Reduced grain chalkiness and its possible physiological mechanism in transgenic rice overexpressing l-GalLDH

AbstractChalkiness is one of the key factors determining rice quality and price. Ascorbic acid (Asc) is a major plant antioxidant that performs many functions in plants. l-Galactono-1,4-lactone dehydrogenase (l-GalLDH, EC1.3.2.3) is an enzyme that catalyzes the final step of Asc biosynthesis in plants. Here we show that the l-GalLDH-overexpressing transgenic rice, GO-2, which has constitutively higher leaf Asc content than wild-type (WT) plants, exhibits significantly reduced grain chalkiness. Higher foliar ascorbate/dehydroascorbate (Asc/DHA) ratios at 40, 60, 80, and 100days of plant age were observed in GO-2. Further investigation showed that the enhanced level of Asc resulted in a significantly higher ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) protein level in GO-2 at 80days. In addition, levels of abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonic acid (JA) were lower in GO-2 at 60, 80, and 100days. The results we present here indicate that the enhanced level of Asc is likely responsible for changing redox homeostasis in key developmental stages associated with grain filling and alters grain chalkiness in the l-GalLDH-overexpressing transgenic by maintaining photosynthetic function and affecting phytohormones associated with grain filling

Functional Connectivity Density, Local Brain Spontaneous Activity, and Their Coupling Strengths in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder

In this study, combining degree centrality (DC) and fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF) analyses of resting state (rs)-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, we aimed to explore functional connectivity density, local brain spontaneous activity, and their coupling strengths in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Forty-three BPD patients and 39 demographically-matched controls underwent rs-fMRI after completing a series of psychological tests. Two-sample t-tests were performed to compare DC and fALFF between these two groups. Across-voxel correlation analysis was conducted to assess DC-fALFF coupling strengths in each group. Imaging parameters and psychological variables were correlated by Pearson correlation analysis in the BPD group. Altered DC and fALFF values in the BPD group, compared with the control group, were distributed mainly in default mode network (DMN), and DC-fALFF coupling strengths were decreased in the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and right precuneus in the BPD group. Additionally, insecure attachment scores correlated positively with left precuneus DC and negatively with fALFF of the right posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in the BPD group. These altered DC and fALFF findings indicate that the BPD patients had disturbed functional connectivity density and local spontaneous activity in the DMN compared with control subjects. Their decreased connectivity-amplitude coupling suggests that the left MTG and right precuneus may be functional impairment hubs in BPD. Disturbed rs function in the left precuneus and right PCC might underlie insecure attachment in BPD

Resting-State Default Mode Network Related Functional Connectivity Is Associated With Sustained Attention Deficits in Schizophrenia and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Background: Previous studies have indicated the resting-state default mode network (DMN) related connectivity serving as predictor of sustained attention performance in healthy people. Interestingly, sustained attention deficits as well as DMN-involved functional connectivity (FC) alterations are common in both patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) and with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Thus, the present study was designed to investigate whether the DMN related resting-state connectivity alterations in these two psychiatric disorders were neural correlates of their sustained attention impairments.Methods: The study included 17 SCZ patients, 35 OCD patients and 36 healthy controls (HCs). Sustained attention to response task was adopted to assess the sustained attention. Resting-state scan was administrated and seed-based whole-brain FC analyses were performed with seeds located in classical DMN regions including bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC).Results: Both SCZ and OCD patients had poorer sustained attention than HCs. Sustained attention deficits in OCD was negatively correlated with their impaired FC of right mPFC-left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) within DMN, and that in SCZ was significantly correlated with their altered FC of left mPFC-bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) which indicated interaction between DMN and salience network. In addition, the FC between left mPFC and right parietal lobe indicating the interaction between DMN and frontal-parietal network was correlated with sustained attention in both SCZ and OCD.Conclusion: These findings suggest the importance of DMN-involved connectivity, both within and between networks in underlying sustained attention deficits in OCD and SCZ. Results further support the potential of resting-state FC in complementing information for cognitive deficits in psychiatric disorders

An Improved Particle Swarm Optimization with Gaussian Disturbance

The particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a widely used tool for solving optimization problems in the field of engineering technology. However, PSO is likely to fall into local optimum, which has the disadvantages of slow convergence speed and low convergence precision. In view of the above shortcomings, a particle swarm optimization with Gaussian disturbance is proposed. With introducing the Gaussian disturbance in the self-cognition part and social cognition part of the algorithm, this method can improve the convergence speed and precision of the algorithm, which can also improve the ability of the algorithm to escape the local optimal solution. The algorithm is simulated by Griewank function after the several evolutionary modes of GDPSO algorithm are analyzed. The experimental results show that the convergence speed and the optimization precision of the GDPSO is better than that of PSO

COVID-19 vaccination of patients with chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease

Abstract Objective This study aimed to analyze the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines among patients with chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID) in China. Methods Participants who were diagnosed with a chronic IMID were eligible for inclusion in this study. Age- and sex-matched healthy vaccinated individuals were set as the control group. All participants received two doses of the inactivated CoronaVac vaccine or three doses of the recombinant protein subunit vaccine ZF2001. Adverse events, IMID activity after vaccination, and the rate of COVID-19 in the two groups were compared. Results There were 158 patients in the IMID group, with an average age of 40 ± 14 years old, and 98 female subjects. In the IMID group, 123 patients received the inactivated CoronaVac vaccine, and 35 patients received the recombinant protein subunit vaccine ZF2001. There were 153 individuals in the control group, including 122 who received the CoronaVac vaccine and 31 who received the recombinant protein subunit vaccine ZF2001. The frequency of vaccine-related adverse events in the IMID group was less than that in the control group, all of which were mild local effects, and no serious events occurred. Of note, no disease flares occurred in the IMID group. No participants in either group subsequently got COVID-19, so the incidence rate was 0% in both groups. Conclusion COVID-19 vaccination was found to be safe for IMID subjects, any adverse events were mild, and vaccination did not increase the risk of disease activity. Meanwhile, vaccination could effectively reduce the incidence of COVID-19 in IMID patients. In the future, studies with a larger sample size and a longer duration are needed

An Improved Particle Swarm Optimization with Gaussian Disturbance

The particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a widely used tool for solving optimization problems in the field of engineering technology. However, PSO is likely to fall into local optimum, which has the disadvantages of slow convergence speed and low convergence precision. In view of the above shortcomings, a particle swarm optimization with Gaussian disturbance is proposed. With introducing the Gaussian disturbance in the self-cognition part and social cognition part of the algorithm, this method can improve the convergence speed and precision of the algorithm, which can also improve the ability of the algorithm to escape the local optimal solution. The algorithm is simulated by Griewank function after the several evolutionary modes of GDPSO algorithm are analyzed. The experimental results show that the convergence speed and the optimization precision of the GDPSO is better than that of PSO

The complete chloroplast genome of Strobilanthes crispus (Acanthaceae)

We reported and characterized the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Strobilanthes crispus Blume 1826. Strobilanthes crispus belongs to the Acanthaceae family and has a number of local names including Batuzin, Bayam Karang, Kotz Bellin, and Pekka Batu, which is native to Malaysian with diverse beneficial uses. Green leaves were determined using next-generation sequencing. We found that the entire chloroplast genome of S. crispus was 144,987 bp in length, included four segments, named a large single-copy (LSC) region (92,556 bp), a small single-copy (SSC) region (17,783 bp), and a pair inverted repeat regions (IRs) (17,324 bp in each), respectively. The chloroplast genome of S. crispus contained a total of 129 functional genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), and eight ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The phylogenetic tree reconstructed by nine chloroplast genomes reveals that S. crispus is most closely related to Strobilanthes bantonensis and Strobilanthes cusia

Image_1_A prognostic and therapeutic hallmark developed by the integrated profile of basement membrane and immune infiltrative landscape in lung adenocarcinoma.pdf

Basement membranes (BMs) are specialised extracellular matrices that maintain cellular integrity and resist the breaching of carcinoma cells for metastases while regulating tumour immunity. The tumour immune microenvironment (TME) is essential for tumour growth and the response to and benefits from immunotherapy. In this study, the BM score and TME score were constructed based on the expression signatures of BM-related genes and the presence of immune cells in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), respectively. Subsequently, the BM-TME classifier was developed with the combination of BM score and TME score for accurate prognostic prediction. Further, Kaplan–Meier survival estimation, univariate Cox regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to cross-validate and elucidate the prognostic prediction value of the BM-TME classifier in several cohorts. Findings from functional annotation analysis suggested that the potential molecular regulatory mechanisms of the BM-TME classifier were closely related to the cell cycle, mitosis and DNA replication pathways. Additionally, the guiding value of the treatment strategy of the BM-TME classifier for LUAD was determined. Future clinical disease management may benefit from the findings of our research.</p

Surface-Based Functional Alterations in Early-Onset and Late-Onset Parkinson’s Disease: A Multi-Modal MRI Study

This study used a surface-based method to investigate brain functional alteration patterns in early-onset Parkinson’s disease (EOPD) and late-onset Parkinson’s disease (LOPD) to provide more reliable imaging indicators for the assessment of the two subtypes. A total of 58 patients with Parkinson’s disease were divided into two groups according to age at onset: EOPD (≤50 years; 16 males and 15 females) and LOPD (>50 years; 17 males and 10 females) groups. Two control groups were recruited from the community: young adults (YC; ≤50 years; 8 males and 19 females) and older adults (OC; >50 years; 12 males and 10 females). No significant differences were observed between the EOPD and YC groups or the LOPD and OC groups in terms of age, sex, education, and MMSE scores (p > 0.05). No statistically significant differences were observed between the EOPD and LOPD groups in terms of education, H-Y scale, UPDRS score, or HAMD score (p > 0.05). Data preprocessing and surface-based regional homogeneity (2D-ReHo) calculations were subsequently performed using the MATLAB-based DPABIsurf software. The EOPD group showed decreased 2D-ReHo values in the left premotor area and right dorsal stream visual cortex, along with increased 2D-ReHo values in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In patients with LOPD, 2D-ReHo values were decreased in bilateral somatosensory and motor areas and the right paracentral lobular and mid-cingulate. The imaging characterization of surface-based regional changes may serve useful as monitoring indicators and will help to better understand the mechanisms underlying divergent clinical presentations