Genome-wide association study identified the candidate genes associated with angel wing trait in Pekin duck.

Angel wing is a developmental wing deformity that can influence breeding and reproduction in the commercial duck industry. The nutrition foundation of angel wing trait was initially explored, but the genetic basic remains poorly understood. In this study, we identified candidate genes and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with angel wing trait in Pekin ducks using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and selective sweep analysis. The GWAS results showed that nine SNPs across five chromosomes were significantly correlated with the angel wing trait. In total, 468 selection signals were shown between the angel wing ducks and normal ducks, and these signals harbored 154 genes, which were enriched in the nervous system and metabolism. This study provides the new insights into the genetic factors that may influence duck angel wing.

Real-time feedback on mobile application use for emergency management affects the door-to-needle time and functional outcomes in acute ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVES: Time from onset to reperfusion affects mortality and favorable outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). To evaluate effects of a real-time feedback mobile application on critical time intervals and functional outcomes in stroke emergency management. METHODS: We recruited patients with clinically suspected acute stroke from December 1st, 2020 until July 30st, 2022. All Patients had a non-contrast computed tomography (CT) and were included only if they had AIS. We divided the patients into two groups based on the date of availability on mobile application: pre-APP group and post-APP group. Onset to Door time (ODT), Door to Imaging Time (DIT), Door to Needle Time (DNT), Door to Puncture Time (DPT), Door to Recanalization Time (DRT), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) were compared between two groups. RESULTS: We retrospectively enrolled 312 AIS patients who were assigned into the pre-APP group (n = 159) and post-APP group (n = 153). The median ODT time and median admission NIHSS score were not significantly different between the two groups at baseline assessment. The median (IQR) DIT [44 (30-60) min vs 28 (20-36) min, P < 0.01] and DNT [44 (36.25-52) min vs 39 (29-45) min, P = 0.02] both decreased significantly in two groups. However, median DPT and DRT time showed no significant differences. The proportion of mRS score of 0 to 2 at day 90 was significantly higher in the post-App group than in the pre-App group, at 82.4% and 71.7%, respectively (dominance ratio OR=1.84, 95% CI: 1.07 to 3.16, P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The present findings indicate that the real-time feedback of stroke emergency management used by a mobile application have potential for shortening the DIT and DNT time and improve the prognosis of stroke patients.

Exploring the effect of the microbiota on the production of duck striped eggs.

The microbiota has received plenty of attention in recent years due to its influence on host health and productivity. The striped eggs have reduced hatching performance and resulted in economic loss. The reasons are still unknown. Microbiota is one of the potentially important factors contributing to striped egg formation. This study investigates the relationship between the microbiota and striped eggs. The litter samples, feed samples, and cloacal swab samples of female ducks that produce striped eggs and normal eggs were performed for microbial diversity and composition using 16S rRNA sequencing. The results showed that there was no significant difference between feed microbiota and cloacal swab microbiota by alpha diversity, whereas, the number of microorganisms in the litter samples of female ducks that produced striped eggs was less than those of female ducks with normal eggs. There were compositional differences in litter microbiota of female ducks between the striped egg and the normal eggs. Among them, the abundance of Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, and Brevibacterium in the litter of female ducks that produced striped eggs was significantly higher than that produced normal eggs. And these differential bacteria maybe affect the health of female ducks and cause abnormalities in the formation process of duck eggs. Therefore, the reduction of harmful bacteria may protect the reproductive health of female ducks and decrease the proportion of striped eggs. It provides an important reference to explore why female ducks produce striped eggs.

Assessment of stroke knowledge and awareness among primary healthcare providers: A cross-sectional survey from the Kezhou quality improvement in acute stroke care project.

