[Accuracy and clinical efficacy of robot-assisted transiliac-transsacral screw placement for posterior pelvic ring fractures].

OBJECTIVE: To explore accuracy and clinical effect of robot-assisted implantation of sacroiliac penetrating screw in orthopedic surgery for posterior pelvic ring fracture. METHODS: The clinical data of 24 patients with posterior pelvic ring fracture treated with robot-assisted sacroiliac penetration screws from August 2022 to August 2023 were retrospectively analyzed, including 10 males and 14 females; aged from 21 to 73 years old with an average of (49.29±14.48) years old;according to Tile pelvic fractures, 13 patients were type B and 11 were type C. The effect of screw placement was evaluated according to Gras criteria based on postoperative CT scan results. At the final follow-up, fracture healing was evaluated according to Matta score, and functional recovery was evaluated by Majeed score. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for 3 to 13 months with an average of (6.00±3.28) months. Totally 36 sacroiliac penetrating screws, 18 S1 penetrating screws, 18 S2 penetrating screws were inserted, a total of 29 were excellent and 7 good according to Gras standard. Screw adjustment times was 0.00 (0.00, 0.75) times. At the final follow-up, Matta score was excellent in 18 patients, 5 good and 1 moderate, and the maximum displacement distance was 2.55 (0.00, 5.65) mm. Majeed score was 84.37±8.38, 15 patients were excellent, 7 good and 2 moderate. CONCLUSION: Robot could accurately and safely assist in the placement of sacroiliac joint screws for the treatment of posterior pelvic ring fractures, and promote postoperative functional recovery of patients.

Penalized robust learning for optimal treatment regimes with heterogeneous individualized treatment effects.

The growing popularity of personalized medicine motivates people to explore individualized treatment regimes according to heterogeneous characteristics of the patients. For the large-scale data analysis, however, the data are collected at different times and different locations, i.e. subjects are usually from a heterogeneous population, which causes that the optimal treatment regimes also vary for patients across different subgroups. In this paper, we mainly focus on the estimation of optimal treatment regimes for subjects come from a heterogeneous population with high-dimensional data. We first remove the main effects of the covariates for each subgroup to eliminate non-ignorable residual confounding. Based on the centralized outcome, we propose a penalized robust learning that estimates the coefficient matrix of the interactions between covariates and treatment by penalizing pairwise differences of the coefficients of any two subgroups for the same covariate, which can automatically identify the latent complex structure of the coefficient matrix with heterogeneous and homogeneous columns. At the same time, the penalized robust learning can also select the important variables that truly contribute to the individualized treatment decisions with commonly used sparsity structure penalty. Extensive simulation studies show that our proposed method outperforms current popular methods, and it is further illustrated in the real analysis of the Tamoxifen breast cancer data.

Comparison of a novel potentiator of CFTR channel activity to ivacaftor in ameliorating mucostasis caused by cigarette smoke in primary human bronchial airway epithelial cells.

Background: Cystic Fibrosis causing mutations in the gene CFTR , reduce the activity of the CFTR channel protein, and leads to mucus aggregation, airway obstruction and poor lung function. A role for CFTR in the pathogenesis of other muco-obstructive airway diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) has been well established. The CFTR modulatory compound, Ivacaftor (VX-770), potentiates channel activity of CFTR and certain CF-causing mutations and has been shown to ameliorate mucus obstruction and improve lung function in people harbouring these CF-causing mutations. A pilot trial of Ivacaftor supported its potential efficacy for the treatment of mucus obstruction in COPD. These findings prompted the search for CFTR potentiators that are more effective in ameliorating cigarette-smoke (CS) induced mucostasis. Methods: A novel small molecule potentiator (SK-POT1), previously identified in CFTR binding studies, was tested for its activity in augmenting CFTR channel activity using patch clamp electrophysiology in HEK-293 cells, a fluorescence-based assay of membrane potential in Calu-3 cells and in Ussing chamber studies of primary bronchial epithelial cultures. Addition of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) to the solutions bathing the apical surface of Calu-3 cells and primary bronchial airway cultures was used to model COPD. Confocal studies of the velocity of fluorescent microsphere movement on the apical surface of CSE exposed airway epithelial cultures, were used to assess the effect of potentiators on CFTR-mediated mucociliary movement. Results: We showed that SK-POT1, like VX-770, was effective in augmenting the cyclic AMP-dependent channel activity of CFTR. SK-POT-1 enhanced CFTR channel activity in airway epithelial cells previously exposed to CSE and ameliorated mucostasis on the surface of primary airway cultures. Conclusion: Together, this evidence supports the further development of SK-POT1 as an intervention in the treatment of COPD.

