Plant diurnal oscillation is a 24-hour period based variation. The correlation between diurnal genes and biological pathways was widely revealed by microarray analysis in different species. Rice (Oryza sativa) is the major food staple for about half of the world's population. The rice flag leaf is essential in providing photosynthates to the grain filling. However, there is still no comprehensive view about the diurnal transcriptome for rice leaves. In this study, we applied rice microarray to monitor the rhythmically expressed genes in rice seedling and flag leaves. We developed a new computational analysis approach and identified 6,266 (10.96%) diurnal probe sets in seedling leaves, 13,773 (24.08%) diurnal probe sets in flag leaves. About 65% of overall transcription factors were identified as flag leaf preferred. In seedling leaves, the peak of phase distribution was from 2:00am to 4:00am, whereas in flag leaves, the peak was from 8:00pm to 2:00am. The diurnal phase distribution analysis of gene ontology (GO) and cis-element enrichment indicated that, some important processes were waken by the light, such as photosynthesis and abiotic stimulus, while some genes related to the nuclear and ribosome involved processes were active mostly during the switch time of light to dark. The starch and sucrose metabolism pathway genes also showed diurnal phase. We conducted comparison analysis between Arabidopsis and rice leaf transcriptome throughout the diurnal cycle. In summary, our analysis approach is feasible for relatively unbiased identification of diurnal transcripts, efficiently detecting some special periodic patterns with non-sinusoidal periodic patterns. Compared to the rice flag leaves, the gene transcription levels of seedling leaves were relatively limited to the diurnal rhythm. Our comprehensive microarray analysis of seedling and flag leaves of rice provided an overview of the rice diurnal transcriptome and indicated some diurnal regulated biological processes and key functional pathways in rice.

This study was designed to assess whether MC4R signaling existed in vestibular nuclei modulated the activity of kidney by a virally mediated transsynaptic tracing study. Pseudorabies virus (PRV)-614 was injected into the kidney in adult male MC4R-green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mice (n = 5). After a survival time of 5 days, the mice were assigned to humanely sacrifice, and the brainstem were removed and sectioned, and processed for PRV-614 visualization. The neurochemical phenotype of MC4R-GFP-positive neurons was identified using fluorescence immunocytochemical labeling. PRV-614/MC4R-GFP dual labeled neurons were detected in medial vestibular nuclei. Our findings support the hypothesis that there exist melanocortinergic circuits from medial vestibular nuclei to the kidney.

Mutations in proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 (PRRT2) are a cause of paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD). In this study, we investigated the PRRT2 gene mutation in a Chinese Han family with PKD and study the pathogenesis of the mutation with PRRT2 gene.

Tooth development is a complex process that involves precise and time-dependent orchestration of multiple genetic, molecular, and cellular interactions. Ameloblastin (AMBN, also named "amelin" or "sheathlin") is the second most abundant enamel matrix protein known to have a key role in amelogenesis. Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI [MIM: 104500]) refers to a genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous group of conditions characterized by inherited developmental enamel defects. The hereditary dentin disorders comprise a variety of autosomal-dominant genetic symptoms characterized by abnormal dentin structure affecting either the primary or both the primary and secondary teeth. The vital role of Ambn in amelogenesis has been confirmed experimentally using mouse models. Only two cases have been reported of mutations of AMBN associated with non-syndromic human AI. However, no AMBN missense mutations have been reported to be associated with both human AI and dentin disorders. We recruited one kindred with autosomal-dominant amelogenesis imperfecta (ADAI) and dentinogenesis imperfecta/dysplasia characterized by generalized severe enamel and dentin defects. Whole exome sequencing of the proband identified a novel heterozygous C-T point mutation at nucleotide position 1069 of the AMBN gene, causing a Pro to Ser mutation at the conserved amino acid position 357 of the protein. Exfoliated third molar teeth from the affected family members were found to have enamel and dentin of lower mineral density than control teeth, with thinner and easily fractured enamel, short and thick roots, and pulp obliteration. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that an AMBN missense mutation causes non-syndromic human AI and dentin disorders.

