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The repression of transposons by the Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway is essential to protect animal germ cells. In Drosophila , Panoramix enforces transcriptional silencing by binding to the target-engaged Piwi–piRNA complex, although the precise mechanisms by which this occurs remain elusive. Here, we show that Panoramix functions together with a germline-specific paralogue of a nuclear export factor, dNxf2, and its cofactor dNxt1 (p15), to suppress transposon expression. The transposon RNA-binding protein dNxf2 is required for animal fertility and Panoramix-mediated silencing. Transient tethering of dNxf2 to nascent transcripts leads to their nuclear retention. The NTF2 domain of dNxf2 competes dNxf1 (TAP) off nucleoporins, a process required for proper RNA export. Thus, dNxf2 functions in a Panoramix–dNxf2-dependent TAP/p15 silencing (Pandas) complex that counteracts the canonical RNA exporting machinery and restricts transposons to the nuclear peripheries. Our findings may have broader implications for understanding how RNA metabolism modulates heterochromatin formation. Zhao et al. identify an unexpected role of the nuclear export factor Nxf2 as a partner of Panoramix in mediating piRNA-guided silencing. Nxf2 counteracts Nxf1-centred nuclear RNA transport to prevent the export of transposon transcripts.

Background To compare the accuracy of non-contact tonometry, Pentacam, and corneal visualization Scheimpflug technology (Corvis ST) for the measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) or femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) surgery. Methods A total of 49 patients (98 eyes) undergoing FS-LASIK or SMILE surgery at West China Hospital, Sichuan University from January to March 2021 were enrolled in this prospective, comparative, self-controlled study. IOP values were measured with non-contact tonometer, Pentacam, and Corvis ST before surgery and 1 month after surgery. Pentacam-derived postoperative IOP values were corrected using five correction formulas (Ehlers, Shah, Dresden, Orssengo-Pye, and Kohlhaas), while Corvis ST-derived values were corrected using a single formula. Results In the SMILE group, no significant differences were observed between the IOP values corrected with the Shah formula before and after surgery ( t  = 0.17, P  = 0.869), whereas postoperative IOP values corrected with the other formulas were significantly different from the corresponding preoperative measurements ( P  < 0.05). In the FS-LASIK group, postoperative IOP values corrected with the Ehlers, Shah, or Corvis ST formulas were significantly different from the corresponding preoperative IOP measurements ( P  < 0.05), but no significant differences were observed between pre- and postoperative IOP values corrected with the Dresden ( t  =  − 0.08, P  = 0.941), Orssengo-Pye ( t  =  − 0.52, P  = 0.604), or Kohlhaas ( t  = 1.22, P  = 0.231) formulas. Conclusions Pentacam’s Shah correction formula seemed to be the most appropriate method for accurately measuring postoperative IOP in patients undergoing SMILE surgery, while the Dresden, Orssengo-Pye, and Kohlhaas correction formulas of Pentacam were identified as the most reliable methods for estimating IOP in patients after FS-LASIK surgery.

Objective: The quantification of dominance effects varies across different models, and the appropriate coding in genetic analyses remains debated. This study investigated several proposed dominance encoding methods, evaluating their performance in genetic analyses.Methods: Three datasets, each representing the breeds Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire, were used in this study. We assessed heritability, genetic effects, and prediction accuracy in genomic selection (GS), as well as significant loci and statistical power in genome-wide association studies (GWAS).Results: In GS, correlations among additive effects and among total genetic effects across models were high (0.9 to 1) under different dominance encodings for most traits, while only the (0, 1, 0) and (0, 2p, 4p-2) encodings maintained high correlations for all traits. The average prediction accuracy of the additive-dominance model with the (0, 1, 0) encoding increased by 2.79% and 1.69%, respectively, compared to the (0, 1, 1) and (0, 2p, 4p-2) encodings for all traits. In GWAS, the (0, 1, 0) encoding had higher statistical power compared to the (0, 1, 1) and (0, 2p, 4p-2) encodings, especially for rare variants. Additionally, different dominance encodings identified independent and distinct significant loci.Conclusion: The (0, 1, 0) encoding method generally outperforms the others in genetic analyses, while alternative encodings provide complementary insights into dominance effects. These findings provide valuable guidance for selecting dominance encodings in genetic analyses.

ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate physicians’ familiarity and awareness of four diabetes guidelines and their practice of the recommendations outlined in these guidelines.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingAn online questionnaire survey was conducted among physicians affiliated with the Specialist Committee for Primary Diabetes Care of China Association of Chinese Medicine, using the snowball sampling method to ensure a broader representation of physicians.Participants1150 physicians from 192 cities across 30 provinces in China provided complete data.ResultsTertiary care hospital physicians (TCPs) exhibited the highest familiarity with the Guideline for the Prevention and Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in China (91.3%), followed by the National Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Diabetes in Primary Care (76.8%), the Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (72.2%) and the Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Diabetes in Chinese Medicine (63.8%). Primary care practitioners (PCPs) exhibited familiarity with these four guidelines at about 50% or less. Self-reported reference to modern diabetes guidelines by physicians is more frequent than traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diabetes guidelines, with rates at 73.2% and 33.8%, respectively. Approximately 90% of physicians provided instructions on self-monitoring of blood glucose to their patients with diabetes. Less than one-third of physicians referred patients to a specialised nutritionist. In terms of health education management, TCPs reported having a diabetes health management team at the rate of 75.7%, followed by secondary care hospital physicians at 57.0% and PCPs at 27.5%. Furthermore, approximately 40% of physicians did not fully grasp hypoglycaemia characteristics.ConclusionsFamiliarity and awareness of the screening guidelines varied among physicians in different hospital settings. Importantly, significant discrepancies were observed between physicians’ awareness and their self-reported reference to modern medicine guidelines and TCM guidelines. It is essential to consistently provide education and training on diabetes management for all physicians, particularly PCPs.

This study proposes and establishes a roadway longitudinal profile weighting model and innovatively develops a process and method for evaluating road surface roughness. Initially, the Gaussian model is employed to accurately fit the distribution frequency of vehicle centerlines recorded in British Standard BS 5400-10, and a generalized lateral distribution model of wheel trajectories is further derived. Corresponding model parameters are suggested for different types of lanes in this study. Subsequently, based on the proposed distribution model, a longitudinal profile weighting model for lanes is constructed. After adjusting the elevation of the cross-section, the equivalent longitudinal elevation of the roadway is calculated. Furthermore, this study presents a new indicator and method for assessing the roughness of the entire road surface, which comprehensively considers the elevations of all longitudinal profiles within the lane. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed new method and indicator, a comparative test was conducted using a vehicle-mounted profiler and a three-dimensional measurement system. The experimental results demonstrate significant improvements in measurement repeatability and scientific rigor, offering a new perspective and evaluation strategy for road performance assessment.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most serious hematological carcinoma in adolescents. The significance of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and their regulative role in the proliferation and differentiation of myeloid cells in cancer has been recently reported. Nevertheless, key RNAs and the regulatory mechanism of competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network affected by pediatric ALL are not fully illustrated. In this study, phase 2 and 3 pediatric ALL RNA profiles were extracted from the TARGET database and used to identify lncRNAs, microRNAs, and messenger RNAs in high-risk ALL and reconstruct the sponge ceRNA regulatory network. Results indicated that 44 lncRNAs, 25 miRNAs, and 115 mRNA were up/downregulated. Functional analysis with differentially expressed RNAs (DERNAs) showed enriched significant signaling pathways, including PI3K-Akt and p53 signaling cascades and other pathways associated with the tumor. Seventeen differential hub RNAs, including LINC00909, BZRAP1-AS1, C17orf76-AS1, HCG11, MIAT, SNHG5, SNHG15, and TP73-AS1, were identified. The Cox model of correlation indicated that 14 of these RNAs were associated with the progression of pediatric ALL. These findings would help clarify the regulatory role of several lncRNAs as well as provide insights into the leukemogenesis of pediatric ALL to further explore novel prognostic markers/therapeutic targets for ALL.

