All-dielectric high-NA achromatic metalenses in the mid-infrared band based on subregions.

For conventional refractive lenses, chromatic aberration inevitably occurs due to the refractive index variation of the lens material with the incident wavelength, leading to axial aberrations and lower imaging system quality. Achromatic metalenses have demonstrated a great capability to solve this problem and been extensively investigated. However, the metalens achromatic method involves construction of a unit structure satisfying a phase distribution greater than 0-2π or phase compensation. Although this design method can obtain a good achromatic effect, finding a unit that satisfies a linear distribution during design is difficult. In this paper, we use subregion discrete wavelength modulation to achieve broadband achromatism. The total number of structural units in each region is optimized for different incident wavelengths, and the internal and external ring unit structures are also optimized. This achromatic metalens exhibits a large aperture and a high numerical aperture in the 4.2-4.7 µm mid-infrared band (NA = 0.83). Our research has strong potential and application prospects in ultracompact imaging and laser beam shaping.

The vasculogenic mimicry related signature predicts the prognosis and immunotherapy response in renal clear cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Clear cell carcinoma of the kidney is a common urological malignancy characterized by poor patient prognosis and treatment outcomes. Modulation of vasculogenic mimicry in tumor cells alters the tumor microenvironment and the influx of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, and the combination of its inducers and immune checkpoint inhibitors plays a synergistic role in enhancing antitumor effects. METHODS: We downloaded the data from renal clear cell carcinoma samples and vasculogenic mimicry-related genes to establish a new vasculogenic mimicry-related index (VMRI) using a machine learning approach. Based on VMRI, patients with renal clear cell carcinoma were divided into high VMRI and low VMRI groups, and patients' prognosis, clinical features, tumor immune microenvironment, chemotherapeutic response, and immunotherapeutic response were systematically analyzed. Finally, the function of CDH5 was explored in renal clear cell carcinoma cells. RESULTS: VMRI can be used for prognostic and immunotherapy efficacy prediction in a variety of cancers, which consists of four vasculogenic mimicry-related genes (CDH5, MMP9, MAPK1, and MMP13), is a reliable predictor of survival and grade in patients with clear cell carcinoma of the kidney and has been validated in multiple external datasets. We found that the high VMRI group presented higher levels of immune cell infiltration, which was validated by pathological sections. We performed molecular docking prediction of vasculogenic mimicry core target proteins and identified natural small molecule drugs with the highest affinity for the target protein. Knockdown of CDH5 inhibited the proliferation and migration of renal clear cell carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: The VMRI identified in this study allows for accurate prognosis assessment of patients with renal clear cell carcinoma and identification of patient populations that will benefit from immunotherapy, providing valuable insights for future precision treatment of patients with renal clear cell carcinoma.

Maximizing carbon sequestration potential in Chinese forests through optimal management.

Forest carbon sequestration capacity in China remains uncertain due to underrepresented tree demographic dynamics and overlooked of harvest impacts. In this study, we employ a process-based biogeochemical model to make projections by using national forest inventories, covering approximately 415,000 permanent plots, revealing an expansion in biomass carbon stock by 13.6 ± 1.5 Pg C from 2020 to 2100, with additional sink through augmentation of wood product pool (0.6-2.0 Pg C) and spatiotemporal optimization of forest management (2.3 ± 0.03 Pg C). We find that statistical model might cause large bias in long-term projection due to underrepresentation or neglect of wood harvest and forest demographic changes. Remarkably, disregarding the repercussions of harvesting on forest age can result in a premature shift in the timing of the carbon sink peak by 1-3 decades. Our findings emphasize the pressing necessity for the swift implementation of optimal forest management strategies for carbon sequestration enhancement.

Machine Learning to Promote Efficient Screening of Low-Contact Electrode for 2D Semiconductor Transistor Under Limited Data.

