerning, it is unclear if this decline is clinically meaningful and whether professional expertise can offset such declines. Stakeholder-concerted efforts towards the common goal of promoting EBP in education, practice and policy are needed.

Multispecies polyploidization, chromosome shuffling, and genome extraction in Zea/Tripsacum hybrids.

By hybridization and special sexual reproduction, we sequentially aggregated Zea mays, Zea perennis, and Tripsacum dactyloides in an allohexaploid, backcrossed it with maize, derived self-fertile allotetraploids of maize and Z. perennis by natural genome extraction, extended their first six selfed generations, and finally constructed amphitetraploid maize using nascent allotetraploids as a genetic bridge. Transgenerational chromosome inheritance, subgenome stability, chromosome pairings and rearrangements, and their impacts on an organism's fitness were investigated by fertility phenotyping and molecular cytogenetic techniques genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Results showed that diversified sexual reproductive methods produced highly differentiated progenies (2n = 35-84) with varying proportions of subgenomic chromosomes, of which one individual (2n = 54, MMMPT) overcame self-incompatibility barriers and produced a self-fertile nascent near-allotetraploid by preferentially eliminating Tripsacum chromosomes. Nascent near-allotetraploid progenies showed persistent chromosome changes, intergenomic translocations, and rDNA variations for at least up to the first six selfed generations; however, the mean chromosome number preferably maintained at the near-tetraploid level (2n = 40) with full integrity of 45S rDNA pairs, and a trend of decreasing variations by advancing generations with an average of 25.53, 14.14, and 0.37 for maize, Z. perennis, and T. dactyloides chromosomes, respectively. The mechanisms for three genome stabilities and karyotype evolution for formatting new polyploid species were discussed.

QTL Mapping and a Transcriptome Integrative Analysis Uncover the Candidate Genes That Control the Cold Tolerance of Maize Introgression Lines at the Seedling Stage.

Chilling injury owing to low temperatures severely affects the growth and development of maize (Zea mays.L) seedlings during the early and late spring seasons. The existing maize germplasm is deficient in the resources required to improve maize's ability to tolerate cold injury. Therefore, it is crucial to introduce and identify excellent gene/QTLs that confer cold tolerance to maize for sustainable crop production. Wild relatives of maize, such as Z. perennis and Tripsacum dactyloides, are strongly tolerant to cold and can be used to improve the cold tolerance of maize. In a previous study, a genetic bridge among maize that utilized Z. perennis and T. dactyloides was created and used to obtain a highly cold-tolerant maize introgression line (MIL)-IB030 by backcross breeding. In this study, two candidate genes that control relative electrical conductivity were located on MIL-IB030 by forward genetics combined with a weighted gene co-expression network analysis. The results of the phenotypic, genotypic, gene expression, and functional verification suggest that two candidate genes positively regulate cold tolerance in MIL-IB030 and could be used to improve the cold tolerance of cultivated maize. This study provides a workable route to introduce and mine excellent genes/QTLs to improve the cold tolerance of maize and also lays a theoretical and practical foundation to improve cultivated maize against low-temperature stress.

Integrated single-molecule real-time sequencing and RNA sequencing reveal the molecular mechanisms of salt tolerance in a novel synthesized polyploid genetic bridge between maize and its wild relatives.

BACKGROUND: Tripsacum dactyloides (2n = 4x = 72) and Zea perennis (2n = 4x = 40) are tertiary gene pools of Zea mays L. and exhibit many abiotic adaptations absent in modern maize, especially salt tolerance. A previously reported allopolyploid (hereafter referred to as MTP, 2n = 74) synthesized using Zea mays, Tripsacum dactyloides, and Zea perennis has even stronger salt tolerance than Z. perennis and T. dactyloides. This allopolyploid will be a powerful genetic bridge for the genetic improvement of maize. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its salt tolerance, as well as the key genes involved in regulating its salt tolerance, remain unclear. RESULTS: Single-molecule real-time sequencing and RNA sequencing were used to identify the genes involved in salt tolerance and reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms. Based on the SMRT-seq results, we obtained 227,375 reference unigenes with an average length of 2300 bp; most of the unigenes were annotated to Z. mays sequences (76.5%) in the NR database. Moreover, a total of 484 and 1053 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the leaves and roots, respectively. Functional enrichment analysis of DEGs revealed that multiple pathways responded to salt stress, including "Flavonoid biosynthesis," "Oxidoreductase activity," and "Plant hormone signal transduction" in the leaves and roots, and "Iron ion binding," "Acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity," and "Serine-type carboxypeptidase activity" in the roots. Transcription factors, such as those in the WRKY, B3-ARF, and bHLH families, and cytokinin negatively regulators negatively regulated the salt stress response. According to the results of the short time series-expression miner analysis, proteins involved in "Spliceosome" and "MAPK signal pathway" dynamically responded to salt stress as salinity changed. Protein-protein interaction analysis revealed that heat shock proteins play a role in the large interaction network regulating salt tolerance. CONCLUSIONS: Our results reveal the molecular mechanism underlying the regulation of MTP in the response to salt stress and abundant salt-tolerance-related unigenes. These findings will aid the retrieval of lost alleles in modern maize and provide a new approach for using T. dactyloides and Z. perennis to improve maize.

