Position-dependent resource competition within inflorescences of Sagittaria trifolia.

Resource competition among flowers is expected to influence variation in seed output within inflorescences, but the extent to which flower position affects competitive interactions is still incompletely understood. To investigate position effects on seed output in the perennial, monoecious macrophyte Sagittaria trifolia, we compared components of seed production (fruit set, seed number per fruit, and seed size) in control inflorescences to that in inflorescences from which half of the female flowers were experimentally removed, either from basal positions, from upper positions, or from across the inflorescence. Basal and upper flower removal reduced total seed output per inflorescence, while the throughout removal treatment maintained a seed yield comparable to the control.

Duplicated TLRs Possess Sub- and Neo-Functionalization to Broaden Their Ligand Recognition in Crucian Carp (Carassius auratus).

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a crucial role in the immune response to pathogen invasion. The TLR response patterns in teleost are significantly different from those in mammals. In this study, we systematically identified and characterized the TLR family of crucian carp (Carassius auratus).

Identification of Age and Underlying Disease Characteristics in Patients with Mild to Moderate Depression Comorbid with Parkinson's Disease: A Retrospective Case-control Study.

Background: Depression is a widely recognized neuropsychiatric condition that often occurs as a comorbidity with various medical illnesses, including neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to identify the age of onset and underlying disease characteristics associated with patients exhibiting mild to moderate depression comorbid with PD.

Methods: This retrospective case-control study included 114 elderly patients (age ≥65 years) diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Proteogenomic characterization reveals tumorigenesis and progression of lung cancer manifested as subsolid nodules.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) radiologically displayed as subsolid nodules (SSNs) is prevalent. Nevertheless, the precise clinical management of SSNs necessitates a profound understanding of their tumorigenesis and progression. Here, we analyze 66 LUAD displayed as SSNs covering 3 histological stages including adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) and invasive adenocarcinoma (IAC) by incorporating genomics, proteomics, phosphoproteomics and glycoproteomics.

Exploration of evaluation criteria based on the biological variation in the external quality assessment for basic semen analysis in China.

This study explores whether the current external quality assessment (EQA) level and acceptable bias for basic semen analysis in China are clinically useful. We collected data of semen EQA from Andrology laboratories in the Hunan Province (China) in 2022 and searched for data in the published literature from January 2000 to December 2023 in China. On the basis of these data, we analyzed the coefficients of variation and acceptable biases of different quality control materials for basic semen analysis through robust statistics.