Low-barrier and high-injection electrodes are crucial for high-performance (HP) 2D semiconductor devices. Conventional trial-and-error methodologies for electrode material screening are impractical because of their low efficiency and arbitrary specificity. Although machine learning has emerged as a promising alternative to tackle this problem, its practical application in semiconductor devices is hindered by its substantial data requirements. In this paper, a comprehensive scheme combining an autoencoding regularized adversarial neural network and a feature-adaptive variational active learning algorithm for screening low-contact electrode materials for 2D semiconductor transistors with limited data is proposed. The proposed scheme exhibits exceptional performance by training with only 15% of the total data points, where the mean square errors are 0.17 and 0.27 eV for the vertical and lateral Schottky barrier, respectively, and 2.88% for tunneling probability. Further, it exhibits an optimal predictive performance for 100 randomly sampled training datasets, reveals the underlying physical insight based on the identified features, and realizes continual improvement by employing detailed density-of-states descriptors. Finally, the empirical evaluations of the transport characteristics are conducted and verified by constructing MOSFET devices. These findings demonstrate the considerable potential of machine-learning techniques for screening high-efficiency electrode materials and constructing HP 2D semiconductor devices.

Morphometric similarity differences in drug-naive Parkinson's disease correlate with transcriptomic signatures.

BACKGROUND: Differences in cortical morphology have been reported in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the pathophysiological mechanism of transcriptomic vulnerability in local brain regions remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to characterize the morphometric changes of brain regions in early drug-naive PD patients and uncover the brain-wide gene expression correlates. METHODS: The morphometric similarity (MS) network analysis was used to quantify the interregional structural similarity from multiple magnetic resonance imaging anatomical indices measured in each brain region of 170 early drug-naive PD patients and 123 controls. Then, we applied partial least squares regression to determine the relationship between regional changes in MS and spatial transcriptional signatures from the Allen Human Brain Atlas dataset, and identified the specific genes related to MS differences in PD. We further investigated the biological processes by which the PD-related genes were enriched and the cellular characterization of these genes. RESULTS: Our results showed that MS was mainly decreased in cingulate, frontal, and temporal cortical areas and increased in parietal and occipital cortical areas in early drug-naive PD patients. In addition, genes whose expression patterns were associated with regional MS changes in PD were involved in astrocytes, excitatory, and inhibitory neurons and were functionally enriched in neuron-specific biological processes related to trans-synaptic signaling and nervous system development. CONCLUSIONS: These findings advance our understanding of the microscale genetic and cellular mechanisms driving macroscale morphological abnormalities in early drug-naive PD patients and provide potential targets for future therapeutic trials.

Consistent abnormal activity in the putamen by dopamine modulation in Parkinson's disease: A resting-state neuroimaging meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to elucidate brain areas mediated by oral anti-parkinsonian medicine that consistently show abnormal resting-state activation in PD and to reveal their functional connectivity profiles using meta-analytic approaches. METHODS: Searches of the PubMed, Web of Science databases identified 78 neuroimaging studies including PD OFF state (PD-OFF) versus (vs.) PD ON state (PD-ON) or PD-ON versus healthy controls (HCs) or PD-OFF versus HCs data. Coordinate-based meta-analysis and functional meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) were performed using the activation likelihood estimation algorithm. RESULTS: Brain activation in PD-OFF vs. PD-ON was significantly changed in the right putamen and left inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Contrast analysis indicated that PD-OFF vs. HCs had more consistent activation in the right paracentral lobule, right middle frontal gyrus, right thalamus, left superior parietal lobule and right putamen, whereas PD-ON vs. HCs elicited more consistent activation in the bilateral middle temporal gyrus, left occipital gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus and right caudate. MACM revealed coactivation of the right putamen in the direct contrast of PD-OFF vs. PD-ON. Subtraction analysis of significant coactivation clusters for PD-OFF vs. PD-ON with the medium of HCs showed effects in the sensorimotor, top-down control, and visual networks. By overlapping the MACM maps of the two analytical strategies, we demonstrated that the coactivated brain region focused on the right putamen. CONCLUSIONS: The convergence of local brain regions and co-activation neural networks are involved the putamen, suggesting its potential as a specific imaging biomarker to monitor treatment efficacy. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/], identifier [CRD CRD42022304150].

Combined transcriptomics and metabolomics to analyse the response of Cuminum cyminum L. under Pb stress.

