In this study, an internal fingerprint-guided epidermal thickness of fingertip skin is proposed for optical image encryption based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) combined with U-Net ...architecture of a convolutional neural network (CNN). The epidermal thickness of fingertip skin is calculated by the distance between the upper and lower boundaries of the epidermal layer in cross-sectional optical coherence tomography (OCT) images, which is segmented using CNN, and the internal fingerprint at the epidermis-dermis junction (DEJ) is extracted based on the maximum intensity projection (MIP) algorithm. The experimental results indicate that the internal fingerprint-guided epidermal thickness is insensitive to pressure due to normal correlation coefficients and the encryption process between epidermal thickness maps of fingertip skin under different pressures. In addition, the result of the numerical simulation demonstrates the feasibility and security of the encryption scheme by structural similarity index matrix (SSIM) analysis between the original image and the recovered image with the correct and error keys decryption, respectively. The robustness is analyzed based on the SSIM value in three aspects: different pressures, noise attacks, and data loss. Key randomness is valid by the gray histograms, and the average correlation coefficients of adjacent pixelated values in three directions and the average entropy were calculated. This study suggests that the epidermal thickness of fingertip skin could be seen as important biometric information for information encryption.
Efficient exogenous DNA integration can be mediated by Cas9 through the non-homology end-joining pathway. However, such integrations are often imprecise and contain a variety of mutations at the ...junctions between the external DNA and the genomic loci. Here we describe a microhomology-dependent targeted integration method, designated MITI, for precise site-specific gene insertions. We found that the MITI strategy yielded higher knock-in accuracy than Cas9 HITI for the insertion of external DNA and tagging endogenous genes. Furthermore, in combination with negative selection and four different CrRNAs targeting donor vectors and genome-targeted sites with a CrRNA array, MITI facilitated precise ligation at all junctions. Therefore, our Cas12a-based MITI method increases the repertoire of precision genome engineering approaches and provides a useful tool for various gene editing applications.
Phosphate is one of the essential mineral nutrients. Phosphate transporter genes (PHTs) play an important role in Pi acquisition and homeostasis in tomato plants. However, basic biological ...information on PHT genes and their responses of symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal in the genome remains largely unknown. We analyzed the physiological changes and PHT gene expression in tomatoes (
) inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (
) under different phosphate conditions (P1: 0 µM, P2: 25 µM, and P3: 200 µM Pi). Twenty-three PHT genes were identified in the tomato genomics database. Protein sequence alignment further divided the 23 PHT genes into three groups, with similar classifications of exons and introns. Good colonization of plants was observed under low phosphate conditions (25 µM Pi), and Pi stress and AM fungi significantly affected P and N accumulation and root morphological plasticity. Moreover, gene expression data showed that genes in the SlPHT1 (
,
, and
) gene family were upregulated by
under all conditions, which indicated that these gene levels were significantly increased with AM fungi inoculation. None of the analyzed SlPHT genes in the SlPH2, SlPHT3, SlPHT4, and SlPHO gene families were changed at any Pi concentration. Our results indicate that inoculation with AM fungi mainly altered the expression of the PHT1 gene family. These results will lay a foundation for better understanding the molecular mechanisms of inorganic phosphate transport under AM fungi inoculation.
To determine the appropriateness of three widely used formulas estimating 24-h urinary Na (24hUNa) from spot urine samples in the Chinese population.
Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Literature ...review was conducted to identify studies for estimating 24hUNa using the Kawasaki, Tanaka and INTERSALT formulas simultaneously in PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane library databases. The mean difference (MD) and correlation coefficients (r) between measures and estimates from different formulas were assessed.
Information extraction and quality assessment were performed in thirteen studies involving 8369 subjects.
Two studies which affected the overall robustness were excluded in the 'leave-one-out' sensitivity analyses. Within the final meta-analysis included eleven studies and 7197 participants, 36·07 mmol/d (95 %CI 16·89, 55·25) of MD was observed in the Kawasaki formula, and -19·62 mmol/d (95 %CI -37·37, -1·87) in the Tanaka formula and -35·78 mmol/d (95 %CI -50·76, -20·80) in the INTERSALT formula; a pooled r-Fisher's
of 0·39 (95 %CI 0·32, 0·45) in the Kawasaki formula, 0·43 (95 %CI 0·37, 0·49) in the Tanaka formula and 0·36 (95 %CI 0·31, 0·42) in the INTERSALT formula. Subgroup analyses were conducted to explore the possible factors affecting the accuracy of the formula estimation from three mainly aspects: population types, Na intake levels and urine specimen types.
The meta-analysis suggested that the Tanaka formula performed a more accurate estimate in Chinese population. Time of collecting spot urine specimens and Na intake level of the sample population might be the main factors affecting the accuracy of the formula estimation.
A boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dye containing a styryl substituent with a hydroxyl and nitro group, 1a, exhibits a 'turn-on' fluorescence response for hypoxic cells. The presence of the ...electron-withdrawing nitro group results in a highly efficient nonradiative decay of the S1 state, and hence a recovery of fluorescence intensity when nitro reduction occurs under hypoxic conditions.
