Relationship between genotype, phenotype, and refractive status in patients of inherited retinal degeneration.

BACKGROUND: To elucidate the relationship between inherited retinal disease, visual acuity and refractive error development in Asian patients. SUBJECTS: Five hundred phakic eyes with refractive data were analysed in this retrospective cohort. Diseases were categorized by clinical phenotypes, and the prevalent genotypes identified in the Taiwan Inherited Retinal Degeneration Project were analysed. Consecutive surveys in Taiwan have provided the rates of myopia in the general population. RESULTS: No differences were observed among the disease phenotypes with respect to myopia (P = 0.098) and high myopia rates (P = 0.037). The comparison of refractive error between retinitis pigmentosa and diseases mainly affecting the central retina showed no difference, and the refraction analyses in diseases of different onset ages yielded no significance. Moreover, there was no difference in the myopia rate between the diseases and general population. Among the genotypes, a higher spherical equivalent was seen in RPGR and PROM1-related patients and emmetropic trends were observed in patients with CRB1 and PRPF31 mutations. Furthermore, significantly poorer visual acuity was found in ABCA4, CRB1 and PROM1-related patients, and more preserved visual acuity was seen in patients with EYS, USH2A, and RDH12 mutations. CONCLUSIONS: No significant differences were observed in visual acuity, refractive state and myopia rate between patients with inherited retinal disease and the general population, and different subtypes of inherited retinal disease shared similar refractive state, except for higher cylindrical dioptres found in patients with Leber's congenital amaurosis. The heterogeneity of disease-causing genes in Asian patients may lead to variable refractive state.

The HD-ZIP II gene PaHAT14 increases cuticle deposition by down-regulating ERF gene PaERF105 in Phalaenopsis.

To analyze the gene involved in orchid floral development, a HD-Zip II gene PaHAT14, which specifically and highly expressed in perianth during early flower development was identified from Phalaenopsis. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing 35S::PaHAT14 and 35S::PaHAT14+SRDX (fused with the repressor motif SRDX) exhibited similar altered phenotypes, including small leaves, early flowering, and bending petals with increased cuticle production. This suggests that PaHAT14 acts as a repressor. In contrast, transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing 35S::PaHAT14+VP16 (fused with the activation domain VP16) exhibited curled leaves, late flowering, and folded petals with decreased cuticle production within hardly opened flowers. Additionally, the expression of the ERF gene DEWAX2, which negatively regulates cuticular wax biosynthesis, was down-regulated in 35S::PaHAT14 and 35S::PaHAT14+SRDX transgenic Arabidopsis, while it was up-regulated in 35S::PaHAT14+VP16 transgenic Arabidopsis. Furthermore, transient overexpression of PaHAT14 in Phalaenopsis petal/sepal increased cuticle deposition due to the down-regulation of PaERF105, a Phalaenopsis DEWAX2 orthologue. On the other hand, transient overexpression of PaERF105 decreased cuticle deposition, whereas cuticle deposition increased and the rate of epidermal water loss was reduced in PaERF105 VIGS Phalaenopsis flowers. Moreover, ectopic expression of PaERF105 not only produced phenotypes similar to those in 35S::PaHAT14+VP16 Arabidopsis but also compensated for the altered phenotypes observed in 35S::PaHAT14 and 35S::PaHAT14+SRDX Arabidopsis. These results suggest that PaHAT14 promotes cuticle deposition by negatively regulating downstream gene PaERF105 in orchid flowers.

[Discussion on reference sample research of traditional Chinese medicine compound preparations developed from catalogued ancient classical prescriptions].

The concept of reference sample was put forward in the Guidance on CMC of Traditional Chinese Medicine Compound Preparations Developed from Catalogued Ancient Classical Prescriptions(Interim). The research on reference sample is a key link in the research and development of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) compound prescriptions from catalogued ancient classical prescriptions(known as Category 3.1 TCM). This paper discusses the content of research on reference sample by analyzing the characteristics of Category 3.1 TCM and the purpose of research on reference sample. Furthermore, suggestions on the research of reference sample are proposed according to the development and evaluation practice of Category 3.1 TCM and research achievements of TCM regulatory science, aiming to provide reference for colleagues in this industry.