Multi-omics approaches to understand pathogenicity during potato early blight disease caused by Alternaria solani.

Potato early blight (PEB), a foliar disease of potato during the growing period, caused by Alternaria sp., is common in major potato-producing areas worldwide. Effective agents to control this disease or completely resistant potato varieties are absent. Large-scale use of fungicides is limited due to possibility of increase in pathogen resistance and the requirements of ecological agriculture. In this study, we focused on the composition and infection characteristics of early blight pathogens in Yunnan Province and screened candidate pathogenesis-related pathways and genes. We isolated 85 strains of Alternaria sp. fungi from typical early blight spots in three potato-growing regions in Yunnan Province from 2018 to 2022, and identified 35 strains of Alternaria solani and 50 strains of Alternaria alternata by morphological characterization and ITS sequence comparison, which were identified as the main and conditional pathogens causing early blight in potato, respectively. Scanning electron microscope analysis confirmed only A. solani producing appressorium at 4 h after inoculation successfully infected the leaf cells. Via genome assembly and annotation, combine transcriptome and proteomic analysis, the following pathogenicity-related unit, transcription factors and metabolic pathway were identified: (1) cell wall-degrading enzymes, such as pectinase, keratinase, and cellulase; (2) genes and pathways related to conidia germination and pathogenicity, such as ubiquitination and peroxisomes; and (3) transcription factors, such as Zn-clus, C2H2, bZIP, and bHLH. These elements were responsible for PEB epidemic in Yunnan.

Discussion on Efficacy of intensive acupuncture versus sham acupuncture in knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial published in Arthritis & Rheumatology. / 对Arthritis & Rheumatology"å¼ºåŒ–é’ˆåˆºå¯¹æ¯”å‡é’ˆæ²»ç–—è†éª¨å ³èŠ‚ç‚Žéšæœºå¯¹ç §è¯•éªŒ"一文的讨论.

Professor LIU Cunzhi's team from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine published Efficacy of intensive acupuncture versus sham acupuncture in knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial in Arthritis & Rheumatology on November 10th, 2021, which demonstrates that three-session per week acupuncture is safe and effective for knee osteoarthritis patients. Experts from home and abroad discussed in depth the study design, acupuncture protocol, and interpretation of the results of the trial, emphasizing the importance of pretrial implementation, acupuncture dosage, reasonable setting of control group and assessing the efficacy of acupuncture, and pointed out that the mechanism of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis still needs further study, and how to promote acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis according to the clinical practice abroad while ensuring the efficacy of acupuncture is worthwhile to explore.

Salt and osmotic stress can improve the editing efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing system in potato.

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing technology has been widely used for the study of gene function in crops, but the differences between species have led to widely varying genome editing efficiencies. The present study utilized a potato hairy root genetic transformation system and incorporated a rapid assay with GFP as a screening marker. The results clearly demonstrated that salt and osmotic stress induced by NaCl (10 to 50 mM) and mannitol (50 to 200 mM) treatments significantly increased the positive rates of genetic transformation mediated by A. rhizogenes and the editing efficiency of the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing system in potato. However, it was observed that the regeneration of potato roots was partially inhibited as a result. The analysis of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutation types revealed that chimeras accounted for the largest proportion, ranging from 62.50% to 100%. Moreover, the application of salt and osmotic stress resulted in an increased probability of null mutations in potato. Notably, the highest rate of null mutations, reaching 37.5%, was observed at a NaCl concentration of 10 mM. Three potential off-target sites were sequenced and no off-targeting was found. In conclusion, the application of appropriate salt and osmotic stress significantly improved the editing efficiency of the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing system in potato, with no observed off-target effects. However, there was a trade-off as the regeneration of potato roots was partially inhibited. Overall, these findings present a new and convenient approach to enhance the genome editing efficiency of the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing system in potato.

[Discussion on "sugar needle - comfortable acupuncture and moxibustion"].

The cases of feeling comfort during acupuncture and moxibustion treatment in literature were summarized and its biological basis was explored. A simple classification of comfort was made, and the importance of obtaining comfort in acupuncture treatment was pointed out. Considering the pursuit of less pain and harmlessness in modern clinical treatment, sugar needle should be advocated and popularized in current clinical practice of acupuncture and moxibustion.