Objective: Acute stroke care is a highly complex type of emergency medical service (EMS) involving patient-centered care in a highly unpredictable and stressful environment with the help of several busy providers. The ability of primary healthcare providers (PHPs) to identify stroke onset early and further manage referrals to higher-level hospitals becomes critical. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey about stroke knowledge and awareness among PHPs in China from September 2021 to December 2021. A total of 289 PHPs were divided into two groups, the stroke treatment window (STW) Aware group vs. the STW Unaware group according to their knowledge on the time window for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) management. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the predictors associated with knowledge of the time window for acute stroke management. Results: Of 289 PHPs surveyed during the study period, 115 (39.7%) participants were aware of the time window for stroke management and were in the STW Aware group, while 174 (60.2%) were in the STW Unaware group. Forty percent of PHPs in the STW Aware group were familiar with the secondary stroke prevention goal of <140/90 mmHg, compared with 27.01% in the Unaware group (P < 0.05). PHPs were not sufficiently aware of loss of consciousness also a symptom of stroke in two groups (75.7 vs. 62.6%, P < 0.05). A higher proportion of PHPs in the STW Aware group believed that thrombolysis was an effective treatment for AIS (96.5 vs. 79.9%, P < 0.01). Endovascular therapy is indicated for AIS was perceived by a higher proportion of PHPs in the STW Aware group than that in the Unaware group (62.6 vs. 6.9%, P < 0.01). Eighty percent of PHPs in the STW Aware group reported attending training on stroke management compared with 58.1% in the Unaware group (P < 0.01). Logistic regression results showed that the predictors of stroke knowledge and awareness among PHPs included sex (OR: 2.3, 95% CI, 1.2-4.6), received training (OR: 2.9, 95% CI, 1.60-5.1), and times of training per year (OR: 0.70, 95% CI, 0.6-0.9). Conclusions: PHPs present with a mild to moderate level of stroke management knowledge in northwest China. Strategies to help increase stroke knowledge and awareness among PHPs should be considered in order to help improve the stroke related health service system.

Mechanical thrombectomy for acute multivessel occlusions with duplicated middle cerebral artery: A case report.

Acute multivessel occlusions generally have multisite clot burden with lower successful reperfusion rates, and cerebrovascular anatomical variants increase the challenge of endovascular clot retrieval. We report a case of acute anterior multivessel occlusions patient with duplicated middle cerebral artery. Combined balloon guide catheter with stent retriever and aspiration approach has gained complete revascularization and good functional outcomes at 3 months follow-up.

Deep neural networks could differentiate Bethesda class III versus class IV/V/VI.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound (US) is the most commonly used radiologic modality to identify and characterize thyroid nodules. Many nodules subsequently undergo fine needle aspiration to further characterize the nodule and determine appropriate treatment. The fine needle aspirate is most commonly classified using the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytology (TBSRTC). It can sometimes be difficult to differentiate Bethesda class III lesions (atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance) from Bethesda class IV, V and VI (malignant nodules). However, differentiation is important as clinical management differs between the two groups. The purpose of this study was to introduce machine learning methods to help radiologists differentiate Bethesda class III from Bethesda class VI, V and VI lesions. METHODS: The authors collected 467 thyroid nodules with cytopathology results. US features were summarized using the 2017 ACR (American College of Radiology) Thyroid Imaging Reporting And Data System (TIRADS). Machine learning models [logistic regression, gradient boost, support vector machine (SVM), random forest and deep neural networks (DNN)] were created to classify Bethesda class III vs class IV/V/VI. RESULTS: DNN outperformed other machine learning classifiers and obtained the highest accuracy and specificity to classify thyroid nodules as either Bethesda III or IV/V/VI nodules using multiple US features. CONCLUSIONS: Machine learning/deep learning approaches could help differentiate Bethesda III nodules from IV/V/VI using US features which may benefit treatment decisions.

Contour detection improved by context-adaptive surround suppression.

Recently, many image processing applications have taken advantage of a psychophysical and neurophysiological mechanism, called "surround suppression" to extract object contour from a natural scene. However, these traditional methods often adopt a single suppression model and a fixed input parameter called "inhibition level", which needs to be manually specified. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose a novel model, called "context-adaptive surround suppression", which can automatically control the effect of surround suppression according to image local contextual features measured by a surface estimator based on a local linear kernel. Moreover, a dynamic suppression method and its stopping mechanism are introduced to avoid manual intervention. The proposed algorithm is demonstrated and validated by a broad range of experimental results.