Summary
Background
Various trials have been conducted on the management of male pattern hair loss (MPHL), but the outcomes often seem to be limited. Adjuvant therapies are urgently needed.
Aim
To ...evaluate the efficacy and safety of combined fractional radiofrequency microneedling (FRM) and 5% topical minoxidil in the treatment of male pattern hair loss.
Methods
In total, 19 Chinese men were enrolled in this randomized, controlled, split‐scalp trial. Participants received monotherapy with 5% topical minoxidil twice daily to one half of the scalp, while on the other half of the scalp the treatment with twice‐daily 5% topical minoxidil was combined with five sessions of FRM at 4‐week intervals. Mean hair count and hair thickness, global assessment by the investigators, subject self‐assessment and adverse effects were assessed.
Results
After 5 months of treatment, mean hair count increased from 44.12 ± 21.58 to 73.14 ± 25.45 on the combined‐therapy side and from 46.22 ± 18.77 to 63.21 ± 19.22 on the monotherapy side, while mean hair thickness increased from 53 ± 13 μm to 71 ± 15 μm and from 52 ± 16 μm to 66 ± 14 μm, respectively. Compared with the monotherapy side, the combined‐therapy side had a higher degree of improvement in both hair count (P = 0.01) and hair thickness (P = 0.02).
Conclusions
Combined treatment with fractional radiofrequency microneedle and 5% topical minoxidil could be an effective and safe treatment option for male pattern hair loss.
RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful tool that is being increasingly utilized for crop protection against viruses, fungal pathogens, and insect pests. The non-transgenic approach of spray-induced ...gene silencing (SIGS), which relies on spray application of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) to induce RNAi, has come to prominence due to its safety and environmental benefits in addition to its wide host range and high target specificity. However, along with promising results in recent studies, several factors limiting SIGS RNAi efficiency have been recognized in insects and plants. While sprayed dsRNA on the plant surface can produce a robust RNAi response in some chewing insects, plant uptake and systemic movement of dsRNA is required for delivery to many other target organisms. For example, pests such as sucking insects require the presence of dsRNA in vascular tissues, while many fungal pathogens are predominately located in internal plant tissues. Investigating the mechanisms by which sprayed dsRNA enters and moves through plant tissues and understanding the barriers that may hinder this process are essential for developing efficient ways to deliver dsRNA into plant systems. In this review, we assess current knowledge of the plant foliar and cellular uptake of dsRNA molecules. We will also identify major barriers to uptake, including leaf morphological features as well as environmental factors, and address methods to overcome these barriers.
Severe weather and long-term driving of vehicles lead to various cracks on asphalt pavement. If these cracks cannot be found and repaired in time, it will have a negative impact on the safe driving ...of vehicles. Traditional artificial detection has some problems, such as low efficiency and missing detection. The detection model based on machine learning needs artificial design of pavement crack characteristics. According to the pavement distress identification manual proposed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), these categories have three different types of cracks, such as fatigue, longitudinal crack, and transverse cracks. In the face of many types of pavement cracks, it is difficult to design a general feature extraction model to extract pavement crack features, which leads to the poor effect of the automatic detection model based on machine learning. Object detection based on the deep learning model has achieved good results in many fields. As a result, those models have become possible for pavement crack detection. This paper discusses the latest YOLOv5 series detection model for pavement crack detection and is to find out an effective training and detection method. Firstly, the 3001 asphalt crack pavement images with the original size of 2976×3978 pixels are collected using a digital camera and are randomly divided into three types according to the severity levels of low, medium, and high. Then, for the dataset of crack pavement, YOLOv5 series models are used for training and testing. The experimental results show that the detection accuracy of the YOLOv5l model is the highest, reaching 88.1%, and the detection time of the YOLOv5s model is the shortest, only 11.1 ms for each image.
A simple polarization reconfigurable printed monopole antenna is proposed for wireless applications. Conducting strips are used to connect to the ground plane providing the necessary additional modes ...for circular polarization. Linear polarization, right-hand or left-hand circular polarization can be realized using only two PIN diodes, which connect to the ground plane, minimizing their effect on radiation characteristics. The mechanism is described, and key antenna parameters are studied and optimized. The antenna is prototyped and tested for all polarization configurations.
Widespread linkage disequilibrium and incomplete annotation of cell-to-cell state variation represent substantial challenges to elucidating mechanisms of trait-associated genetic variation. Here we ...perform genetic fine-mapping for blood cell traits in the UK Biobank to identify putative causal variants. These variants are enriched in genes encoding proteins in trait-relevant biological pathways and in accessible chromatin of hematopoietic progenitors. For regulatory variants, we explore patterns of developmental enhancer activity, predict molecular mechanisms, and identify likely target genes. In several instances, we localize multiple independent variants to the same regulatory element or gene. We further observe that variants with pleiotropic effects preferentially act in common progenitor populations to direct the production of distinct lineages. Finally, we leverage fine-mapped variants in conjunction with continuous epigenomic annotations to identify trait-cell type enrichments within closely related populations and in single cells. Our study provides a comprehensive framework for single-variant and single-cell analyses of genetic associations.
Summary
In this meta-analysis, evidence of an association between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and low-energy fractures has been evaluated including 12 observational studies. The results suggested ...that T2DM patients had an enhanced risk of low-energy fractures.
Introduction
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients have been shown to be at enhanced risk of fracture injury, but less is known about low-energy fractures among patients with T2DM.