Constructing an interaction in plant polyphenol-modified carbon fiber with amylopectin-based waterborne polyurethane sizing agent via hydrogen bonding to improve the interfacial performance of carbon fiber/nylon 6 composites.

The adhesive strength between the sizing agent and carbon fiber (CF) plays a crucial role in improving the interfacial properties of composites, while such a vital aspect has been consistently disregarded. In this study, a hyperbranched waterborne polyurethane (HWPU) sizing agent was synthesized from biogenetically raw materials including gallic acid, l-Lysine diisocyanate and amylopectin. Concurrently, hydrogen-bonded cross-linked network structures were established utilizing a botanical polyphenol tannin as coupling agent to effectively connect CF with HWPU. This meticulous process yielded CF/nylon 6 composites with improved properties and their mechanical characteristics were systematically investigated. The findings showcased a noteworthy boost in flexural strength and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS), showing enhancements of 54.6 % and 61.4 %, respectively, surpassing those of untreated CF. Furthermore, the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) test indicated a remarkable 70.3 % improvement. This approach presents a highly promising concept aimed at developing sustainable green waterborne polyurethane sizing agent and improving the interfacial performance of CF composite materials.

Impact of COVID-19 on emotional and behavioral problems among preschool children: a meta-analysis.

The impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on society is continuous, resulting in negative psychological consequences. Given the vulnerability and sensitivity to the environment among preschool children, their emotional and behavioral problems deserve more attention. The current study aimed to explore the impact of the epidemic on preschool children's mental health by determining the pooled prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems amidst the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic and to reveal potential reasons for variations between studies. Published studies were searched in Embase, PubMed, ProQuest, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wanfang. Based on the inclusion criteria outlined in this study, a total of 10 studies encompassing 38,059 participants were incorporated. Employing a random-effect model for estimating the prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems, the results revealed a pooled prevalence rate of 24.3% (95% CI, 0.15-0.38; I²=99.9%) among preschool children. This rate surpasses the pre-outbreak prevalence observed in different countries, signifying a detrimental influence of the epidemic on the mental well-being of preschoolers. Therefore, mental health care and recovery are essential for the vulnerable group during and after the public health crisis. Specific emotional and behavioral problems among preschool children are expected to be researched in the future to provide more targeted guidance for intervention.

Shikonin ameliorates depressive- and anxiogenic-like behaviors in rats via the suppression of inflammation in the hippocampus.

Shikonin is an active naphthoquinone with antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. In this study, we investigated the effects of shikonin on depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced depression and chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rat models and explored the potential mechanism. First, a 14-day intraperitoneal administration of shikonin (10 mg/kg) significantly decreased immobility time in forced swimming test (FST) and increased open arm entries in elevated plus maze (EPM) test, without affecting line crossings in open field test (OFT), indicating that shikonin has anti-depressant- and anxiolytic-like effects. Second, chronic shikonin administration (10 mg/kg) reversed depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors in LPS-induced and CUMS depression models, as shown in the sucrose preference test (SPT), FST, EPM, and novel object recognition test (NORT). Finally, shikonin significantly reduced the levels of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in hippocampus, indicating that the anti-depressant- and anxiolytic-like effects of shikonin are related to the reduction of neuroinflammation in hippocampus. These findings suggest that shikonin exerts anti-depressant- and anxiolytic-like effects via an anti-inflammatory mechanism of shikonin in the hippocampus.

Physical activity promotes brain development through serotonin during early childhood.

