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Fitness cost is a common phenomenon in rice blast disease-resistance breeding. MiR396 is a highly conserved microRNA (miRNA) family targeting Growth Regulating Factor ( OsGRF ) genes. Mutation at the target site of miR396 in certain OsGRF gene or blocking miR396 expression leads to increased grain yield. Here we demonstrated that fitness cost can be trade-off in miR396- OsGRF s module via balancing growth and immunity against the blast fungus. The accumulation of miR396 isoforms was significantly increased in a susceptible accession, but fluctuated in a resistant accession upon infection of Magnaporthe oryzae . The transgenic lines over-expressing different miR396 isoforms were highly susceptible to M. oryzae . In contrast, overexpressing target mimicry of miR396 to block its function led to enhanced resistance to M. oryzae in addition to improved yield traits. Moreover, transgenic plants overexpressing OsGRF6 , OsGRF7 , OsGRF8 , and OsGRF9 exhibited enhanced resistance to M. oryzae , but showed different alteration of growth. While overexpression of OsGRF7 led to defects in growth, overexpression of OsGRF6 , OsGRF8 , and OsGRF9 resulted in better or no significant change of yield traits. Collectively, our results indicate that miR396 negatively regulates rice blast disease- resistance via suppressing multiple OsGRF s, which in turn differentially control growth and yield. Therefore, miR396- OsGRFs could be a potential module to demolish fitness cost in rice blast disease-resistance breeding.

The present study aims to evaluate the relation between chronological age and the ratio of pulp volume (PV) to enamel volume (EV) of impacted mandibular third molars (IMTMs) by using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images and an improved 3D image segmentation technique. A sample of CBCT images of IMTM was collected from 414 northern Chinese subjects (214 male and 200 female clinical patients) ranging in age from 20 to 65 years. The GrowCut effect image segmentation (GCEIS) module algorithm was used to calculate the PV and EV from CBCT images. The total sample was divided into a training group and validation group in a ratio of 7 to 3. The PV/EV ratio (PEr) in the training sample was used to develop a mathematical formula for age estimation as follows: age = − 5.817–21.726 × Ln PEr (p < 0.0001) (Ln, natural logarithm). The mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) were used to determine the precision and accuracy of the mathematical formula in the validation group and all samples. The MAEs in the male, female, and pooled gender samples were 9.223, 7.722, and 8.41, respectively, and the RMSEs in the male, female, and pooled gender samples were 10.76, 9.58, and 9.986, respectively. The precise and accurate results indicate that the PEr of IMTM in CBCT images is a potential index for dental age estimation and is possible to be used in forensic medicine.

Mounting evidence shows that drug dependence involves the complex interplay between genetics and the environment. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine (DA) synthesis, which plays an essential role in the development of drug addiction. Noradrenergic dysfunction due to abnormalities TH expression has been implicated in the pathogenesis of drug addiction. We profiled thirteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and one VNTR (TCAT repeat, UniSTS:240,639) in 512 cases and 600 healthy Chinese subjects to evaluate the relationship between common variants within the TH gene and opioids dependence (OD) in the Chinese Han population. The single-marker analysis determined that rs10770141 ( p  < 0.001, OR 1.739, 95% CI 1.302 − 2.323) and rs10770140 ( p  = 0.002, OR 1.536, 95% CI 1.164 − 2.026) are risk variants for OD. The haplotype-association analyses determined that A–C–C–C was a risk factor ( p  = 0.006, OR 1.662, 95% CI 1.241 − 2.225) for OD. We also observed a significant association between (TACT) 9/9 and the duration of transition from the first time using opioids to the development of opioid dependence (DTFUD) ( p  = 0.002, OR 2.153, 95% CI 1.319 − 3.513). Taken together, this study suggests that TH gene polymorphisms may contribute to the risk of OD in the Chinese Han population.

A numerical model was developed to simulate the jet-flow solid fraction of W18Cr4 V high-speed steel during spray forming. The whole model comprises two submodels: one is an individual droplet model, which describes the motion and thermal behaviors of individual droplets on the basis of Newton’s laws of motion and the convection heat transfer mechanism; the other is a droplet distribution model, which is used to calculate the droplet size distribution. After being verified, the model was used to analyze the effects of parameters, including the initial gas velocity, deposition distance, superheat degree, and the ratio of gas-to-metal mass flow rates, on the jet-flow solid fraction. Finally, an equation to predict the jet-flow solid fraction directly and conveniently according to the parameters was presented. The values predicted by the equation show good agreement with those calculated by the numerical model.

Some effective antithyroid drugs (ATDs) have been widely used for patients with Graves’ disease (GD) but are associated with ATD-induced agranulocytosis. We selected 29 ATD-induced agranulocytosis patients, 44 ATD-induced neutropenia patients, and 140 GD controls among the Chinese Han population who were recruited at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiao Tong University. We assessed their response to ATDs treatment by performing genotyping for a candidate gene association study of samples from patients receiving treatment. Human flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3), which is the major hepatic enzyme involved in the production of N-oxide of trimethylamine, catalyzes the oxygenation of a variety of drug compounds. Six single SNP, genotype, haplotype (HAP), and association analyses of the FMO3 gene with ATD-induced agranulocytosis/neutropenia under different models (i.e., additive, dominant, and recessive models) were performed. Rs1736557, which caused an amino acid variation V257M, showed a strong association between ATD-induced agranulocytosis and GD controls after Bonferroni correction (p = 0.011, OR 2.301, 95% CI 1.201–4.409). The presence of HAP 3 (HAP3) in the FMO3 gene HAP was statistically associated with ATD-induced agranulocytosis (p = 0.038, permutation p value). Our findings indicate that genetic variations in the FMO3 gene are associated with the response to ATDs maintenance treatment in ATD-induced agranulocytosis patients of Chinese Han population.

