bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Long-term administration of bumetanide improve functional recovery after spinal cord injury in rats
Authors: Hashemizadeh Shiva , Gharaylou Zeinab , Hosseindoost Saereh , Sardari Maryam , Omidi Ameneh , Hosseini ravandi Hassan , Hadjighassem Mahmoudreza
Published: October 2022

Ion disturbances are among the most remarkable deficits in spinal cord injury (SCI). GABA is an integral part of neural interaction. Action of the GABAA receptor depends on the amount of intracellular chloride. Homeostasis of chloride is controlled by two co-transporters, NKCC1 and KCC2. Previous studies revealed that NKCC1 are disturbed in SCI. In this study, NKCC1 is highly expressed in the epicenter of the lesioned spinal cord at 3 hours after induction of the lesion and reached the peak around 6 hours after SCI. Bumetanide (2 and 4 mg/day), as a specific NKCC1 inhibitor, was used at 3 hours post SCI for 28 days. The functional recovery outcomes were measured by the Basso–Beattie–Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale, ladder walking test, and hot plate test. The rats that received bumetanide 4 mg/day exhibited improved recovery of locomotor function, reduction of NKCC1 gene expression, and upregulation of GAP protein levels 28 days post SCI. Histological tissue evaluations confirmed bumetanide’s neuroprotective and regenerative effects. This study provides novel evidence for the benefits of bumetanide in early administration after SCI.
Evaluating anticancer properties of Withaferin A—a potent phytochemical
Authors: Atteeq Maushma
Published: October 2022

Withaferin A is a C28 steroidal lactone derived from the plant Withania somnifera, commonly known as Ashwagandha. Withaferin A has received great attention for its anticancer properties noted in cancer cells of various origins. Extracts of Withania somnifera have been used in traditional Ayurvedic and Unani Indian medicine for their various pharmacological benefits. In recent years, Withania somnifera or Ashwagandha extract has become popularized as a health supplement marketed for its stress and anxiety reducing effects. Withaferin A is one of the most studied withanolides extracted from Withania somnifera that has gained great attention for its anticancer, anti-inflammatory, metabolic, and pro-apoptotic effects. Extensive in vivo and in vitro studies have depicted Withaferin A’s interactions with key role players in cancerous activity of the cell to exert its pro-apoptotic effects. Withaferin A interactions with NF-κB, STAT, Hsp90, ER-α, p53, and TGF-β have noted inhibition in cancer cell proliferation and cell cycle arrest in G2/M stage, ultimately leading to apoptosis or cell death. This review highlights pro-apoptotic properties of Withaferin A including generation of reactive oxidative species, Par-4 activation, endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER) induction, and p53 activation. Analysis of Withaferin A’s involvement in various oncogenic pathways leading to malignant neoplasm and its pharmacologic activity in conjunction with various cancer drugs provides promising evidence in therapeutic potential of Withaferin A as a cancer treatment.
Complex ecological and socioeconomic impacts on medicinal plant diversity
Authors: Zhang Ming-Xu , Chen Yuan , Guo Jing-Xia , Zhang Ru , Bi Ya-Qiong , Wei Xin-Xin , Niu Hui , Zhang Chun-Hong , Li Min-Hui
Published: October 2022

Medicinal plant diversity (MPD) is an important component of plant diversity. Over-collection based on medicinal and economic value has the potential to damage the stability of the regional ecosystem. It is important to understand the current distribution of MPD and the factors influencing it. However, it is still unclear whether environmental and socioeconomic conditions have an impact on their distribution. We selected the Inner Mongolia as a representative study area which covers a wide area, accounting for 12.29% of China’s national land area and 0.79% of the world’s land area. At the same time, the region is a long-standing traditional medicinal area for Mongolians in China. Therefore, the region is significantly influenced by changes in environmental factors and socio-economic factors. We used 9-years field survey of the distribution of medicinal plants in Inner Mongolia for assessing the distribution of MPD as influenced by environmental and socioeconomic activities by combining spatial analyses, species distribution models, and generalized additive models. The results from the spatial analysis show that the western region of Inner Mongolia is the main cold spot area of the MPD, and the central-eastern and northeastern regions of Inner Mongolia are the main hot spot areas of the MPD. At the same time, the distribution of cold spots and hot spots of MPD is more obvious at large spatial scales, and with the refinement of spatial scales, the cold spots in scattered areas are gradually revealed, which is indicative for the conservation and development of MPD at different spatial scales. Under the future climate change of shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP), areas with high habitat suitability for medicinal plants remain mainly dominated by the Yellow River, Yin Mountains, and Greater Khingan Range. Notably, the SSP245 development pathway remains the most significant concern in either long- or short-term development. The nonlinear relationship between the driving factors of MPD at different spatial scales shows that temperature, precipitation and socioeconomic development do have complex effects on MPD. The presence of a certain temperature, altitude, and precipitation range has an optimal facilitation effect on MPD, rather than a single facilitation effect. This complex nonlinear correlation provides a reference for further studies on plant diversity and sustainable development and management. In this study, the spatial distribution of medicinal plant resources and the extent to which they are driven by ecological and socioeconomic factors were analyzed through a macroscopic approach. This provides a reference for larger-scale studies on the environmental and socioeconomic influences on the distribution of plant resources.
The effect of thymol on acetylcholine-induced contractions of the rat ileum and uterus under ex vivo conditions
Authors: Premrov Bajuk Blanka , Prem Luka , Vake Tilen , Žnidaršič Neža , Snoj Tomaž
Published: October 2022