Early childhood serves as a critical period for neural development and skill acquisition when children are extremely susceptible to the external environment and experience. As a crucial experiential stimulus, physical activity is believed to produce a series of positive effects on brain development, such as cognitive function, social-emotional abilities, and psychological well-being. The World Health Organization recommends that children engage in sufficient daily physical activity, which has already been strongly advocated in the practice of preschool education. However, the mechanisms by which physical activity promotes brain development are still unclear. The role of neurotransmitters, especially serotonin, in promoting brain development through physical activity has received increasing attention. Physical activity has been shown to stimulate the secretion of serotonin by increasing the bioavailability of free tryptophan and enriching the diversity of gut microbiota. Due to its important role in modulating neuronal proliferation, differentiation, synaptic morphogenesis, and synaptic transmission, serotonin can regulate children's explicit cognitive and social interaction behavior in the early stages of life. Therefore, we hypothesized that serotonin emerges as a pivotal transmitter that mediates the relationship between physical activity and brain development during early childhood. Further systematic reviews and meta-analyses are needed to specifically explore whether the type, intensity, dosage, duration, and degree of voluntariness of PA may affect the role of serotonin in the relationship between physical activity and brain function. This review not only helps us understand the impact of exercise on development but also provides a solid theoretical basis for increasing physical activity during early childhood.

Cross-kingdom regulation of ginseng miRNA156 on immunity and metabolism.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To study the cross-border regulation of immunity and energy metabolism by ginseng miRNA156, and to provide a new perspective for further exploring the possibility of ginseng miRNA156 as a pharmacodynamic substance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Combined with the previous research results of our research group, miRNA156 with high expression in blood sequencing of intragastrically administered with ginseng decoction was selected. Bioinformatics analysis was performed on the selected differential miRNA156. The target genes of differential miRNA156 were mainly enriched in metabolic, immune and other signaling pathways. According to the analysis results, the experimental part will use qi deficiency fatigue model and RAW264.7 cells. The contents of lactic acid (LA), creatine kinase (CK), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), lactate dehydrogenase (LD), liver glycogen (LG), muscle glycogen (MG), interleukin 4 (IL-4), matrix metallo-proteinase 9 (MMP-9), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde, phosphor-enolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), glucose-6-phosphatase (G6pase), nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured after administration of miRNA156. RESULTS: Ginseng miRNA156 can accelerate the removal of metabolic waste during exercise. Increase the glycogen reserve in, provide energy for the body, regulate the activity of key gluconeogenesis enzyme phosphorus, improve the energy metabolism system of, and enhance the endurance of fatigue mice. The contents of matrix metalloproteinase 9, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde were affected, and the content of TNF-α in the supernatant of RAW264.7 cells was significantly increased, which had certain antioxidant capacity and potential immunomodulatory effects. CONCLUSION: Ginseng miRNA156 has a certain regulatory effect on the energy metabolism and immune function of mice, which makes it possible to regulate the cross-species regulation of ginseng miRNA in theory, provides ideas for ginseng miRNA to become a new pharmacodynamic substance.

Systematic investigation of BRCA1-A, -B, and -C complexes and their functions in DNA damage response and DNA repair.

BRCA1, a breast cancer susceptibility gene, has emerged as a central mediator that brings together multiple signaling complexes in response to DNA damage. The A, B, and C complexes of BRCA1, which are formed based on their phosphorylation-dependent interactions with the BRCA1-C-terminal domains, contribute to the roles of BRCA1 in DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoint control. However, their functions in DNA damage response remain to be fully appreciated. Specifically, there has been no systematic investigation of the roles of BRCA1-A, -B, and -C complexes in the regulation of BRCA1 localization and functions, in part because of cellular lethality associated with loss of CtIP protein, which is an essential component in BRCA1-C complex. To systematically investigate the functions of these complexes in DNA damage response, we depleted a key component in each of these complexes. We used the degradation tag system to inducibly deplete endogenous CtIP and obtained a series of RAP80/FANCJ/CtIP single-, double-, and triple-knockout cells. We showed that loss of BRCA1-B/FANCJ and BRCA1-C/CtIP, but not BRCA1-A/RAP80, resulted in reduced cell proliferation and increased sensitivity to DNA damage. BRCA1-C/CtIP and BRCA1-A/RAP80 were involved in BRCA1 recruitment to sites of DNA damage. However, BRCA1-A/RAP80 was not essential for damage-induced BRCA1 localization. Instead, RAP80/H2AX and CtIP have redundant roles in BRCA1 recruitment. Altogether, our systematic analysis uncovers functional differences between BRCA1-A, -B, and -C complexes and provides new insights into the roles of these BRCA1-associated protein complexes in DNA damage response and DNA repair.