Lead (Pb) can disrupt plant gene expression, modify metabolite contents, and influence the growth of plants. Cuminum cyminum L. is highly adaptable to adversity, but molecular mechanism by which it responds to Pb stress is unknown. For this study, transcriptomic and metabolomic sequencing was performed on root tissues of C. cyminum under Pb stress. Our results showed that high Pb stress increased the activity of peroxidase (POD), the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline by 80.03 %, 174.46 % and 71.24 %, respectively. Meanwhile, Pb stress decreased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) as well as contents of soluble sugars and GSH, which thus affected the growth of C. cyminum. In addition, Pb stress influenced the accumulation and transport of Pb in C. cyminum. Metabolomic results showed that Pb stress affected eight metabolic pathways involving 108 differentially expressed metabolites, primarily amino acids, organic acids, and carbohydrates. The differentially expressed genes identified through transcriptome analysis were mainly involved the oxidation reductase activity, transmembrane transport, phytohormone signaling, and MAPK signaling pathway. The results of this study will help to understand the molecular mechanisms of C. cyminum response to Pb stress, and provide a basis for screening seeds with strong resistance to heavy metals.

Correlation between the MNCD classification-based staging of Parkinson's disease and quality of life: a cross-sectional study.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a highly heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder with varying clinical subtypes. Recently, a novel classification called MNCD (Motor/Non-motor/Cognition/Dependency) has been proposed, which can also include staging based on disease severity. We aim to investigate which staging, the MNCD classification and staging or Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) staging, exhibits a stronger correlation with the 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). In a cross-sectional study conducted at our single center, 357 PD patients were recruited. Data encompassed scores from various assessments such as the Movement Disorder Society of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Parts I, II, III and IV, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), PDQ-39, and the H&Y scale. The mean age of these patients was 66.4 ± 9.1 years old, and the majority (54.6%) were male. MNCD stages: stage 1 (N = 3, 0.8%), stage 2 (N = 62, 17.4%), stage 3 (N = 187, 52.4%), stage 4 (N = 86, 24.1%), and stage 5 (N = 19, 5.3%). The top 5 most frequent PD-related clinical symptoms were sleep disturbances (89.6%), fatigue (69.7%), mild cognitive impairment (68.9%), constipation (65.8%), and postural instability (65.5%). The PDQ-39 demonstrated a positive correlation with both MNCD staging and H&Y staging. Moreover, the MNCD staging exhibited a stronger correlation with PDQ-39 compared to H&Y staging. The correlation between the MNCD classification and staging with the quality of life in PD patients is more statistically significant compared to the H&Y staging.

PIF4 interacts with ABI4 to serve as a transcriptional activator complex to promote seed dormancy by enhancing ABA biosynthesis and signaling.

Transcriptional regulation plays a key role in the control of seed dormancy, and many transcription factors (TFs) have been documented. However, the mechanisms underlying the interactions between different TFs within a transcriptional complex regulating seed dormancy remain largely unknown. Here, we showed that TF PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR4 (PIF4) physically interacted with the abscisic acid (ABA) signaling responsive TF ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE4 (ABI4) to act as a transcriptional complex to promote ABA biosynthesis and signaling, finally deepening primary seed dormancy. Both pif4 and abi4 single mutants exhibited a decreased primary seed dormancy phenotype, with a synergistic effect in the pif4/abi4 double mutant. PIF4 binds to ABI4 to form a heterodimer, and ABI4 stabilizes PIF4 at the protein level, whereas PIF4 does not affect the protein stabilization of ABI4. Subsequently, both TFs independently and synergistically promoted the expression of ABI4 and NCED6, a key gene for ABA anabolism. The genetic evidence is also consistent with the phenotypic, physiological and biochemical analysis results. Altogether, this study revealed a transcriptional regulatory cascade in which the PIF4-ABI4 transcriptional activator complex synergistically enhanced seed dormancy by facilitating ABA biosynthesis and signaling.

Spatial patterns of Holocene temperature changes over mid-latitude Eurasia.

