The long noncoding RNA ALEX1 confers a functional phase state of ARF3 to enhance rice resistance to bacterial pathogens.

Rice bacterial blight is a devastating disease worldwide, causing significant yield losses. Understanding how plants defend against microbial infection is critical for sustainable crop production. We previously identified a pathogen-induced long noncoding RNA (ALEX1).

Effects of multilevel postpartum family planning intervention on the reduction of unintended pregnancy and induced abortion rates within 12 months of delivery: A cluster randomized controlled study in China.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a multilevel promoting postpartum family planning (PPFP) intervention on the reduction of unintended pregnancies and induced abortions in China.

Study Design: We performed a cluster randomized intervention study to assess the effects of a multilevel PPFP intervention on the rates of unintended pregnancy and induced abortion within 12 months postpartum. Thirty-six hospitals were included and randomly allocated to two groups at a 1:1 ratio, enrolling 180 pregnant women per hospital starting in January 2019.

The evolution of flavonoid biosynthesis.

The flavonoid pathway is characteristic of land plants and a central biosynthetic component enabling life in a terrestrial environment. Flavonoids provide tolerance to both abiotic and biotic stresses and facilitate beneficial relationships, such as signalling to symbiont microorganisms, or attracting pollinators and seed dispersal agents. The biosynthetic pathway shows great diversity across species, resulting principally from repeated biosynthetic gene duplication and neofunctionalization events during evolution.

Risk prediction models for diabetic nephropathy among type 2 diabetes patients in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: This study systematically reviews and meta-analyzes existing risk prediction models for diabetic kidney disease (DKD) among patients with type 2 diabetes, aiming to provide references for scholars in China to develop higher-quality risk prediction models.

Methods: We searched databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, VIP Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for studies on the construction of DKD risk prediction models among type 2 diabetes patients, up until 28 December 2023. Two researchers independently screened the literature and extracted and evaluated information according to a data extraction form and bias risk assessment tool for prediction model studies.

Direct evidence for the occurrence of indigenous cadmium-based nanoparticles in paddy soils.

Speciation of heavy metal-based nanoparticles (NPs) in paddy soils greatly determines their fate and potential risk towards food safety. However, quantitative understanding of such distinctive species remains challenging, because they are commonly presented at trace levels (e.g.

and genes regulate release, germination and growth of gemma in .

Strigolactones (SLs), a class of carotenoid-derived hormones, play a crucial role in flowering plants by regulating underground communication with symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM) and controlling shoot and root architecture. While the functions of core SL genes have been characterized in many plants, their roles in non-tracheophyte plants like liverworts require further investigation. In this study, we employed the model liverwort species , which lacks detectable SL production and orthologs of key SL biosynthetic genes, including () and ().

Test-retest reliability of the attention network test from the perspective of intrinsic network organization.

The attention network test (ANT), developed based on the triple-network taxonomy by Posner and colleagues, has been widely used to examine the efficacy of alerting, orienting and executive control in clinical and developmental neuroscience studies. Recent research suggests the imperfect reliability of the behavioural ANT and its variants. However, the classical ANT fMRI task's test-retest reliability has received little attention.

Toxicity and Modeling Reveal Nanoplastic Effects on Marine Bivalves.

Nanoplastics (NPs) represent a growing concern for global environmental health, particularly in marine ecosystems where they predominantly accumulate. The impact of NPs on marine benthic organisms, such as bivalves, raises critical questions regarding ecological integrity and food safety. Traditional methods for assessing NP toxicity are often limited by their time-intensive nature and ethical considerations.

Painted flowers: Eluta generates pigment patterning in Antirrhinum.

In the early 1900s, Erwin Baur established Antirrhinum majus as a model system, identifying and characterising numerous flower colour variants. This included Picturatum/Eluta, which restricts the accumulation of magenta anthocyanin pigments, forming bullseye markings on the flower face. We identified the gene underlying the Eluta locus by transposon-tagging, using an Antirrhinum line that spontaneously lost the nonsuppressive el phenotype.

A transthyretin-like protein acts downstream of miR397 and LACCASE to regulate grain yield in rice.

Increasing grain yield is a major goal of breeders due to the rising global demand for food. We previously reported that the miR397-LACCASE (OsLAC) module regulates brassinosteroid (BR) signaling and grain yield in rice (Oryza sativa). However, the precise roles of laccase enzymes in the BR pathway remain unclear.

CT radiomics-based model for predicting TMB and immunotherapy response in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Tumor mutational burden (TMB) is one of the most significant predictive biomarkers of immunotherapy efficacy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Radiomics allows high-throughput extraction and analysis of advanced and quantitative medical imaging features. This study develops and validates a radiomic model for predicting TMB level and the response to immunotherapy based on CT features in NSCLC.