High prevalence of exon-13 variants in USH2A-related retinal dystrophies in Taiwanese population.

BACKGROUND: Biallelic pathogenic variants in USH2A lead to Usher syndrome or non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa, and shown to have geographical and ethnical distribution in previous studies. This study provided a deeper understanding of the detailed clinical features using multimodal imaging, genetic spectrum, and genotype-phenotype correlations of USH2A-related retinal dystrophies in Taiwan. RESULTS: In our cohort, the mean age at first visit was 47.66 ± 13.54 years, and the mean age at symptom onset, which was referred to the onset of nyctalopia and/or visual field constriction, was 31.21 ± 15.24 years. Among the variants identified, 23 (50%) were missense, 10 (22%) were splicing variants, 8 (17%) were nonsense, and 5 (11%) were frameshift mutations. The most predominant variant was c.2802T>G, which accounted for 21% of patients, and was located in exon 13. Patients with truncated alleles had significantly earlier symptom onset and seemly poorer disease progression regarding visual acuity, ellipsoid zone line length, and hypofluorescent lesions in the macula than those who had the complete gene. However, the clinical presentation revealed similar progression between patients with and without the c.2802T>G variant. During long-term follow-up, the patients had different ellipsoid zone line progression rates and were almost evenly distributed in the fast, moderate, and slow progression subgroups. Although a younger onset age and a smaller baseline intact macular area was observed in the fast progression subgroup, the results showed no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first cohort study to provide detailed genetic and longitudinal clinical analyses of patients with USH2A-related retinal dystrophies in Taiwan. The mutated allele frequency in exon 13 was high in Taiwan due to the predominant c.2802T>G variant. Moreover, truncated variants greatly impacted disease progression and determined the length of therapeutic windows. These findings provide insight into the characteristics of candidates for future gene therapies.

Chloride salt enhances plant resistance to biotic stresses.

Biotic stresses caused by bacterial and fungal pathogens damage crops; identifying treatments that enhance disease resistance provides important information for understanding plant defenses and sustainable agriculture. Salt stress affects crop yields worldwide; however, studies have focused on the toxic sodium ion, leaving the effects of the chloride ion unclear. In this study, we found that irrigation with a combination of chloride salts (MgCl2, CaCl2, and KCl) suppressed the cell death phenotype of the ceramide kinase mutant acd5. Chloride salt pre-irrigation also significantly limited the cell death caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv maculicola infection and inhibited the multiplication of this bacterial pathogen in a mechanism partially dependent on the salicylic acid pathway. Moreover, chloride salt pre-irrigation improved plant defenses against the fungal pathogen challenge, confining the lesion area caused by Botrytis cinerea infection. Furthermore, the growth of herbivorous larvae of Spodoptera exigua was retarded by feeding on chloride salt irrigated plants. Thus, our data suggest that treatment with Cl- increases broad spectrum resistance to biotic challenges.

PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B Regulate Flower Number and The Lip Symmetry of Phalaenopsis.

The standout characteristic of the orchid perianth is the transformation of the upper median petal into a distinctively formed lip, which gives orchid flowers their typically zygomorphic symmetry and makes them the most popular ornamental plants worldwide. To study orchid flower development, two WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) genes, PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B, were identified in Phalaenopsis. PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B mRNAs accumulate abundantly during early reproductive development and perianths of young buds, significantly decrease in mature flower and absent in vegetative leaves and roots. PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) knockdown in Phalaenopsis significantly reduces floral bud numbers, suggesting that PaWOX3/PaWOX3B may be involved in flower initiation. Transgenic Arabidopsis ectopically expressing repressor forms of PaWOX3/PaWOX3B and their Oncidium orthologue, OnPRS, exhibit lateral organ development defects, implicating these genes likely have function in regulating growth and differentiation for lateral organs. Neither PaWOX3, PaWOX3B single nor PaWOX3/PaWOX3B double VIGS Phalaenopsis altered the flower morphology. Interestingly, double silencing of PaWOX3 or PaWOX3B with OAGL6-2, which controlled the identity/formation of lips, altered the symmetry of 'BigLip' produced in OAGL6-2 VIGS. This result indicated that the levels of PaWOX3/PaWOX3B are still sufficient to maintain the symmetry for the OAGL6-2 VIGS 'BigLip'. However, the symmetry of the OAGL6-2 VIGS 'BigLip' can not be maintained once the expression of PaWOX3 or PaWOX3B is further reduced. Thus, in addition to control lip identity, this study further found that OAGL6-2 could cooperate with functionally redundant PaWOX3/PaWOX3B in maintaining the symmetric axis of lip.