Methods
We performed a meta-analysis of 12 observational studies identified in Medline and EMBASE that included 938,742 participants, including 30,827 low-energy fracture cases. The incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of low-energy fractures were determined using a random-effects model.
Results
The IRRs of low-energy fracture for men and women were 1.37 (95% confidence interval CI, 0.94–2.00;
p =
0.096) and 1.22 (95% CI, 1.09–1.35;
p
= 0.000), respectively, and the overall IRR was 1.23 (95% CI, 1.12–1.35;
p =
0.000). The IRRs for hip and vertebral fractures were 1.08 (95% CI, 1.02–1.15;
p
= 0
.007
) and 1.21 (95% CI, 0.98–1.48;
p
= 0.073), respectively. The IRRs of low-energy fracture in case-control, prospective, retrospective, and cross-sectional studies were 1.18 (95% CI, 0.81–1.72;
p
= 0.380), 1.17 (95% CI, 1.05–1.32,
p
= 0.006), 1.15 (95% CI, 1.02–1.29;
p
= 0.020), and 1.60 (95% CI, 1.21–2.12;
p
= 0.001), respectively. The IRRs of low-energy fracture for less than 5 years, 5 to 10 years, and more than 10 years were 1.30 (95%, CI 1.13–1.50;
p
= 0.000), 1.05 (95% CI, 1.03–1.08;
p
= 0.000), and 1.19 (95% CI, 1.00–1.41;
p
= 0.049), respectively.
Conclusions
Patients with T2DM had a greater risk of low-energy fracture especially of the hip, compared with that in non-diabetic subjects. However, since according to our funnel plot a publication bias may be present and due to study heterogeneity as well as the limited number of publications, the finding needs to be interpreted with caution.
Human erythropoiesis serves as a paradigm of physiologic cellular differentiation. This process is also of considerable interest for better understanding anemias and identifying new therapies. Here, ...we apply deep transcriptomic and accessible chromatin profiling to characterize a faithful ex vivo human erythroid differentiation system from hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. We reveal stage-specific transcriptional states and chromatin accessibility during various stages of erythropoiesis, including 14,260 differentially expressed genes and 63,659 variably accessible chromatin peaks. Our analysis suggests differentiation stage-predominant roles for specific master regulators, including GATA1 and KLF1. We integrate chromatin profiles with common and rare genetic variants associated with erythroid cell traits and diseases, finding that variants regulating different erythroid phenotypes likely act at variable points during differentiation. In addition, we identify a regulator of terminal erythropoiesis, TMCC2, more broadly illustrating the value of this comprehensive analysis to improve our understanding of erythropoiesis in health and disease.
Advances in Effects of Sound Waves on Plants Hassanien, Reda HE; HOU, Tian-zhen; LI, Yu-feng ...
Journal of Integrative Agriculture,
02/2014, Volume:
13, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Sound waves technology has been applied to different plants. It has been found that sound waves were at different frequencies, sound pressure levels （SPLs）, exposure periods, and distances from the ...source of sound influence plant growth. Experiments have been conducted in the open field and under greenhouse growing conditions with different levels of audible sound frequencies and sound pressure levels. Sound waves at 1 kHz and 100 dB for 1 h within a distance of 0.20 m could significantly promote the division and cell wall fluidity of callus cells and also significantly enhance the activity of protective enzymes and endogenous hormones. Sound waves stimulation could increase the plant plasma-membrane IT-ATPase activity, the contents of soluble sugar, soluble protein, and amylase activity of callus. Moreover, sound waves could increase the content of RNA and the level of transcription. Stress-induced genes could switch on under sound stimulation. Sound waves at 0.1-1 kHz and SPL of （70＋5） dB for 3 h from plant acoustic frequency technology （PAFT） generator within a distance ranged from 30 to 60 m every other day significantly increased the yield of sweet pepper, cucumber and tomato by 30.05, 37.1 and 13.2%, respectively. Furthermore, the yield of lettuce, spinach, cotton, rice, and wheat were increased by 19.6, 22.7, 11.4, 5.7, and 17.0%, respectively. Sound waves may also strengthen plant immune systems. It has been proved that spider mite, aphids, gray mold, late blight and virus disease of tomatoes in the greenhouses decreased by 6.0, 8.0, 9.0, 11.0, and 8.0%, respectively, and the sheath blight office was reduced by 50%. This paper provides an overview of literature for the effects of sound waves on various growth parameters of plant at different growth stages.
The soluble complexes formed between hydrolyzed soybean protein and calcium at pH 7.4 were investigated using dialysis, gel chromatography, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). The ...results demonstrate that the amount of calcium bound was significantly different for soybean protein hydrolysates obtained using the proteases neutrase, flavourzyme, protease M, and pepsin. Maximum levels of calcium binding (66.9 mg/g) occurred with hydrolysates produced using protease M. Peptide fragments exhibiting high calcium binding capacity had molecular weights of either 14.4 kDa or 8 to 9 kDa, and the calcium binding capacity was linearly correlated with carboxyl group content (R²= 0.8204). FTIR experiments revealed that upon binding calcium, the amide I band underwent a shift to lower wave numbers. A wide, intense Ca-O absorption band also appeared between 400 and 100 cm⁻¹ in the far-infrared spectrum. The width and intensity of this band increased after treatment of samples with glutaminase. The amount of bound calcium was related to both the molecular weight of the peptides and to the carboxyl group content, and the most likely sites for calcium binding are the carboxyl groups of Asp and Glu.
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