This paper presents an optimized 64-bit parallel adder. Sparse-tree architecture enables low carry-merge fan-outs and inter-stage wiring complexity. Single-rail and semi-dynamic circuit improves operation speed. Simulation results show that the proposed adder can operate at 485ps with power of 25.6mW in 0.18μm CMOS process. It achieves the goal of higher speed and lower power.

This paper proposes a tractor hydraulic lighten testing system based on OPC technology. OPC technology is well applied to Tractor Hydraulic Lighten Testing System. The host computer can directly communicate with PLC and AD module through OPC technology.The control circuit is greatly simplified, the entire experiments can be completed on PC.The operation is convenient; the system is reliable;the program is easy to debug;test types can choose automatic or manual mode.The actual test results show that the performance of device is stable and reliable.The automation degree of the test system is greatly improved, and the labor intensity of operators is greatly reduced.

This study aims to compare brain activity differences under the motor imagery-brain-computer interface (MI-BCI), motor imagery (MI), and resting (REST) paradigms through EEG microstate and functional connectivity (FC) analysis, providing a theoretical basis for applying MI-BCI in the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy (CP). This study included 30 subjects aged 4–6 years with GMFCS II-III grade, diagnosed with CP and classified as spastic diplegia. They sequentially completed EEG signal acquisition under REST, MI, and MI-BCI conditions. Clustering analysis was used to analyze EEG microstates and extract EEG microstate temporal parameters. Additionally, the strength of brain FC in different frequency bands was analyzed to compare the differences under various conditions. Four microstate classes (A-D) were identified to best explain the datasets of three groups. Compared to REST, the average duration and coverage rate of microstate D under MI and MI-BCI significantly increased ( P  < 0.05), while their frequency and the coverage rate and frequency of microstate A decreased. Compared to MI, the average duration of microstate C under MI-BCI significantly decreased ( P  < 0.05), while the frequency of microstate B significantly increased ( P  < 0.05). Additionally, the transition probability results showed that other microstates under REST had a higher transition probability to microstate A, while under MI and MI-BCI, other microstates had a higher transition probability to microstate D. The brain network results revealed significant differences in brain network connectivity among REST, MI, and MI-BCI across different frequency bands. No FC differences were found between REST, MI, and MI-BCI in the α2 frequency band. In the δ and γ frequency bands, MI and MI-BCI both had greater inter-electrode connectivity strength than REST. In the θ frequency band, REST had greater inter-electrode connectivity strength than MI-BCI, while MI-BCI had greater inter-electrode connectivity strength than both REST and MI. In the α1 frequency band, MI-BCI had greater inter-electrode connectivity strength than REST, and in the β frequency band, MI-BCI had greater inter-electrode connectivity strength than MI. MI-BCI can significantly alter the brain activity patterns of children with CP, particularly by enhancing the activity intensity of EEG microstates related to attention, motor planning, and execution, as well as the brain FC strength in different frequency bands. It holds high application value in the lower limb motor rehabilitation of children with CP.

A numerical model was developed to simulate the jet-flow solid fraction of W18Cr4V high-speed steel during spray forming. The whole model comprises two submodels: one is an individual droplet model, which describes the motion and thermal behaviors of individual droplets on the basis of Newton’s laws of motion and the convection heat transfer mechanism; the other is a droplet distribution model, which is used to calculate the droplet size distribution. After being verified, the model was used to analyze the effects of parameters, including the initial gas velocity, deposition distance, superheat degree, and the ratio of gas-to-metal mass flow rates, on the jet-flow solid fraction. Finally, an equation to predict the jet-flow solid fraction directly and conveniently according to the parameters was presented. The values predicted by the equation show good agreement with those calculated by the numerical model.

Fitness cost is a common phenomenon in rice blast disease-resistance breeding. MiR396 is a highly conserved microRNA (miRNA) family targeting ( ) genes. Mutation at the target site of miR396 in certain gene or blocking miR396 expression leads to increased grain yield. Here we demonstrated that fitness cost can be trade-off in miR396- s module via balancing growth and immunity against the blast fungus. The accumulation of miR396 isoforms was significantly increased in a susceptible accession, but fluctuated in a resistant accession upon infection of . The transgenic lines over-expressing different miR396 isoforms were highly susceptible to . In contrast, overexpressing target mimicry of miR396 to block its function led to enhanced resistance to in addition to improved yield traits. Moreover, transgenic plants overexpressing , , , and exhibited enhanced resistance to , but showed different alteration of growth. While overexpression of led to defects in growth, overexpression of , , and resulted in better or no significant change of yield traits. Collectively, our results indicate that miR396 negatively regulates rice blast disease- resistance via suppressing multiple s, which in turn differentially control growth and yield. Therefore, miR396- could be a potential module to demolish fitness cost in rice blast disease-resistance breeding.