Genetic mapping of folate QTLs using a segregated population in maize.

As essential B vitamin for humans, folates accumulation in edible parts of crops, such as maize kernels, is of great importance for human health. But its breeding is always limited by the prohibitive cost of folate profiling. The molecular breeding is a more executable and efficient way for folate fortification, but is limited by the molecular knowledge of folate regulation.

Long non-coding RNA CDKN2B-AS1 reduces inflammatory response and promotes cholesterol efflux in atherosclerosis by inhibiting ADAM10 expression.

Introduction: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play key roles in the development of atherosclerosis through the inflammatory pathway. This study aimed to investigate the role of lncRNA cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2B antisense RNA 1 (CDKN2B-AS1) in atherosclerosis via its function in A disintegrin and metalloprotease 10 (ADAM10).

Methods: Initially, the expression of CDKN2B-AS1 and ADAM10 in atherosclerotic plaque tissues and THP-1 macrophage-derived foam cells was determined, after which the cholesterol efflux rate of macrophages was calculated.

WITHDRAWN: A star copolymer consisting of a β-cyclodextrin core and poly(amidoamine) dendron arms for co-delivering nitric oxide and triclosan for combined antibacterial effect.

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OsSHI1 Regulates Plant Architecture Through Modulating the Transcriptional Activity of IPA1 in Rice.

Tillering and panicle branching are important determinants of plant architecture and yield potential in rice (). () encodesSQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE14, which acts as a key transcription factor regulating tiller outgrowth and panicle branching by directly activating the expression of () and (), thereby influencing grain yield in rice. Here, we report the identification of a rice mutant named that is characterized by dramatically reduced tiller number, enhanced culm strength, and increased panicle branch number.

Development of a Haploid-Inducer Mediated Genome Editing System for Accelerating Maize Breeding.

Crop breeding aims to generate pure inbred lines with multiple desired traits. Doubled haploid (DH) and genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 are two powerful game-changing technologies in crop breeding. However, both of them still fall short for rapid generation of pure elite lines with integrated favorable traits.

Impact of nominal photon energies on normal tissue sparing in knowledge-based radiotherapy treatment planning for rectal cancer patients.

The interactive adjustment of the optimization objectives during the treatment planning process has made it difficult to evaluate the impact of beam quality exclusively in radiotherapy. Without consensus in the published results, the arbitrary selection of photon energies increased the probability of suboptimal plans. This work aims to evaluate the dosimetric impact of various photon energies on the sparing of normal tissues by applying a preconfigured knowledge-based planning (RapidPlan) model to various clinically available photon energies for rectal cancer patients, based on model-generated optimization objectives, which provide a comparison basis with less human interference.

Effects of chronic stress on intestinal amino acid pathways.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating mental disorder with a high prevalence and severe impacts on quality of life. However, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying MDD remain poorly understood. Here, we used high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection-based targeted metabolomics to identify amino acid changes in the small intestine, in a rat model of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS).

Dose calculation deviations induced by fractional image-guided-couch-shifts for Varian Halcyon MV cone beam CT.

Purpose: To assess the criticality of calculation deviations induced by fractional image-guided-couch-shifts for Halcyon MV cone beam CT (CBCT) dose, which is incorporated as part of total treatment dose.

Methods: Eclipse-calculated imaging dose was first validated in 'Cheese Phantom' by measurement. Then, the actual imaging dose (D) for 18 historical patients of various sites were recalculated based on 513 MV CBCT-guided-couch-shift data, and compared with reference computations based on treatment isocentre (D).

A comparative and correlative study of the Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) and the Voice Activity and Participation Profile (VAPP) for voice-related quality of life among teachers with and without voice disorders.

The aim of this study was to investigate the difference and correlation between the Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) and the Voice Activity and Participation Profile (VAPP) among teachers.The participants were 672 teachers (218 males and 454 females, male-to-female ratio = 0.48:1) whose vocal cords were examined using a Strobolaryngoscope.