A Heat Shock Transcription Factor TrHSFB2a of White Clover Negatively Regulates Drought, Heat and Salt Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis.

Heat shock transcription factors (HSF) are divided into classes A, B and C. Class A transcription factors are generally recognized as transcriptional activators, while functional characterization of class B and C heat shock transcription factors have not been fully developed in most plant species. We isolated and characterized a novel HSF transcription factor gene, TrHSFB2a (a class B HSF) gene, from the drought stress-sensitive forage crop species, white clover (Trifolium repens). TrHSFB2a was highly homologous to MtHSFB2b, CarHSFB2a, AtHSFB2b and AtHSFB2a. The expression of TrHSFB2a was strongly induced by drought (PEG6000 15% w/v), high temperature (35 °C) and salt stresses (200 mM L-1 NaCl) in white clover, while subcellular localization analysis showed that it is a nuclear protein. Overexpression of the white clover gene TrHSFB2a in Arabidopsis significantly reduced fresh and dry weight, relative water contents (RWC), maximum photosynthesis efficiency (Fv/Fm) and performance index on the absorption basis (PIABS), while it promoted leaf senescence, relative electrical conductivity (REC) and the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) compared to a wild type under drought, heat and salt stress conditions of Arabidopsis plants. The silencing of its native homolog (AtHSFB2a) by RNA interference in Arabidopsis thaliana showed opposite trends by significantly increasing fresh and dry weights, RWC, maximum photosynthesis efficiency (Fv/Fm) and performance index on the absorption basis (PIABS) and reducing REC and MDA contents under drought, heat and salt stress conditions compared to wild type Arabidopsis plants. These phenotypic and physiological indicators suggested that the TrHSFB2a of white clover functions as a negative regulator of heat, salt and drought tolerance. The bioinformatics analysis showed that TrHSFB2a contained the core B3 repression domain (BRD) that has been reported as a repressor activator domain in other plant species that might repress the activation of the heat shock-inducible genes required in the stress tolerance process in plants. The present study explores one of the potential causes of drought and heat sensitivity in white clover that can be overcome to some extent by silencing the TrHSFB2a gene in white clover.

Developing and Mapping Entrustable Professional Activities with Saudi Meds Competency Framework: A Consensus Study.

Purpose: This study aimed at developing a national consensus on entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for Saudi undergraduate medical education and mapping them with the "Saudi Meds" competency framework. Methods: A three phased approach was used. Phase 1 consisted of identifying and developing EPAs; Phase 2 consisted of building a national consensus on developed EPAs (validation process); and Phase 3 consisted of mapping the validated EPAs with the Saudi Meds competency framework. Nominal group and modified Delphi techniques were used to develop consensus on EPAs. Classical test theory-based item analysis was conducted to establish validity and reliability of finalized EPAs. Results: Fifteen expert medical educationists and 109 academic leaders from 23 medical schools participated in the validation process. The study achieved a consensus on 10 core EPAs with an overall reliability (Cronbach's Alpha) of 0.814. The item-total correlation ranged from 0.341 to 0.642. Conclusion: This study results in a national consensus on generic, comprehensive and region-specific EPAs that have been mapped with Saudi Meds competency framework. Our study is the first step in the direction of facilitating EPA-based curricular reforms in Saudi medical schools.

RNA sequencing and weighted gene co-expression network analysis uncover the hub genes controlling cold tolerance in Helictotrichon virescens seedlings.