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a chronic disease, resulting in severe syndromes such as sneezing, itching, nasal blockage, and rhinorrhea. The major medications treating AR cause side effects, while thunder fire moxibustion (TFM) is known as a safe and effective treatment for AR. Thus, this systematic review and meta analysis aims to systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of TFM in the treatment of AR.

Multiple randomized controlled trials have shown that acupuncture (ACU) work well in the treating mammary gland hyperplasia, which has been widely used in hospitals of China. Although the choices of ACU treatments varies in practice, most are based on experience or preference. Therefore, we outline a plan to assess and rank the efficacy of the various ACU methods to formulate a prioritized regimen for mammary gland hyperplasia in ACU therapy.

Diabetes significantly induces cognitive dysfunction. Neuronal apoptosis is the main cause of diabetes-induced cognitive decline (DICD). Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress are remarkably activated by diabetes. The role and relationship of ASK1-JNK1/2 signaling and ER stress in DICD have not yet been elucidated. In this study, we used db/db mice as the DICD animal model and confirmed that db/db mice displayed cognitive decline with inferior learning and memory function. Diabetes significantly induced morphological and structural changes, excessive neuronal apoptosis, Aβ1 - 42 large deposition, and synaptic dysfunction in the hippocampus. Mechanistic studies found that diabetes significantly triggered ASK1-JNK1/2 signaling activation and increased ER stress in the hippocampus. Moreover, diabetes enhanced the formation of the IRE1α-TRAF2-ASK1 complex, which promotes the crosstalk of ER stress and the ASK1-JNK1/2 pathway during DICD. Furthermore, 4-PBA treatment blocked high glucose (HG)-induced ASK1-JNK1/2 signaling activation, and excessive apoptosis in vitro. Inhibiting ASK1 via siRNA remarkably ameliorated the HG-induced increase in p-IRE1α and associated apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells, suggesting that ASK1 is essential for the assembly and function of the proapoptotic kinase activity of the IRE1α signalosome. In summary, ER stress and ASK1-JNK1/2 signaling play causal roles in DICD development, which has crosstalk through the formation of the IRE1α-TRAF2-ASK1 complex.

Severe blockage in myeloid differentiation is the hallmark of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Trdmt1 plays an important role in hematopoiesis. However, little is known about the function of Trdmt1 in AML cell differentiation. In the present study, Trdmt1 was up-regulated and miR-181a was down-regulated significantly during human leukemia HL-60 cell differentiation after TAT-CT3 fusion protein treatment. Accordingly, miR-181a overexpression in HL-60 cells inhibited granulocytic maturation. In addition, our "rescue" assay demonstrated that Trdmt1 3'-untranslated region promoted myeloid differentiation of HL-60 cells by sequestering miR-181a and up-regulating C/EBPα (a critical factor for normal myelopoiesis) via its competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) activity on miR-181a. These findings revealed an unrecognized role of Trdmt1 as a potential ceRNA for therapeutic targets in AML.

Up-regulation of Uridine-cytidine kinase 2 (UCK2), a rate-limiting enzyme of the pyrimidine salvage pathway, has been suggested in HCC, but the detailed molecular mechanisms and therapic role of UCK2 remain elusive. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that UCK2 might be a key up-regulated metabolic gene in HCCs. The expressional pattern and prognostic value of UCK2 were further examined in a large number of clinical samples. Functional assays based on site-directed mutagenesis showed that UCK2 promoted cell proliferation in a metabolic manner, but non-catalytically facilitates HCC metastasis. Mechanistically, in response to EGF, UCK2 interacted with EGFR to block EGF-induced EGFR ubiquitination and degradation, which resulted in elevated EGFR-AKT pathway activation and metastasis enhancement in HCCs. Concurrent pharmacological targeting on UCK2 and EGFR showed synergistic effects on HCC treatment. This study disclosed the non-metabolic role of UCK2 and suggested the therapeutic potential of concurrent blocking the metabolic and non-metabolic roles of UCK2 in HCC treatment.

Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a chronic systemic pain disorder. Among the common treatments, moxibustion has an irreplaceable therapeutic effect and is an effective Traditional Chinese Medicine therapy for MPS. However, the lack of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) has prompted the publication of guidelines on the use of moxibustion in the treatment of MPS.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common sensory disorder of the nervous system, which often affects the sleep quality of patients. Acupuncture and related techniques are increasingly used to treat neurological diseases, but their efficacy and safety for RLS are yet to be established. The purpose of this study is to summarize the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture and related techniques for RLS.

Transcriptional memory allows certain genes to respond to previously experienced signals more robustly. However, whether and how the key proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α mediates transcriptional memory are poorly understood. Using HEK293F cells as a model system, we report that sustained TNF-α stimulation induces transcriptional memory dependent on TET enzymes. The hypomethylated status of transcriptional regulatory regions can be inherited, facilitating NF-κB binding and more robust subsequent activation. A high initial methylation level and CpG density around κB sites are correlated with the functional potential of transcriptional memory modules. Interestingly, the CALCB gene, encoding the proven migraine therapeutic target CGRP, exhibits the best transcriptional memory. A neighboring primate-specific endogenous retrovirus stimulates more rapid, more strong, and at least 100-fold more sensitive CALCB induction in subsequent TNF-α stimulation. Our study reveals that TNF-α-mediated transcriptional memory is governed by active DNA demethylation and greatly sensitizes memory genes to much lower doses of inflammatory cues.

For the time-consuming and stressful body measuring task of Qinchuan cattle and farmers, the demand for the automatic measurement of body dimensions has become more and more urgent. It is necessary to explore automatic measurements with deep learning to improve breeding efficiency and promote the development of industry. In this paper, a novel approach to measuring the body dimensions of live Qinchuan cattle with on transfer learning is proposed. Deep learning of the Kd-network was trained with classical three-dimensional (3D) point cloud datasets (PCD) of the ShapeNet datasets. After a series of processes of PCD sensed by the light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor, the cattle silhouettes could be extracted, which after augmentation could be applied as an input layer to the Kd-network. With the output of a convolutional layer of the trained deep model, the output layer of the deep model could be applied to pre-train the full connection network. The TrAdaBoost algorithm was employed to transfer the pre-trained convolutional layer and full connection of the deep model. To classify and recognize the PCD of the cattle silhouette, the average accuracy rate after training with transfer learning could reach up to 93.6%. On the basis of silhouette extraction, the candidate region of the feature surface shape could be extracted with mean curvature and Gaussian curvature. After the computation of the FPFH (fast point feature histogram) of the surface shape, the center of the feature surface could be recognized and the body dimensions of the cattle could finally be calculated. The experimental results showed that the comprehensive error of body dimensions was close to 2%, which could provide a feasible approach to the non-contact observations of the bodies of large physique livestock without any human intervention.