The MicroRNA Expression Profiles of Human Temporal Lobe Epilepsy in HS ILAE Type 1.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is associated with neurodegeneration, often leading to hippocampal sclerosis (HS). Type 1 HS, which is characterized by severe neuronal loss and gliosis predominantly in regions CA1 and CA4, is the most common subtype and is associated with the best prognosis according to the ILAE classification system. MiRNAs participate in the biological processes underlying many nervous system diseases, including epilepsy.

Early heading 7 interacts with DTH8, and regulates flowering time in rice.

EH7/Ghd7 interacts with DTH8, and regulates heading date by controlling the expression of Ehd1 in rice. Heading date, or flowering time, an important agronomic trait, influences regional adaptability and yield of crops. Many genes related to heading date in rice have been identified, and a preliminary regulatory network has been established, but the relationships between proteins involved are poorly understood.

The gut microbiome from patients with schizophrenia modulates the glutamate-glutamine-GABA cycle and schizophrenia-relevant behaviors in mice.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a devastating mental disorder with poorly defined underlying molecular mechanisms. The gut microbiome can modulate brain function and behaviors through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Here, we found that unmedicated and medicated patients with SCZ had a decreased microbiome α-diversity index and marked disturbances of gut microbial composition versus healthy controls (HCs).

Developing a high-throughput phenotyping method for oxidative stress tolerance in barley roots.

Background: More than 20% of the world's agricultural land is affected by salinity, resulting in multibillion-dollar penalties and jeopardising food security. While the recent progress in molecular technologies has significantly advanced plant breeding for salinity stress tolerance, accurate plant phenotyping remains a bottleneck of many breeding programs. We have recently shown the existence of a strong causal link between salinity and oxidative stress tolerance in cereals (wheat and barley).

Novel dealloying-fabricated NiCoS nanoparticles with excellent cycling performance for supercapacitors.

In this work, NiCoS nanoparticles for supercapacitors are successfully synthesized with a top-down strategy, using a novel dealloying method with an ion exchange reaction. The surface morphology and x-ray diffraction investigations demonstrated that NiCoS nanoparticles are interconnected by ligaments of the synthesized sample. The dealloyed NiCoS shows an enhanced electrochemical performance of about 1132.

Optical design of a compact multispectral LED light source with high irradiance and uniformity.

As light-emitting diodes (LEDs) become dominating solutions in general lighting, their applications are also penetrating into biomedical engineering, especially light therapies. These new applications usually require much higher light power density at a shorter working distance than general lighting. Besides the high power, uniformity in power distribution is another important factor in such applications to illuminate samples with equal irradiance.

Enantioselective γ-Addition of Pyrazole and Imidazole Heterocycles to Allenoates Catalyzed by Chiral Phosphine.

Chiral phosphines were found to catalyze the enantioselective asymmetric γ-addition of heteroaromatic compounds to allenoates in good yields with high enantiomeric ratios and regioselectivity in the presence of (S)-BINOL. Both pyrazole and imidazole could be employed in this process. The synthetic value of these γ-addition products was demonstrated by the preparation of biologically relevant molecules and structural scaffolds.

A Novel Beamforming Algorithm for GNSS Receivers with Dual-Polarized Sensitive Arrays in the Joint Space⁻Time-Polarization Domain.

Dual-polarized sensitive arrays (DPSAs) with the space⁻time-polarization adaptive processing (STPAP) technique, which employs the polarization domain as well as the space domain and time domain to filter out interferences, can cancel a larger number of wideband interferences for GNSS receivers. However, the traditional STPAP beamforming algorithm, which requires a separate adaptive filter for each GNSS satellite, will make the process computationally intensive as there are multiple GNSS satellites in the field of view (FOV). In order to overcome the shortcoming, a novel STPAP beamforming algorithm based on the minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) criterion is proposed.