A Review on Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening by Artificial Intelligence Methods.

PURPOSE: With the increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), the importance of early screening and diagnosis has been subject to considerable discussion. Given the subtle differences between ASD children and typically developing children during the early stages of development, it is imperative to investigate the utilization of automatic recognition methods powered by artificial intelligence. We aim to summarize the research work on this topic and sort out the markers that can be used for identification. METHODS: We searched the papers published in the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Medline, SpringerLink, Wiley Online Library, and EBSCO databases from 1st January 2013 to 13th November 2023, and 43 articles were included. RESULTS: These articles mainly divided recognition markers into five categories: gaze behaviors, facial expressions, motor movements, voice features, and task performance. Based on the above markers, the accuracy of artificial intelligence screening ranged from 62.13 to 100%, the sensitivity ranged from 69.67 to 100%, the specificity ranged from 54 to 100%. CONCLUSION: Therefore, artificial intelligence recognition holds promise as a tool for identifying children with ASD. However, it still needs to continually enhance the screening model and improve accuracy through multimodal screening, thereby facilitating timely intervention and treatment.

High-Throughput Protein Expression Screening of Cell-Surface Protein Ectodomains.

Cell-surface receptors can be difficult to express and purify for structural and biochemical studies due to low expression levels, misfolding, aggregation, and instability. Cell-surface receptor ectodomains are more amenable to large-scale production, but this requires designing and testing various truncation constructs. However, since each protein is unique, testing these constructs individually for many targets is a time-consuming process. In this context, we present a high-throughput ELISA fluorescence approach that allows the rapid assessment of numerous recombinant constructs simultaneously. Cell-surface ectodomains are expressed in small scale, enzymatically biotinylated, and detected using a C-terminal His-tag. As an example, we tested the expression of truncation constructs for the neurexin, neuroligin, and latrophilin families and show that the small-scale ELISA allowed us to prioritize well-expressing construct for large-scale production. By employing this method, one can efficiently detect clones with low expression levels, streamlining the process and saving valuable time in identifying optimal candidates for further study.

Fluid Biomarkers in Optical Coherence Tomography for Visual Outcome in Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy.

Purpose: To investigate the associations between fluid accumulation at different levels in the retina and visual outcome in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). Design: A retrospective observational study. Institutional setting. Study Population: A total of 91 eyes from 91 patients of PCV were included, with 65 receiving intravitreal aflibercept monotherapy and 26 receiving combined intravitreal ranibizumab and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Observation Procedures: Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) examination results were recorded at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment. Main Outcome Measures: The correlations between visual outcomes and fluid biomarkers including intraretinal fluid (IRF), subretinal fluid (SRF), serous pigment epithelium detachment (PED), and hemorrhage at fovea were analyzed. Results: No differences in treatment outcomes were noted between patients receiving aflibercept and those receiving combined ranibizumab and PDT. IRF and hemorrhage at baseline predicted poorer vision at 3, 6, and 12 months. The presence of IRF was associated with poorer vision at 6 months and 12 months (p < 0.05 for all). The presence of SRF or PED was not associated with better vision at any time point. No differences in the correlations between fluid markers and visual outcomes were noted between thin and thick subfoveal choroidal thickness groups. Conclusions: For PCV, IRF and hemorrhage at baseline served as surrogates for poor visual prognosis after treatment, and IRF was a biomarker for poor vision during the treatment course. No fluid markers predicted good visual prognosis or had a positive impact on vision at any time point.