Construction of homozygous diploid potato through maternal haploid induction.

Reinventing the tetraploid potato into a seed-propagated, diploid, hybrid potato would significantly accelerate potato breeding. In this regard, the development of highly homozygous inbred lines is a prerequisite for breeding hybrid potatoes, but self-incompatibility and inbreeding depression present challenges for developing pure inbred lines. To resolve this impediment, we developed a doubled haploid (DH) technology, based on mutagenesis of the potato DOMAIN OF UNKNOWN FUNCTION 679 membrane protein (StDMP) gene. Here, we show that a deficiency in StDMP allows the generation of maternal haploids for generating diploid potato lines. An exercisable protocol, involving hybridization, fluorescent marker screening, molecular and flow cytometric identification, and doubling with colchicine generates nearly 100% homozygous diploid potato lines. This dmp-triggered haploid induction (HI) system greatly shortens the breeding process and offers a robust method for generating diploid potato inbred lines with high purity. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42994-022-00080-7.

Genome architecture and tetrasomic inheritance of autotetraploid potato.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the most consumed non-cereal food crop. Most commercial potato cultivars are autotetraploids with highly heterozygous genomes, severely hampering genetic analyses and improvement. By leveraging the state-of-the-art sequencing technologies and polyploid graph binning, we achieved a chromosome-scale, haplotype-resolved genome assembly of a cultivated potato, Cooperation-88 (C88). Intra-haplotype comparative analyses revealed extensive sequence and expression differences in this tetraploid genome. We identified haplotype-specific pericentromeres on chromosomes, suggesting a distinct evolutionary trajectory of potato homologous centromeres. Furthermore, we detected double reduction events that are unevenly distributed on haplotypes in 1021 of 1034 selfing progeny, a feature of autopolyploid inheritance. By distinguishing maternal and paternal haplotype sets in C88, we simulated the origin of heterosis in cultivated tetraploid with a survey of 3110 tetra-allelic loci with deleterious mutations, which were masked in the heterozygous condition by two parents. This study provides insights into the genomic architecture of autopolyploids and will guide their breeding.

A nonS-locus F-box gene breaks self-incompatibility in diploid potatoes.

Potato is the third most important staple food crop. To address challenges associated with global food security, a hybrid potato breeding system, aimed at converting potato from a tuber-propagated tetraploid crop into a seed-propagated diploid crop through crossing inbred lines, is under development. However, given that most diploid potatoes are self-incompatible, this represents a major obstacle which needs to be addressed in order to develop inbred lines. Here, we report on a self-compatible diploid potato, RH89-039-16 (RH), which can efficiently induce a mating transition from self-incompatibility to self-compatibility, when crossed to self-incompatible lines. We identify the S-locusinhibitor (Sli) gene in RH, capable of interacting with multiple allelic variants of the pistil-specific S-ribonucleases (S-RNases). Further, Sli gene functions like a general S-RNase inhibitor, to impart SC to RH and other self-incompatible potatoes. Discovery of Sli now offers a path forward for the diploid hybrid breeding program.

Genome design of hybrid potato.

Reinventing potato from a clonally propagated tetraploid into a seed-propagated diploid, hybrid potato, is an important innovation in agriculture. Due to deleterious mutations, it has remained a challenge to develop highly homozygous inbred lines, a prerequisite to breed hybrid potato. Here, we employed genome design to develop a generation of pure and fertile potato lines and thereby the uniform, vigorous F1s. The metrics we applied in genome design included the percentage of genome homozygosity and the number of deleterious mutations in the starting material, the number of segregation distortions in the S1 population, the haplotype information to infer the break of tight linkage between beneficial and deleterious alleles, and the genome complementarity of the parental lines. This study transforms potato breeding from a slow, non-accumulative mode into a fast-iterative one, thereby potentiating a broad spectrum of benefits to farmers and consumers.

[Discussion on Acupuncture as adjunctive therapy for chronic stable angina: a randomized clinical trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine].

Professor LIANG Fan-rong's team from Chengdu University of TCM published Acupuncture as adjunctive therapy for chronic stable angina: a randomized clinical trial in JAMA Internal Medicine on July 29, 2019, which demonstrates that acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy is safety and effective for mild and moderate chronic stable angina. Sixteen experts at home and abroad conducted serious discussions on the research design, evaluation methods, principles and mechanisms, clinical significance and enlightenment of future acupuncture research, and provided practical suggestions for acupuncture and moxibustion to go global and gain international recognition.