The Holocene temperature conundrum, the discrepancy between proxy-based Holocene global cooling and simulated global annual warming trends, remains controversial. Meanwhile, reconstructions and simulations show inconsistent spatial patterns of terrestrial temperature changes. Here we report Holocene alkenone records to address spatial patterns over mid-latitude Eurasia. In contrast with long-term cooling trends in warm season temperatures in northeastern China, records from southwestern Siberia are characterized by colder conditions before ~6,000 years ago, thus long-term warming trends. Together with existing records from surrounding regions, we infer that colder airmass might have prevailed in the interior of mid-latitude Eurasian continent during the early to mid-Holocene, perhaps associated with atmospheric response to remnant ice sheets. Our results challenge the proposed seasonality bias in proxies and modeled spatial patterns in study region, highlighting that spatial patterns of Holocene temperature changes should be re-considered in record integrations and model simulations, with important implications for terrestrial hydroclimate changes.

The global, regional, and national disease burden of breast cancer attributable to tobacco from 1990 to 2019: a global burden of disease study.

OBJECTIVE: Tobacco has been identified as a significant contributory element to the development of breast cancer. Our objective was to evaluate the spatiotemporal trends of tobacco-related breast cancer at the global, regional, and national scales during 1990-2019. METHODS: We extracted data on mortality, disability adjusted of life years (DALYs), age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), and age-standardized DALYs rate (ASDR) from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2019. Estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was computed to assess the temporal change in ASDR and ASMR. RESULTS: In 2019, the deaths and DALYs attributed to tobacco-related breast cancer were estimated to be 35,439 (95% UI: 22,179-48,119) and 1,060,590 (95% UI: 622,550-1,462,580), respectively. These figures accounted for 5.1% and 5.2% of the total burden of breast cancer. ASMR and ASDR increased in low SDI regions, remained stable in low-middle and middle SDI regions and declined in high and high-middle SDI regions. The burden of breast cancer attributable to tobacco varied notably among regions and nations. Oceania, Southern Latin America, and Central Europe were the GBD regions with the highest number of ASMR and DALYs. There was a positive relationship between age-standardized rate and SDI value in 2019 across 204 nations or territories. A negative association was observed between the EAPC in ASMR or ASDR and the human development index (HDI) in 2019 (R = -0.55, p < 0.01 for ASMR; R = -0.56, p < 0.01 for ASDR). CONCLUSION: Tobacco is one important and modifiable risk factor for breast cancer. The heterogeneity in both the spatial and temporal distribution can be attributed to factors such as aging, population growth, and SDI. These findings substantiate the necessity of expediting the enforcement of tobacco-free legislation in order to safeguard populations from the detrimental effects of tobacco.

Biomechanical characterization of firefighters running under different rescue tasks.

The biomechanical characteristics of runs in firefighters with different rescue tasks are unclear. This study aimed to explore the biomechanical characteristics of firefighters running in different rescue tasks and provide theoretical and practical references for firefighter training and occupational injury prevention. Eighteen professional healthy male firefighters were randomly selected as participants and tested running on different rescue tasks: wearing firefighting protective clothing (FPC), FPC+carrying a gas can (20 kg, FPC+ C), and FPC+carrying a mannequin (60 kg, FPC+M). Eight Qualisys infrared cameras and an AMTI 3D force measurement platform were used for the participant's acquisition of lower limb kinematic/kinetic data. The results showed that gait velocity and stride length of the FPC+GC and FPC+ M rescue tasks were significantly decreased compared to the FPC rescue task, while the support time was significantly increased. Compared to the FPC rescue task, the FPC+GC rescue task showed significant decreases in vertical ground reaction force (vGRF), minimum ankle dorsiflexion angle, and the maximum ankle plantarflexion power. In contrast, the FPC+M rescue task demonstrated significant increases in ankle range of motion, maximum hip extension angle, minimum knee flexion angle, maximum ankle dorsiflexion angle, maximum hip extension moment, maximum knee flexion moment, maximum hip flexion power, and hip and knee stiffness while exhibiting significant decreases in minimum ankle dorsiflexion angle. Compared to the FPC+ GC rescue task, the FPC+M rescue task exhibited significant increases in the maximum hip extension angle, minimum knee flexion angle, maximum ankle dorsiflexion angle, maximum hip flexion moment, maximum hip extension moment, maximum knee flexion moment, maximum ankle plantarflexion moment, maximum hip flexion power, maximum ankle dorsiflexion power, hip stiffness, and vGRF. Conversely, it showed significant decreases in the maximum knee flexion power. In conclusion, compared to the FPC rescue task, the FPC+GC and FPC+M rescue tasks altered the firefighter's gait performance, as evidenced by decreased gait velocity and stride length and increased support time. FPC+M rescue task would increase firefighter's risk of hip and knee injuries. Therefore, we suggest firefighters increase their strength training of the trunk, hip, and knee joint muscles as part of their daily training programs under large weight load status (60 kg and above) to reduce injury risk during rescue tasks.