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) is a well-known medicinal plant, the aerial parts of which have long been used internally or externally as a traditional remedy for various diseases. Thyme essential oils have important pharmaceutical applications and are regularly used in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. In folk medicine, thyme preparations are used to treat respiratory, digestive, cardiovascular and nervous disorders, as well as to relieve dysmenorrhea. Thymol, a major constituent of Thymus vulgaris essential oil, has been shown to affect skeletal and smooth muscle excitation and contraction. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate its effect on acetylcholine (ACh)-induced rat intestinal and uterine preparations. Isolated ileum and uterine horn preparations were placed in a 20-ml organ bath containing Tyrode or De Jalon solution and exposed to graded concentrations of ACh (0.036, 0.109, 0.36, 1.09, 3,6, 10.9, and 36 μM) and either 0.02 or 0.2 mM thymol. Additionally, the dose–response relationship of thymol impact on intestinal and uterine contraction was evaluated. Contraction changes were monitored using an isometric transducer. Thymol at the higher dose (0.2 mM) significantly reduced ACh-induced intestinal and uterine contractions. Thus, this study provides new important data on competitive actions between thymol and ACh. In the dose–response study, the IC50 values were calculated as 5.26 mM for the ileum and 5.35 mM for the uterus. Our results demonstrated the efficacy of thymol in reducing ileal and uterine smooth muscle contractions, thus supporting the use of thyme in traditional medicine in the treatment of digestive disorders and painful menstrual cramps.
Coupling plasma physics and chemistry in the PIC model of electric propulsion: Application to an air-breathing, low-power Hall thruster
Authors: Taccogna Francesco , Cichocki Filippo , Minelli Pierpaolo
Published: October 2022

This work represents a first attempt to include the complex variety of electron-molecule processes in a full kinetic particle-in-cell/test particle Monte Carlo model for the plasma and neutral gas phase in a Hall thruster. Particular emphasis has been placed on Earth’s atmosphere species for the air-breathing concept. The coupling between the plasma and the gas phase is self-consistently captured by assuming the cold gas approximation and considering gas-wall and gas recycling from the walls due to ion neutralization. The results showed that, with air molecular propellants, all the most relevant thruster performance figures degraded relative to the nominal case using Xe propellant. The main reasons can be ascribed to a reduced ionization cross-section, a larger gas ionization mean free path due to lighter mass air species, and additional electron collisional power losses. While vibrational excitations power losses are negligible, dissociation and electronic excitations compete with the ionization channel. In addition, for molecular oxygen, the large dissociation leads to even faster atoms, further reducing their transit time inside the discharge channel. Future studies are needed to investigate the role of non-equilibrium vibrational kinetics and metastable states for stepwise ionization.
Automatic classification of gastric lesions in gastroscopic images using a lightweight deep learning model with attention mechanism and cost-sensitive learning
Authors: Wang Lingxiao , Yang Yingyun , Li Jingyang , Tian Wei , He Kun , Xu Tianming , Fang Zhaohui , Yang Aiming , Li Ting
Published: October 2022