An efficient electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding paper with excellent water repellency and mechanical flexibility has been developed, by assembling silver nanowires (AgNWs) and hydrophobic inorganic ceramic on the cellulose paper, via a facile dip-coating preparation. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations confirmed that AgNWs were interconnected and densely coated on both sides of the cellulose fiber, which endows the as-prepared paper with high conductivity (33.69 S/cm in-plane direction) at a low AgNW area density of 0.13 mg/cm2. Owing to multiple reflections and scattering between the two outer highly conductive surfaces, the obtained composite presented a high EMI shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of up to 46 dB against the X band, and ultrahigh specific EMI SE of 271.2 dB mm-1. Moreover, the prepared hydrophobic AgNW/cellulose (H-AgNW/cellulose) composite paper could also maintain high EMI SE and extraordinary waterproofness (water contact angle > 140°) by suffering dozens of bending tests or one thousand peeling tests. Overall, such a multifunctional paper might have practical applications in packaging conductive components and can be used as EMI shielding elements in advanced application areas, even under harsh conditions.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an epithelial cancer and has high death and recurrence rates, current methods cannot satisfy the need for predicting cancer relapse effectively. So, we aimed at conducting a multi-mRNA signature to improve the relapse prediction of CCA. We analyzed mRNA expression profiling in large CCA cohorts from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database (GSE76297, GSE32879, GSE26566, GSE31370, and GSE45001) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model was used to establish a 7-mRNA-based signature that was significantly related to the recurrence-free survival (RFS) in two test series. Based on the 7-mRNA signature, the cohort TCGA patients could be divided into high-risk or low-risk subgroups with significantly different RFS [p < 0.001, hazard ratio (HR): 48.886, 95% confidence interval (CI): 6.226-3.837E+02]. Simultaneously, the prognostic value of the 7-mRNA signature was confirmed in clinical samples of Ren Ji hospital (p < 0.001, HR: 4.558, 95% CI: 1.829-11.357). Further analysis including multivariable and sub-group analyses revealed that the 7-mRNA signature was an independent prognostic value for recurrence of patients with CCA. In conclusion, our results might provide an efficient tool for relapse prediction and were beneficial to individualized management for CCA patients.

Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is a common gynecological disease, it refers to spasmodic pain in the lower abdomen before, after or during menstruation, accompanied by general discomfort, In severe cases, fainting may occur due to severe pain, reducing the quality of patients' life and imposing a heavy burden on social medical security system. There are many ways to treat primary dysmenorrhea, including western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine. Moxibustion is one of the traditional Chinese medicine treatments for primary dysmenorrhea, especially popular in China. Therefore, our overview aims at evaluating the methodological bias and the reliability of the conclusions of systematic reviews (SRs) about moxibustion for primary dysmenorrhoea, and help clinical decision makers translate this research into clinical policy and practice.

The purpose of this meta-analysis from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was to determine the efficacy and safety of the preoperative use of gabapentin for the treatment of acute and chronic postoperative pain following breast cancer surgery.

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, one of the major diseases infecting oilseed rape leaves, has seriously affected crop yield and quality. In this study, an indoor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) low-altitude remote sensing simulation platform was built for disease detection. Thermal, multispectral and RGB images were acquired before and after being artificially inoculated with Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on oilseed rape leaves. New image registration and fusion methods based on scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) were presented to construct a fused database using multi-model images. The changes of temperature distribution in different sections of infected areas were analyzed by processing thermal images, the maximum temperature difference (MTD) on a single leaf reached 1.7 degrees Celsius 24 h after infection. Four machine learning models were established using thermal images and fused images respectively, including support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), K-nearest neighbor (KNN) and naïve Bayes (NB). The results demonstrated that the classification accuracy was improved by 11.3% after image fusion, and the SVM model obtained a classification accuracy of 90.0% on the task of classifying disease severity. The overall results indicated the UAV low-altitude remote sensing simulation platform equipped with multi-sensors could be used to early detect Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on oilseed rape leaves.

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common allergic disorder worldwide. Western medicine is not optimistic about the therapeutic effect of this disease. However, moxibustion can enhance vital energy or immunity through a great number of clinical trials. Thus, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of indirect moxibustion for treating AR.

China quickly brought the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 under control during the early stage of 2020; thus, this generated sufficient confidence among the public, which enabled them to respond to several sporadic coronavirus disease 2019 outbreaks. This article presents geographical and epidemiological characteristics of several sporadic coronavirus disease 2019 outbreaks from June to December 2020 in China. The data show that the coronavirus disease may be transmitted by imported cold-chain food and international exchange, and this viewpoint deserves our great attention.