Clinical effects and biological mechanisms of exercise on lumbar disc herniation.

Lumbar Disc Herniation (LDH) is a syndrome in which lumbar disc degeneration, rupture of the annulus fibrosus, and herniation of the nucleus pulposus irritate and compress the nerve roots and cauda equina, resulting in the main manifestations of lumbar pain and/or lower extremity pain. There is evidence in various clinical areas that exercise is effective in treating LDH, and exercise intervention for more than 2 weeks reduces disease activity in LDH. However, the mechanism of exercise's action in reducing disease activity in LDH is unclear. In this article, we first summarize and highlight the effectiveness of exercise in treating LDH and provide guideline recommendations regarding exercise type, intensity, frequency, and duration. Then, we integrate the existing evidence and propose biological mechanisms for the potential effects of exercise on neuromechanical compression, inflammatory chemical stimuli, and autoimmune responses from the perspective of LDH pathogenesis as an entry point. However, a large body of evidence was obtained from non-LDH populations. Future research needs to investigate further the proposed biological mechanisms of exercise in reducing disease activity in LDH populations. This knowledge will contribute to the basic science and strengthen the scientific basis for prescribing exercise therapy for the routine clinical treatment of LDH.

Heritability of chronic thermal tolerance and genetic correlations with growth traits in the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas).

The increasing seawater temperature during summer months frequently results in severe mortalities in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas around the world, becoming one of the most significant problems challenging the oyster farming industry. In northern China, significant recurrent summer losses of C. gigas have occurred, and its impact on oyster aquaculture has increased in recent years. Selective breeding for improved oyster resistance to high temperature could help to reduce this massive mortality, but the extent of genetic variation underlying this trait is currently unknown. In this study, we constructed 38 full-sib families using the wild C. gigas and estimated the genetic parameters by performing two month-long high-temperature challenge experiments (30 ℃). Experiment 1 was performed in March 2022 followed by experiment 2 in June 2022 (spawning season). In both challenge experiments, there were significant differences in survival among families, suggesting that C. gigas has a different ability to survive under heat stress. Notably, significantly greater mortality was observed for experiment 2, which related to reproductive status and may contribute to additional stress. Thermal tolerance was defined using both binary test survival and time of death traits. Heritability estimates for thermal tolerance were low to moderate (0.16-0.36 for experiment 1 and 0.16-0.33 for experiment 2) using both a Bayesian (MCMCglmm) and a likelihood-based (ASReml-R) approach and estimated heritability of the threshold animal model using ASReml-R (0.16) appeared to be lower compared to MCMCglmm (0.31-0.32). Notably, the genetic and phenotypic correlations for thermal tolerance between two experiments were 0.463 (BS) to 0.491 (TD) and 0.510 (family survival), respectively, which suggested a significant re-ranking of the family breeding values in different time periods. Finally, the genetic and phenotypic correlations were low between growth traits (shell height, shell length, and shell width) and thermal tolerance, suggesting that selection for these traits should be conducted separately. This study reports the first estimation of genetic parameters for chronic thermal tolerance in C. gigas and indicates that this trait is heritable and selective breeding for thermal tolerance is a feasible and promising approach to reduce summer mortality.

Improved photosynthetic performance under unilateral weak light conditions in a wide-narrow-row intercropping system is associated with altered sugar transport.