A novel association test for rare variants based on algebraic statistics.

With the rapid growth of next-generation sequencing technology, more and more rare variants are available in the human genome. In recent years, the point of study has already changed direction to rare variants in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Although a variety of approaches have been proposed to test associations between rare variants and phenotypes of interest, it is far from the end of this problem, and it is worth exploring new statistical methods based on special features of rare variants. As we all know, the most direct way is to evaluate the association in a two-way contingency table if the phenotype is a discrete variable. The numbers of observations are very close or equal to 0s for most of cells in the contingency table due to the extremely low mutation rates of rare variants. In this paper, we propose a novel association test for rare variants based on a generalization of Fisher's exact test, and the p-value of this exact test can be computed under the multivariate hypergeometric distribution in the framework of algebraic statistics. Simulation results show that our proposed method outperforms the existing methods, despite there is heterogeneity among causal variants. We also successfully apply our method into the genetic association study of coronary artery disease and hypertension from the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium.

Double-level isthmic spondylolisthesis treated with posterior lumbar interbody fusion with cage.

Objective: Double-level isthmic spondylolisthesis in the lumbar spine is rare. The authors report on 21 cases of double-level isthmic spondylolisthesis treated by posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) with cage.Patients and methods: Between 2005 and 2015, twenty-one patients with double-level isthmic spondylolisthesis who underwent posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) with cage were reviewed retrospectively. The VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) and JOA (Japanese Orthopedic Association) score were used to evaluate preoperative and postoperative clinical outcomes.Results: The back pain and sciatica decreased from 6.53 and 4.24 points preoperatively to 1.80 and 1.18 points on the VAS at final follow-up, respectively. The average JOA score improved from 13.4 ± 3.2 preoperative to 25.4 ± 1.5 (range, 17-28) points postoperative. The average recovery rate was 76.9%. The good and excellent rate was 85.7% (18/21). The fusion rate was 95.2% (20/21). Changes in disc height, degree of listhesis, whole lumbar lordosis, and sacral inclination following surgery were also observed.Conclusions: Our results suggest that PLIF with cage appears to be an appropriate technique for the treatment of double-level isthmic spondylolisthesis.

Transcriptome Response to Drought, Rehydration and Re-Dehydration in Potato.

Potato is an important food crop and its production is susceptible to drought. Drought stress in crop growth is usually multiple- or long-term. In this study, the drought tolerant potato landrace Jancko Sisu Yari was treated with drought stress, rehydration and re-dehydration, and RNA-seq was applied to analyze the characteristics of gene regulation during these treatments. The results showed that drought-responsive genes mainly involved photosynthesis, signal transduction, lipid metabolism, sugar metabolism, wax synthesis, cell wall regulation, osmotic adjustment. Potato also can be recovered well in the re-emergence of water through gene regulation. The recovery of rehydration mainly related to patatin, lipid metabolism, sugar metabolism, flavonoids metabolism and detoxification besides the reverse expression of the most of drought-responsive genes. The previous drought stress can produce a positive responsive ability to the subsequent drought by drought hardening. Drought hardening was not only reflected in the drought-responsive genes related to the modified structure and cell components, but also in the hardening of gene expression or the "memory" of drought-responsive genes. Abundant genes involved photosynthesis, signal transduction, sugar metabolism, protease and protease inhibitors, flavonoids metabolism, transporters and transcription factors were subject to drought hardening or memorized drought in potato.

A comprehensive expression analysis of the expansin gene family in potato (Solanum tuberosum) discloses stress-responsive expansin-like B genes for drought and heat tolerances.