[Retracted] Downregulation of CKS1B restrains the proliferation, migration, invasion and angiogenesis of retinoblastoma cells through the MEK/ERK signaling pathway.

Following the publication of the above paper, it has been drawn to the Editors' attention by a concerned reader that certain of the lumen formation assay data shown in Fig. 5A on p. 112 were strikingly similar to data appearing in different form in another article written by different authors at different research institute, which had already been published in the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy prior to the submission of this paper to International Journal of Molecular Medicine, and which has also subsequently been retracted. In view of the fact that the contentious data had already apparently been published previously, the Editor of International Journal of Molecular Medicine has decided that this paper should be retracted from the Journal. After having been in contact with the authors, they agreed with the decision to retract the paper. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [International Journal of Molecular Medicine 44: 103­114, 2019; DOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2019.4183].

First report of Botrytis cinerea causing grey mold on Corydalis yanhusuo in Panan, China.

Yanhusuo (Corydalis yanhusuo (Y. H. Chou & Chun C. Hsu) W. T. Wang ex Z.Y. Su & C.Y. Wu), a perennial herbaceous plant of the Papaveraceae family and genus Corydalis, is also known as Yuanhu and used as medicine by its tuberous roots. It is mainly planted in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces of China, with the best quality produced in Panan County of Zhejiang province. Yanhusuo has the effects of promoting blood circulation, invigorating the flow of qi and relieving pain, and is widely used in Chinese traditional medicines. In surveys carried out in summer of 2020-2023, grey mold disease was found occurred on C. yanhusuo in Panan County. This disease begins at April, and lasts to July, with incidence of 20% to 70%. The diseased plants showed a large number of gray mold layers adhere to the leaves. When the disease infects from the leaf tips, it form V-shaped lesions; when the leaves are severely infected, the entire leaves die, shrink, curl, and have a large number of gray mold layers on the surface. To identify the causal agent of this leaf disease, diseased leaves were collected from Yanhusuo field at Panan County of Zhejiang province in China since 2020, and tissues at the junction of the healthy and diseased areas were cut off, disinfected with 75% ethanol for 30 seconds, rinsed with sterile water for 3 times for 1 minute each time, air-dried under sterile conditions, and then were inoculated in PDA medium and cultured in a 25℃ incubator. After 2-3 days, picked the edge hyphae of the fungi that grew on the PDA plate and cultured them on a new PDA plate. After 5 days, picked the single spore and inoculated on a new PDA plate for continuous cultivation until pure culture strains were obtained. Thirty strains were isolated from 30 samples that collected from 3 Yanhusuo fields in Panan County. One of the thirty purified strains was named "YH8" for further identification. When cultured on PDA medium, mycelia were initially whitish and turned gray with age. The hyphae accumulate into clusters, and no sclerotia are produced during the cultivation. The conidiophores are slender, septate. The base of the conidiophore is enlarged or slightly enlarged. The conidiophore often has branches and produces a large number of conidia, which are similar to grape clusters. The conidia are monosporous, ovoid, and colorless, 6.08 µm-12.76 µm×8.42 µm-19.34 µm, with an average size of 9.55 µm×14.50 µm. To further identify the species, YH8 genomic DNA was extracted, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), heat shock protein (HSP60), and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH) genes were amplified with the primers ITS1/4 (White et al. 1990), HSP60-F/HSP60-R, and G3PDH-F/G3PDH-R (Staats et al. 2005), respectively. A multilocus phylogenetic tree was constructed with the ITS, HSP60, and G3PDH reference sequences, and the sequences of PCR amplicons (Genbank number: PP388281, PP376066 and PP376067) were 100% (518 bp out of 518 bp), 99% (994 bp out of 995 bp) and 100% (880 bp out of 880 bp) identical to the Botrytis cinerea strain 5-3, respectively, and the grouping of strain YH8 was supported by 99% bootstrap value. To fulfill the Koch's postulates, spore suspension (approximately 103 CFU/mL) of YH8 was sprayed onto leaves of 3-week Yanhusuo seedlings, and sterile water was sprayed as negative control, 15 seedlings for each treatment, and the experiments was repeated for times. The seedlings were incubated in a growth chamber under 28℃ and 80% humidity. Seven days after inoculation, leaves of noninoculated controls were green and healthy, while the seedlings inoculated with spore suspension of YH8 showed lesions and molds, which were same with field symptoms. The causal pathogen was then reisolated from the lesions, and the gained pathogen showed same colony and spore morphology with YH8, which suggested the confirmation of Koch's postulates. Based on the morphological characteristics and molecular identification, the strain YH8 was identified as B. cinerea. To our knowledge, this is the first report of B. cinerea causing gray mold on the Corydalis yanhusuo in China. This report will provide guide to growers and local technicians for diagnostic and controlling grey mold disease of Yanhusuo.