Intercropping improves resource utilization. Under wide-narrow-row maize (Zea mays) intercropping, maize plants are subjected to weak unilateral illumination and exhibit high photosynthetic performance. However, the mechanism regulating photosynthesis under unilateral weak light remains unknown. We investigated the relationship between photosynthesis and sugar metabolism in maize under unilateral weak light. Our results showed that the net photosynthetic rate (Pn) of unshaded leaves increased as the level of shade on the other side increased. On the contrary, the concentration of sucrose and starch and the number of starch granules in the unshaded leaves decreased with increased shading due to the transfer of abundant C into the grains. However, sink loss with ear removal reduced the Pn of unshaded leaves. Intense unilateral shade (40% to 20% normal light), but not mild unilateral shade (60% normal light), reduced grain yield (37.6% to 54.4%, respectively). We further found that in unshaded leaves, Agpsl, Bmy, and Mexl-like expression significantly influenced sucrose and starch metabolism, while Sweet13a and Sut1 expression was crucial for sugar export. In shaded leaves, expression of Sps1, Agpsl, and Sweet13c was crucial for sugar metabolism and export. This study confirmed that unshaded leaves transported photosynthates to the ear, leading to a decrease in sugar concentration. The improvement of photosynthetic performance was associated with altered sugar transport. We propose a narrow-row spacing of 40 cm, which provides appropriate unilateral shade and limits yield reduction.

Levodopa improved different motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease by reducing the functional connectivity of specific thalamic subregions.

BACKGROUND: The thalamus is an important relay station for the motor circuit of human. Levodopa can reverse the clinical manifestations by modulating the function of motor circuits, but its detailed mechanisms are still not fully understood. We aimed to explore (1) the mechanism by which levodopa modulates the functional connectivity (FC) in the subregions of the thalamus; (2) the relationship between the changed FC and the improvement of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. METHODS: Resting-state functional MRI was used to scan 36 PD patients and 37 healthy controls. The FC between the subregions in the thalamus and the whole brain was measured and compared under different medication states of PD patients. The correlation between the improvement of motor symptoms and changes in FC in the thalamus subregions was examined. RESULTS: The PD on state exhibited decreased FC between the right pre-motor thalamus and the right postcentral gyrus, as well as the right lateral pre-frontal thalamus and the right postcentral gyrus. These decreases were positively correlated with the improvement of resting tremor. The PD on state also exhibited decreased FC between the left lateral pre-frontal thalamus and right paracentral lobule, which was positively correlated with the improvement of bradykinesia. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that levodopa treats PD by decreasing the FC between the thalamus subregions and pre/post-central cortex. Our results provide a basis for further exploration of the functional activity of thalamic subregions and offer new insights into the precision treatment in PD patients.

Comparing the effects of GBA variants and onset age on clinical features and progression in Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: Glucosylceramidase (GBA) variants and onset age significantly affect clinical phenotype and progression in Parkinson's disease (PD). The current study compared clinical characteristics at baseline and cognitive and motor progression over time among patients having GBA-related PD (GBA-PD), early-onset idiopathic PD (early-iPD), and late-onset idiopathic PD (late-iPD). METHODS: We recruited 88 GBA-PD, 167 early-iPD, and 488 late-iPD patients in this study. A subset of 50 GBA-PD, 81 early-iPD, and 223 late-iPD patients was followed up at least once, with a 3.0-year mean follow-up time. Linear mixed-effects models helped evaluate the rate of change in the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores. RESULTS: At baseline, the GBA-PD group showed more severe motor deficits and non-motor symptoms (NMSs) than the early-iPD group and more NMSs than the late-iPD group. Moreover, the GBA-PD group had more significant cognitive and motor progression, particularly bradykinesia and axial impairment, than the early-iPD and late-iPD groups at follow-up. However, the early-onset GBA-PD (early-GBA-PD) group was similar to the late-onset GBA-PD (late-GBA-PD) group in baseline clinical features and cognitive and motor progression. CONCLUSION: GBA-PD patients exhibited faster cognitive and motor deterioration than early-iPD and late-iPD patients. Thus, subtype classification based on genetic characteristics rather than age at onset could enhance the prediction of PD disease progression.