Expansin is a type of cell wall elongation and stress relaxation protein involved in various developmental processes and stress resistances in plant. In this study, we identified 36 potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) genes belonging to the expansin (StEXP) gene family from the genome reference. These genes included 24 α-expansins (StEXPAs), five ß-expansins (StEXPBs), one expansin-like A (StEXLA) and six expansin-like B (StEXLBs). The RNA-Seq analysis conducted from a variety of tissue types showed 34 expansins differentially expressed among tissues, some of which only expressed in specific tissues. Most of the StEXPAs and StEXPB2 transcripts were more abundant in young tuber compared with other tissues, suggesting they likely play a role in tuber development. There were 31 genes, especially StEXLB6, showed differential expression under the treatments of ABA, IAA and GA3, as well as under the drought and heat stresses, indicating they were likely involved in potato stress resistance. In addition, the gene co-expression analysis indicated the StEXLBs likely contribute to a wider range of stress resistances compared with other genes. We found the StEXLA and six StEXLBs expressed differently under a range of abiotic stresses (salt, alkaline, heavy metals, drought, heat, and cold stresses), which likely participated in the associated signaling pathways. Comparing with the control group, potato growing under the drought or heat stresses exhibited up-regulation of the all six StEXLB genes in leaves, whereas, the StEXLB3, StEXLB4, StEXLB5 and StEXLB6 showed relatively higher expression levels in roots. This suggested these genes likely played a role in the drought and heat tolerance. Overall, this study has shown the potential role of the StEXP genes in potato growth and stress tolerance, and provided fundamental resources for the future studies in potato breeding.

The Role of the Late Embryogenesis-Abundant (LEA) Protein Family in Development and the Abiotic Stress Response: A Comprehensive Expression Analysis of Potato (Solanum Tuberosum).

Late embryogenesis-abundant (LEA) proteins are a large and highly diverse family believed to function in normal plant growth and development, and in protecting cells from abiotic stress. This study presents a characterisation of 74 Solanum tuberosum LEA (StLEA) proteins belonging to nine groups. StLEA genes have few introns (≤2) and are distributed on all chromosomes, occurring as gene clusters on chromosomes 1, 2, and 10. All four StASR (StLEA7 group) genes were concentrated on chromosome 4, suggesting their evolutionary conservation on one chromosome. Expression profiles of StLEA genes, in different tissues and in response to hormone and stress treatments, indicated that 71 StLEA genes had differential expression levels, of which 68 StLEA genes were differentially expressed in response to hormones and stress exposure in the potato. Continuous high expression of StASR-2, StLEA3-3, StDHN-3, StLEA2-29, and StLEA2-14 in different tissues indicated their contribution to plant development processes. StLEA2-14, StLEA2-31, StLEA3-3, StASR-1, and StDHN-1 were upregulated by six abiotic stresses, showing their tolerance to a wide spectrum of environmental stresses. Expression analysis of 17 selected StLEA genes in response to drought, salt, heavy metal, heat, and cold treatments by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction indicated that StLEA proteins may be involved in distinct signalling pathways. Taken together, StLEA3, StDHN, and StASR subgroup genes may be excellent resources for potato defence against environmental stresses. These results provide valuable information and robust candidate genes for future functional analysis aimed at improving the stress tolerance of the potato.

The genetic basis of inbreeding depression in potato.

Inbreeding depression confers reduced fitness among the offspring of genetic relatives. As a clonally propagated crop, potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) suffers from severe inbreeding depression; however, the genetic basis of inbreeding depression in potato is largely unknown. To gain insight into inbreeding depression in potato, we evaluated the mutation burden in 151 diploid potatoes and obtained 344,831 predicted deleterious substitutions. The deleterious mutations in potato are enriched in the pericentromeric regions and are line specific. Using three F2 populations, we identified 15 genomic regions with severe segregation distortions due to selection at the gametic and zygotic stages. Most of the deleterious recessive alleles affecting survival and growth vigor were located in regions with high recombination rates. One of these deleterious alleles is derived from a rare mutation that disrupts a gene required for embryo development. This study provides the basis for genome design of potato inbred lines.

[Discussion on "dry needling" being part of acupuncture].

We think that all the methods of puncturing into the skin to prevent and treat diseases are belong to acupuncture science. In spite of its basic theory of meridian and acupoint, anatomy and physiology have been important parts of modern acupuncture science. "Dry needling", however, is limited to trigger point theory. As for the positions, acupuncture is applied mainly at acupoints, involving in skin, muscles, tendons, vessels and nerves; while "dry needling" is used mostly at muscles. The needles of acupuncture are in various lengths and diameters and its manipulations are abundant, including the traditional skills and the achievements of modern science and technology research, such as electroacupuncture. It is different from the "dry needling" with the single tool and manipulation. Thus, acupuncture is suitable for a large range of syndromes, but "dry needling" is mainly for fascia muscularis pain and other related disorders. The acupuncturists need to embrace Chinese and western medicine, which is more rigorous than the training for "dry needling" practitioners. Based on the above reasons, we consider "dry needling" as part of acupuncture science, and it is a method during the modern development of traditional acupuncture.