Surface-Charge-Driven Ferroptosis and Mitochondrial Dysfunction Is Involved in Toxicity Diversity in the Marine Bivalve Exposed to Nanoplastics.

Nanoplastics (NPs) pervade daily life, posing serious threats to marine ecosystems. Despite the crucial role that surface charge plays in NP effects, there is a substantial gap in our understanding of how surface charge influences NP toxicity. Herein, by exposing () to both positively charged NPs (p-NPs) and negatively charged NPs (n-NPs) at environmentally relevant particle number levels for a duration of 35 days, we unequivocally demonstrate that both types of NPs had discernible impacts on the clams depending on their surface charge.

MicroRNA397 promotes rice flowering by regulating the photorespiration pathway.

The precise timing of flowering plays a pivotal role in ensuring successful plant reproduction and seed production. This process is intricately governed by complex genetic networks that integrate internal and external signals. This study delved into the regulatory function of microRNA397 (miR397) and its target gene LACCASE-15 (OsLAC15) in modulating flowering traits in rice (Oryza sativa).

Impact of facemask debris on marine diatoms: Physiology, surface properties, sinking rate, and copepod ingestion.

Discarded surgical masks have become a new source of plastic waste in seawater capable of releasing numerous micro and nano plastic fragments. However, little information is available about how this waste impacts the ecological state of marine phytoplankton. Here, we exposed two model marine diatoms (Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira weissflogii) to mask-released debris (MD) that is characterized by various differently-charged functional groups.

Effects of nanoplastics on clam Ruditapes philippinarum at environmentally realistic concentrations: Toxicokinetics, toxicity, and gut microbiota.

Nanoplastics are ubiquitous in marine environments, understanding to what extent nanoplastics accumulate in bivalves and the adverse effects derived from their retention is imperative for evaluating the detrimental effects in the benthic ecosystem. Here, using palladium-doped polystyrene nanoplastics (139.5 nm, 43.

Nanoplastics alter ecosystem multifunctionality and may increase global warming potential.

Although the presence of nanoplastics in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems has received increasing attention, little is known about its potential effect on ecosystem processes and functions. Here, we evaluated if differentially charged polystyrene (PS) nanoplastics (PS-NH and PS-SO H) exhibit distinct influences on microbial community structure, nitrogen removal processes (denitrification and anammox), emissions of greenhouse gases (CO , CH , and N O), and ecosystem multifunctionality in soils with and without earthworms through a 42-day microcosm experiment. Our results indicated that nanoplastics significantly altered soil microbial community structure and potential functions, with more pronounced effects for positively charged PS-NH than for negatively charged PS-SO H.

Nanoplastics induces oxidative stress and triggers lysosome-associated immune-defensive cell death in the earthworm Eisenia fetida.

Nanoplastics (NPs) are increasingly perceived as an emerging threat to terrestrial environments, but the adverse impacts of NPs on soil fauna and the mechanisms behind these negative outcomes remain elusive. Here, a risk assessment of NPs was conducted on model organism (earthworm) from tissue to cell. Using palladium-doped polystyrene NPs, we quantitatively measured nanoplastic accumulation in earthworm and investigated its toxic effects by combining physiological assessment with RNA-Seq transcriptomic analyses.

The Split-Half Reliability and Construct Validity of the Virtual Reality-Based Path Integration Task in the Healthy Population.

Objective: The virtual reality (VR)-based path integration task shows substantial promise in predicting dementia risk. However, the reliability and validity in healthy populations need further exploration. The present study investigates the relationship between task indicators and brain structures in a healthy population using a VR-based navigation task, particularly the entorhinal cortex (EC) and hippocampus.

Short-Term Exposure to MPs and DEHP Disrupted Gill Functions in Marine Bivalves.

The synergistic impact of microplastics (MPs) and organic pollutants remains poorly understood in the marine environment. This study aimed to assess the toxicity of polypropylene microplastics (PS) and/or di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) on marine clams. Both and were exposed to PS and DEHP individually and combined at environmentally relevant concentrations for 48 h.

Automatic detection of indoor occupancy based on improved YOLOv5 model.

Indoor occupancy detection is essential for energy efficiency control and Coronavirus Disease 2019 traceability. The number and location of people can be accurately identified and determined through classroom surveillance video analysis. This information is used to manage environmental equipment such as HVAC and lighting systems to reduce energy use.

Collaborative evolution of regional green innovation system under the influence of high-speed rail based on Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction.

As a green transportation mode and carrying factors with high knowledge-intensive characteristics, high-speed rail (HSR) has contributed to the improvement of regional green innovation. However, the relationship between HSR and regional green innovation is still limited. Based on the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (B-Z) reaction model, this study establishes a three-dimensional logistic dynamic evolution model for factor flow, knowledge spillover and green innovation performance.