More severe initial manifestations and worse short-term functional outcome of intracerebral hemorrhage in the plateau than in the plain.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is one of the most devastating forms of stroke. However, studies on ICH at high altitude are insufficient. We aimed to compare the initial manifestations, imaging features and short-term functional outcomes of ICH at different altitudes, and further explore the effect of altitude on the severity and prognosis of ICH. We retrospectively recruited ICH patients from January 2018 to July 2021 from two centers at different altitudes in China. Information regarding to clinical manifestations, neuroimages, and functional outcomes at discharge were collected and analyzed. Association between altitude and initial severity, neuroimages, and short-term prognosis of ICH were also investigated. A total of 724 patients with 400 lowlanders and 324 highlanders were enrolled. Compared with patients from the plain, those at high altitude were characterized by more severe preliminary manifestations (P < 0.0001), larger hematoma volume (P < 0.001) and poorer short-term functional outcome (P < 0.0001). High altitude was independently associated with dependency at discharge (adjusted P = 0.024), in-hospital mortality (adjusted P = 0.049) and gastrointestinal hemorrhage incidence (adjusted P = 0.017). ICH patients from high altitude suffered from more serious initial manifestations and worse short-term functional outcome than lowlanders. Control of blood pressure, oxygen supplementation and inhibition of inflammation may be critical for ICH at high altitude.

Quantifying the effects of plant density on soybean lodging resistance and growth dynamics in maize-soybean strip intercropping.

Shading-induced soybean stem lodging is a prevalent concern in the maize (Zea mays L.)-soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) strip intercropping system, leading to a substantial decline in yield. Nevertheless, the associations between soybean growth, stem lodging, and yield formation in this scenario remain unclear. To investigate this, the logistic and beta growth models were utilized to analyze the growth process of soybean organs (stems, leaves, branches, and pods) and the accumulation of carbohydrates (lignin, cellulose, and sucrose) at three planting densities (8.5, 10, and 12.5 plants m-2) in both strip intercropping and skip strip monoculture systems. The results indicate that shading stress caused by maize in the intercropping system reduced lignin and cellulose accumulation in soybean stems, thus decelerating soybean organ growth compared to monoculture. Furthermore, intercropped soybean at higher planting density (PD3) exhibited a 28% reduction in the maximum dry matter growth rate (cm) and a 11% decrease in the time taken to reach the maximum dry matter growth rate (te) compared to the lower planting density (PD1). Additionally, a 29% decrease in the maximum accumulation rate (cmax) of sucrose, lignin, and cellulose was observed, along with a 13% decrease in the continuous accumulation time (tc) of these carbohydrates in intercropped soybean at PD3. Interspecific and intraspecific shading stress led to a preferential allocation of assimilates into soybean stems, enhancing plant height during the initial stage, while at later stages, a greater proportion of sucrose was allocated to leaves. Consequently, this hindered the conversion of sucrose into lignin and cellulose within the stems, ultimately resulting in a reduction in the lodging resistance index (LRI). Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the effects of shading stress on soybean growth and yield. It also emphasizes how optimizing planting density in intercropping systems can effectively alleviate shading stress and enhance crop productivity.

RabbitKSSD: accelerating genome distance estimation on modern multi-core architectures.

SUMMARY: We propose RabbitKSSD, a high-speed genome distance estimation tool. Specifically, we leverage load-balanced task partitioning, fast I/O, efficient intermediate result accesses, and high-performance data structures to improve overall efficiency. Our performance evaluation demonstrates that RabbitKSSD achieves speedups ranging from 5.7× to 19.8× over Kssd for the time-consuming sketch generation and distance computation on commonly used workstations. In addition, it significantly outperforms Mash, BinDash, and Dashing2. Moreover, RabbitKSSD can efficiently perform all-vs-all distance computation for all RefSeq complete bacterial genomes (455 GB in FASTA format) in just 2 min on a 64-core workstation. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: RabbitKSSD is available at https://github.com/RabbitBio/RabbitKSSD.