Background Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common systemic neurodegenerative diseases and is related to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Several studies verified that microRNA (miRNAs) targeting the Bim/Bax/caspase‐3 signaling axis is involved in the apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra. In this study, we aimed to explore the role of miR‐221 in PD. Methods To examine the function of miR‐221 in vivo, we used a well‐established 6‐OHDA‐induced PD mouse model. Then we conducted adenovirus‐mediated miR‐221 overexpression in the PD mice. Results Our results showed that miR‐221 overexpression improved motor behavior of the PD mice. We demonstrated that overexpression of miR‐221 reduced the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra striatum by promoting their antioxidative and antiapoptosis capacities. Mechanistically, miR‐221 targets Bim, thus inhibiting Bim and Bax caspase‐3 mediated apoptosis signaling pathways. Conclusion Our findings suggest miR‐221 participates in the pathological process of PD and might be a potential drug target and provide new insight into PD treatment. Predicted resting metabolic rate by equation has a reversely significant association with all‐cause mortality and poor functional outcome after ischemic stroke that indicates it seems to be a protective predictor of poor outcome of ischemic stroke as a metabolic proxy.

Background COVID-19 affects healthcare resource allocation, which could lead to treatment delay and poor outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on AMI outcomes. Methods We compared outcomes of patients admitted for acute ST-elevation MI (STEMI) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI) during a non-COVID-19 pandemic period (January–February 2019; Group 1, n = 254) and a COVID-19 pandemic period (January–February 2020; Group 2, n = 124). Results For STEMI patients, the median of first medical contact (FMC) time, door-to-balloon time, and total myocardial ischemia time were significantly longer in Group 2 patients (all p  < 0.05). Primary percutaneous intervention was performed significantly more often in Group 1 patients than in Group 2 patients, whereas thrombolytic therapy was used significantly more often in Group 2 patients than in Group 1 patients (all p  < 0.05). However, the rates of and all-cause 30-day mortality and major adverse cardiac event (MACE) were not significantly different in the two periods (all p  > 0.05). For NSTEMI patients, Group 2 patients had a higher rate of conservative therapy, a lower rate of reperfusion therapy, and longer FMC times (all p  < 0.05). All-cause 30-day mortality and MACE were only higher in NSTEMI patients during the COVID-19 pandemic period ( p  < 0.001). Conclusions COVID-19 pandemic causes treatment delay in AMI patients and potentially leads to poor clinical outcome in NSTEMI patients. Thrombolytic therapy should be initiated without delay for STEMI when coronary intervention is not readily available; for NSTEMI patients, outcomes of invasive reperfusion were better than medical treatment.

Heterosis has been extensively used for pig genetic breeding and production, but the genetic basis of heterosis remains largely elusive. Crossbreeding between commercial and native breeds provides a good model to parse the genetic basis of heterosis. This study uses Duhua hybrid pigs, a crossbreed of Duroc and Liangguang small spotted pigs, as materials to explore the genetic basis underlying heterosis related to growth traits at the genomic level. The mid-parent heterosis (MPH) analysis showed heterosis of this Duhua offspring on growth traits. In this study, we examined the impact of additive and dominance effects on 100 AGE (age adjusted to 100 kg) and 100 BF (backfat thickness adjusted to 100 kg) of Duhua hybrid pigs. Meanwhile, we successfully identified SNPs associated with growth traits through both additive and dominance GWASs (genome-wide association studies). These findings will facilitate the subsequent in-depth studies of heterosis in the growth traits of Duhua pigs.

Background: Type C behavior is a cancer-prone behavior that can affect the occurrence and development of cancer. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of type C behavior in patients with breast cancer during postoperative chemotherapy and determine its associated factors. Methods: This study enrolled 161 patients with breast cancer who received postoperative chemotherapy. Type C personality behavior pattern questionnaire was used to assess type C behavior patterns. The following instruments were employed: medical coping modes questionnaire, social support scale, social relational quality scale, Herth hope index. logistic regression was used to identify the factors affecting type C behavior. Results: The incidence of type C behavior was 28%. Participants aged 45-59 years (OR = 3.62, 95% CI = 1.04-12.56, P = 0.043), and who adopted a resignation coping style (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.03-1.50, P = 0.021), were more likely to develop type C behavior. Type C behavior was less common in patients with employment (OR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.15-0.97, P = 0.043), with a high level of social support (OR = 0.89, 95% CI= 0.80-0.98, P = 0.023), and more hope (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.71-0.98, P = 0.079). Conclusion: In this study, 28% patients with breast cancer during postoperative chemotherapy exhibited type C behavior. Associated factors with type C behavior were identified, which could guide health care professionals to reduce the prevalence of type C behavior through guiding patients to adopt positive coping styles and improving their level of social support and hope, especially in those aged 45 to 59 years or in those without employment. Keywords: breast cancer, type C behavior, coping style, social support, social relational quality, hope