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most lethal type of stroke, but there is no specific treatment. After years of effort, neurologists have found that hematoma expansion (HE) is a vital predictor ...of poor prognosis in ICH patients, with a not uncommon incidence ranging widely from 13 to 38%. Herein, the progress of studies on HE after ICH in recent years is updated, and the topics of definition, prevalence, risk factors, prediction score models, mechanisms, treatment, and prospects of HE are covered in this review. The risk factors and prediction score models, including clinical, imaging, and laboratory characteristics, are elaborated in detail, but limited by sensitivity, specificity, and inconvenience to clinical practice. The management of HE is also discussed from bench work to bed practice. However, the upmost problem at present is that there is no treatment for HE proven to definitely improve clinical outcomes. Further studies are needed to identify more accurate predictors and effective treatment to reduce HE.Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most lethal type of stroke, but there is no specific treatment. After years of effort, neurologists have found that hematoma expansion (HE) is a vital predictor of poor prognosis in ICH patients, with a not uncommon incidence ranging widely from 13 to 38%. Herein, the progress of studies on HE after ICH in recent years is updated, and the topics of definition, prevalence, risk factors, prediction score models, mechanisms, treatment, and prospects of HE are covered in this review. The risk factors and prediction score models, including clinical, imaging, and laboratory characteristics, are elaborated in detail, but limited by sensitivity, specificity, and inconvenience to clinical practice. The management of HE is also discussed from bench work to bed practice. However, the upmost problem at present is that there is no treatment for HE proven to definitely improve clinical outcomes. Further studies are needed to identify more accurate predictors and effective treatment to reduce HE.
Wall-associated kinases (WAK), one of the receptor-like kinases (RLK), function directly in the connection and communication between the plant cell wall and the cytoplasm. WAK genes are highly ...conserved and have been identified in plants, such as rice, but there is little research on the WAK gene family in cotton.
In the present study, we identified 29 GhWAK genes in Gossypium hirsutum. Phylogenetic analysis showed that cotton WAK proteins can be divided into five clades. The results of synteny and Ka/Ks analysis showed that the GhWAK genes mainly originated from whole genome duplication (WGD) and were then mainly under purifying selection. Transcriptome data and real-time PCR showed that 97% of GhWAK genes highly expressed in cotton fibers and ovules. β-glucuronidase (GUS) staining assays showed that GhWAK5 and GhWAK16 expressed in Arabidopsis leaf trichomes. Fourteen GhWAK genes were found to possess putative gibberellin (GA) response elements in the promoter regions, 13 of which were significantly induced by GA treatment. Ten GhWAK genes contained auxin (IAA) response elements and the expression level of nine GhWAKs significantly increased under auxin treatment.
We provide a preliminary analysis of the WAK gene family in G. hirsutum, which sheds light on the potantial roles of GhWAK genes in cotton fiber cell development. Our data also provides a useful resource for future studies on the functional roles of GhWAK genes.
Helicobacter pylori
(
H. pylori
) infection is the strongest causative factor of gastric cancer. Growing evidence suggests that the complex crosstalk of
H. pylori
and the tumor microenvironment (TME) ...exerts a profound influence on gastric cancer progression. Hence, there is emerging interest to in-depth comprehension of the mechanisms of interplay between
H. pylori
and the TME. This review discusses the regulatory mechanisms underlying the crosstalk between
H. pylori
infection and immune and stromal cells, including tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), neutrophils, dendritic cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), natural killer (NK) cells, B and T cells, cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), within the TME. Such knowledge will deepen the understanding about the roles of
H. pylori
in the immune evasion mechanism in gastric cancer and contribute to the development of more effective treatment regimens against
H. pylori
-induced gastric cancer.
In speaking assessment, many factors such as characteristics of test-takers, test tasks, rating bias, etc. may affect the speaking performance of test-takers. Besides, the stability of raters' rating ...of a speaking test might pose a threat to its reliability, validity, and fairness, which calls for longitudinal construct validation of the speaking test. This study explores the construct validity of PRETCO-Oral through analysis of data retrieved from various sources, including longitudinal ratings of performances of test-takers across four occasions, and perceptions of the construct of PRETCO-Oral from both raters and test-takers. The results indicate that raters' ratings keep stable and the PRETCO-Oral assessment is equipped with longitudinal reliability; tasks of Interpretation and Presentation represent a large amount of variance of the construct, while those of Reading Aloud and Question and Answer seem to be construct-underrepresented, as evidenced via analyzing the data collected from perceptions of raters and test-takers upon the test construct. Finally, factors that threaten the construct representation are also discussed.
Growing evidence shows plants are at risks of exposure to various per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), however the phytotoxicity induced by these compounds remains largely unknown on the ...molecular scale. Here, lettuce exposed to both perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) at different concentrations (500, 1000, 2000 and 5000 ng/L) in hydroponic media was investigated via metabolomics. Under the co-exposure conditions, the growth and biomass were not affected by PFOA and PFOS, but metabolic profiles of mineral elements and organic compounds in lettuce leaves were significantly altered. The contents of Na, Mg, Cu, Fe, Ca and Mo were decreased 1.8%–47.8%, but Zn was increased 7.4%–24.2%. The metabolisms of amino acids and peptides, fatty acids and lipids were down-regulated in a dose-dependent manner, while purine and purine nucleosides were up-regulated, exhibiting the stress response to PFOA and PFOS co-exposure. The reduced amounts of phytol (14.8%–77.0%) and abscisic acid (60.7%–73.8%) indicated the alterations in photosynthesis and signal transduction. The metabolism of (poly)phenol, involved in shikimate-phenylpropanoid pathway and flavonoid branch pathway, was strengthened, to cope with the stress of PFASs. As the final metabolites of (poly)phenol biosynthesis, the abundance of various antioxidants was changed. This study offers comprehensive insight of plant response to PFAS co-exposure and enhances the understanding in detoxifying mechanisms.
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•Metabolism of minerals in plants under PFASs exposure was reported.•Molecule phytotoxicity of PFOA and PFOS co-exposure was studied via metabolomics.•Chloroplast was damaged under co-exposure to PFOA and PFOS.•Plant (poly)phenol biosynthesis under PFAS exposure was firstly investigated.
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