R-MFE-TCN: A correlation prediction model between body surface and tumor during respiratory movement.

BACKGROUND: 2D CT image-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an exciting minimally invasive treatment that can destroy liver tumors without removing them. However, CT images can only provide limited static information, and the tumor will move with the patient's respiratory movement. Therefore, how to accurately locate tumors under free conditions is an urgent problem to be solved at present. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to propose a respiratory correlation prediction model for mixed reality surgical assistance system, Riemannian and Multivariate Feature Enhanced Temporal Convolutional Network (R-MFE-TCN), and to achieve accurate respiratory correlation prediction. METHODS: The model adopts a respiration-oriented Riemannian information enhancement strategy to expand the diversity of the dataset. A new Multivariate Feature Enhancement module (MFE) is proposed to retain respiratory data information, so that the network can fully explore the correlation of internal and external data information, the dual-channel is used to retain multivariate respiratory feature, and the Multi-headed Self-attention obtains respiratory peak-to-valley value periodic information. This information significantly improves the prediction performance of the network. At the same time, the PSO algorithm is used for hyperparameter optimization. In the experiment, a total of seven patients' internal and external respiratory motion trajectories were obtained from the dataset, and the first six patients were selected as the training set. The respiratory signal collection frequency was 21 Hz. RESULTS: A large number of experiments on the dataset prove the good performance of this method, which improves the prediction accuracy while also having strong robustness. This method can reduce the delay deviation under long window prediction and achieve good performance. In the case of 400 ms, the average RMSE and MAE are 0.0453  and 0.0361 mm, respectively, which is better than other research methods. CONCLUSION: The R-MFE-TCN can be extended to respiratory correlation prediction in different clinical situations, meeting the accuracy requirements for respiratory delay prediction in surgical assistance.

Natural background levels, source apportionment and health risks of potentially toxic elements in groundwater of highly urbanized area.

Identifying the natural background levels (NBLs), threshold values (TVs), sources and health risks of potentially toxic elements in groundwater is crucial for ensuring the water security of residents in highly urbanized areas. In this study, 96 groundwater samples were collected in urban area of Sichuan Basin, SW China. The concentrations of potentially toxic elements (Li, Fe, Cu, Zn, Al, Pb, B, Ba and Ni) were analyzed for investigating the NBLs, TVs, sources and health risks. The potentially toxic elements followed the concentration order of Fe > Ba > B > Al > Zn > Li > Cu > Ni > Pb. The NBLs and TVs indicated the contamination of potentially toxic elements mainly occurred in the northern and central parts of the study area. The Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model identified elevated concentrations of Fe, Al, Li, and B were found to determine groundwater quality. The primary sources of Fe, Al, Pb, and Ni were attributed to the dissolution of oxidation products, with Fe additionally affected by anthropogenic reduction environments. Li and B were determined to be originated from the weathering of tourmaline. High levels of Ni and Cu concentrations were derived from electronic waste leakage, while excessive Ba and Zn were linked to factory emissions and tire wear. The reasonable maximum exposure (RME) of hazard index (HI) was higher than safety standard and reveal the potential health risks in the southwestern study area. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated the Li concentrations possessed the highest weight contributing to health risk. This study provides a valuable information for source-specific risk assessments of potentially toxic elements in groundwater associated with urban areas.