Helictotrichon virescens is a perennial herbaceous plant with a life expectancy of about 10 years. It has high cold and heat resistance and can successfully survive over winter in the habitats with a temperature range of -25 to 25°C. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the key genes regulating low-temperature stress responses in H. virescens and analyze cold tolerant at molecular level. This study used RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify the hub genes associated with cold tolerance in H. virescens. RT-PCR was conducted, homologous genes were identified, and related bioinformatics were analyzed to verify the identified hub genes. Moreover, WGCNA analysis showed that only the brown module had the highest correlation with the active-oxygen scavenging enzymes [peroxide (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT)]. The expression levels of three hub genes in the brown module (Cluster-37118.47362, cluster-37118.47713, and cluster-37118.66740) were significantly higher under low-temperature stress than those under control conditions. Furthermore, gene ontology (GO) and KEGG annotations showed that the three hub genes were mainly enriched in the metabolism pathways of sphingolipids, selenocompounds, glyoxylate, and dicarboxylate, carotenoids biosynthesis, and other biological pathways. The results of this study also showed that the subcellular localization prediction results showed that the cold tolerance hub genes were all localized to the plasma membrane. By constructing a protein interaction network, it was found that the hub gene Cluster-37118.66740 interacted with Sb09g003460.1 and Sb04g020180.1 proteins in Sorghum bicolor. By constructing phylogenetic trees of the four species of H. virescens, Sorghum bicolo, Oryza sativa Japonica, and Arabidopsis thaliana, the results showed that, the hub gene Cluster 37118.66740 (of H. virescens) and Os03g0340500 (of Oryza sativa Japonica) belonged to the same ancestral branch and were in the same subfamily. Thus, this study provides methodology and guidance to identify the cold tolerance genes for other herbage and their cold tolerant molecular mechanisms at molecular level.

Phytohormones and Transcriptome Analyses Revealed the Dynamics Involved in Spikelet Abortion and Inflorescence Development in Rice.

Panicle degeneration, sometimes known as abortion, causes heavy losses in grain yield. However, the mechanism of naturally occurring panicle abortion is still elusive. In a previous study, we characterized a mutant, apical panicle abortion1331 (apa1331), exhibiting abortion in apical spikelets starting from the 6 cm stage of panicle development. In this study, we have quantified the five phytohormones, gibberellins (GA), auxins (IAA), abscisic acid (ABA), cytokinins (CTK), and brassinosteroids (BR), in the lower, middle, and upper parts of apa1331 and compared these with those exhibited in its wild type (WT). In apa331, the lower and middle parts of the panicle showed contrasting concentrations of all studied phytohormones, but highly significant changes in IAA and ABA, compared to the upper part of the panicle. A comparative transcriptome of apa1331 and WT apical spikelets was performed to explore genes causing the physiological basis of spikelet abortion. The differential expression analysis revealed a significant downregulation and upregulation of 1587 and 978 genes, respectively. Hierarchical clustering of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed the correlation of gene ontology (GO) terms associated with antioxidant activity, peroxidase activity, and oxidoreductase activity. KEGG pathway analysis using parametric gene set enrichment analysis (PGSEA) revealed the downregulation of the biological processes, including cell wall polysaccharides and fatty acids derivatives, in apa1331 compared to its WT. Based on fold change (FC) value and high variation in expression during late inflorescence, early inflorescence, and antherdevelopment, we predicted a list of novel genes, which presumably can be the potential targets of inflorescence development. Our study not only provides novel insights into the role of the physiological dynamics involved in panicle abortion, but also highlights the potential targets involved in reproductive development.

Proteomic Changes to the Updated Discovery of Engineered Insulin and Its Analogs: Pros and Cons.

The destruction of ß-cells of the pancreas leads to either insulin shortage or the complete absence of insulin, which in turn causes diabetes Mellitus. For treating diabetes, many trials have been conducted since the 19th century until now. In ancient times, insulin from an animal's extract was taken to treat human beings. However, this resulted in some serious allergic reactions. Therefore, scientists and researchers have tried their best to find alternative ways for managing diabetes with progressive advancements in biotechnology. However, a lot of research trials have been conducted, and they discovered more progressed strategies and approaches to treat type I and II diabetes with satisfaction. Still, investigators are finding more appropriate ways to treat diabetes accurately. They formulated insulin analogs that mimic the naturally produced human insulin through recombinant DNA technology and devised many methods for appropriate delivery of insulin. This review will address the following questions: What is insulin preparation? How were these devised and what are the impacts (both positive and negative) of such insulin analogs against TIDM (type-I diabetes mellitus) and TIIDM (type-II diabetes mellitus)? This review article will also demonstrate approaches for the delivery of insulin analogs into the human body and some future directions for further improvement of insulin treatment.

Measuring empathy in medical students: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To measure the empathy levels of undergraduate medical students, and to explore whether the empathy level has any significant association with gender, academic year and academic achievement. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia, from January to March 2020, and comprised medical students. Data was collected using the pre-validated student version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. RESULTS: Of the 391 students, 251(64.19%) were females, and 140(35.8%) were males. The overall mean empathy score was 105.18±12.51. Second year medical students showed the highest empathy score 108.59±13.33. There was minor but significant decline in empathy as the students progressed through their academic studies (p<0.05). Empathy scores were significantly higher in female students (p<0.05), and students with higher grade point average scores (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The gradual reduction in empathy is alarming and demands due attention.