Carbon quantum dots encapsulated in super small platinum nanocrystals core-shell architecture/nitrogen doped graphene hybrid nanocomposite for electrochemical biosensing of DNA damage biomarker-8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine.

In this work, carbon quantum dots (CQD) encapsulated in super small platinum nanocrystals core-shell architecture/nitrogen doped graphene hybrid nanocomposite (CQD@PDA@PtNCs-NGR) was design synthesized. Without using any capping reagent, stabilizer and surfactant, very small CQD was served as template and anchoring point for the synthesis of Pt NCs with a super small size (2.25 nm) and a uniform distribution.

Development of the "Third-Generation" Hybrid Rice in China.

Rice is a major cereal crop for China. The development of the "three-line" hybrid rice system based on cytoplasmic male sterility in the 1970s (first-generation) and the "two-line" hybrid rice system based on photoperiod- and thermo-sensitive genic male-sterile lines (second-generation) in the 1980s has contributed significantly to rice yield increase and food security in China. Here we describe the development and implementation of the "third-generation" hybrid rice breeding system that is based on a transgenic approach to propagate and utilize stable recessive nuclear male sterile lines, and as such, the male sterile line and hybrid rice produced using such a system is non-transgenic.

Notoginsenoside R1 protects oxygen and glucose deprivation-induced injury by upregulation of miR-21 in cardiomyocytes.

Notoginsenoside R1 (NG-R1) is a major component of Panax notoginseng, which has been used clinically for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy for centuries in China. This study aimed to reveal the functional impacts and the underlying mechanisms of NG-R1 on oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-injured cardiomyocytes. Rat cardiomyocyte line H9c2 and primary cardiomyocytes were subjected to OGD with or without NG-R1 treatment.

Activation of ERK/CREB/BDNF pathway involved in abnormal behavior of neonatally Borna virus-infected rats.

Background: Neuropsychiatric disorders are devastating illnesses worldwide; however, the potential involvement of viruses in the pathophysiological mechanisms of psychiatric diseases have not been clearly elucidated. Borna disease virus (BDV) is a neurotropic, noncytopathic RNA virus.

Materials And Methods: In this study, we infected neonatal rats intracranially with BDV Hu-H1 and Strain V within 24 hours of birth.

Validation of the targeted metabolomic pathway in the hippocampus and comparative analysis with the prefrontal cortex of social defeat model mice.

The proportion of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients around the world has increased remarkably. Although many studies of MDD have been conducted based on classic hypotheses, like alteration of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis or monoamine neurotransmitters, the mechanisms underlying MDD remain unclear. Aiming to further investigate the mechanisms of MDD, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was employed to measure target metabolites in the hippocampus (HIPPO) of chronic social defeat stress model mice.

The protective effect of hyperin on LPS-induced acute lung injury in mice.

Hyperin, a flavonoid compound found in natural plants, has been reported that it have anti-inflammatory properties. However, the protective effects and mechanisms of hyperin on acute lung injury have not been reported so far. This research was designed to investigate the protective effects of hyperin on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury (ALI) in mice.

GW5-Like, a homolog of GW5, negatively regulates grain width, weight and salt resistance in rice.

Grain size is an important determinant of yield potential in crops. We previously demonstrated that natural mutations in the regulatory sequences of qSW5/GW5 confer grain width diversity in rice. However, the biological function of a GW5 homolog, named GW5-Like (GW5L), remains unknown.

Establishing the quantitative relationship between diffuse speckle contrast analysis signals with absolute blood flow.

Diffuse speckle contrast analysis (DSCA) measures blood flow in deep tissues by taking advantage of the sensitivity of the speckle contrast signal to red blood cells (RBCs) motions. However, there has yet to be presented a clearly defined relationship between the absolute blood flow BF and the measured speckle contrast signal. Here, we derive an expression of linear approximation function for speckle contrast, taking into account both shear-induced diffusive and correlated advective RBCs motions in the vessels.