Magnification endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (ME-NBI) technology is widely used in the early diagnosis of precancerous lesions and gastric cancer, which is critical to reducing the incidence of gastric cancer and improving the survival rate of gastric cancer patients. The diagnosis based on ME-NBI image is mostly in manual way in clinics. In order to improve its objectivity and efficiency, here we proposed a lightweight attention mechanism deep learning model to automatically classify ME-NBI images for artificial intelligence (AI) diagnosis of early gastric cancer, low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, and non-neoplasm. We collected 4,098 images from 990 patients for model training and validation and evaluated the performance of our model by comparisons with that of other models, such as the benchmark model. An additional 587 images from 296 patients were collected as an independent test set to further evaluate our method’s performance. The validation set showed that the overall accuracy, recall, precision, F1 score, and the area under the curve of our method were higher than those of other methods. The independent test set showed that our method achieved state-of-the-art classification for low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (accuracy = 93.9%, sensitivity = 92.6%). Our method displayed the advantages of lightweight and high effectiveness in classifying effectiveness, which is the potential for AI diagnosis of early gastric cancer, low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia, and non-neoplasm.
Instrumented strength assessment in typically developing children and children with a neural or neuromuscular disorder: A reliability, validity and responsiveness study
Authors: Verreydt Ineke , Vandekerckhove Ines , Stoop Elze , Peeters Nicky , van Tittelboom Vanessa , Van de Walle Patricia , Van den Hauwe Marleen , Goemans Nathalie , De Waele Liesbeth , Van Campenhout Anja , Hanssen Britta , Desloovere Kaat
Published: October 2022

The aim of this study was to determine the clinimetric properties, i.e., reliability, validity and responsiveness of an instrumented strength assessment in typically developing (TD) children and children with cerebral palsy (CP) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Force (N), torque (Nm) and normalized torque (Nm/kg) were defined for maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs) of the lower limb muscles using a pre-established protocol. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimal detectable change (MDC) of TD children (n = 14), children with CP (n = 11) and DMD (n = 11) were used to evaluate intra-rater reliability for the three cohorts and the inter-rater intersession as well as inter-rater intrasession reliability for TD children. Construct validity was assessed by comparing MVICs in TD children (n = 28) to children with CP (n = 26) and to children with DMD (n = 30), using the Kruskal Wallis and post-hoc Mann-Whitney U tests. Responsiveness was investigated by assessing changes in MVICs following a strength intervention in CP (n = 26) and a 1 and 2 year follow-up study in DMD (n = 13 and n = 6, respectively), using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. The overall intra-rater reliability, was classified as good to excellent for 65.1%, moderate for 27.0% and poor for 7.9% of the measures (47.6%, 76.2%, and 66.7% good-excellent; 28.6%, 23.8%, and 33.7% moderate; 23.8%, 0%, and 0% poor in TD, CP, and DMD, respectively), while ICC values for TD children were slightly lower for inter-rater intrasession reliability (38.1% good-excellent, 33.3% moderate and 26.6% poor) and for inter-rater intersession reliability (47.6% good-excellent, 23.8% moderate and 28.6% poor). Children with CP and DMD were significantly weaker than TD children (p < 0.001) and the majority of these strength differences exceeded the MDC. Children with CP significantly improved strength after training, with changes that exceeded the SEMs, whereas only limited strength decreases over time were observed in the DMD cohort. In conclusion, the investigated instrumented strength assessment was sufficiently reliable to confirm known-group validity for both cohorts and could detect the responsiveness of children with CP after a strength intervention. However, more research is necessary to determine the responsiveness of this assessment in children with DMD regarding their natural decline.
Divergence of flowering-related genes to control flowering in five Euphorbiaceae genomes
Authors: Jiang Lan , Fan Tingting , Wang Lihu , Zhang Lin , Xu Jun
Published: October 2022

Reproductive growth and vegetative growth are a pair of main contradictions in the process of plant growth. Flowering, as part of reproductive growth, is a key switch in the life cycle of higher plants, which affects the yield and economic benefits of plants to a certain extent. The Euphorbiaceae species, including castor bean (Ricinus communis), physic nut (Jatropha curcas), tung tree (Vernicia fordii), cassava (Manihot esculenta), and rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), have important economic values because they are raw materials for the production of biodiesel, rubber, etc. The flowering mechanisms are still excluded in the Euphorbiaceae species. The flowering-related genes of Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) were used as a reference to determine the orthologs of these genes in Euphorbiaceae genomes. The result showed that 146, 144, 114, 114, and 149 of 207 A. thaliana genes were respectively matched to R. communis, V. fordii, J. curcas, H. brasiliensis, and M. esculenta. These identified genes were clustered into seven pathways including gibberellins, floral meristem identity (FMI), vernalization, photoperiod, floral pathway integrators (FPIs), and autonomous pathways. Then, some key numbers of flowering-related genes are widely conserved in the Euphorbiaceae genomes including but not limited to FPI genes LFY, SOC1, FT, and FMI genes AG, CAL, and FUL. However, some genes, including FRI, FLC, and GO, were missing in several or all five Euphorbiaceae species. In this study, we proposed the putative mechanisms of flowering-related genes to control flowering and provided new candidate flowering genes for using marker-assisted breeding to improve variety quality.
The potential of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of foxtail and broomcorn millets for investigating ancient farming systems
Authors: Dong Yu , Bi Xiaoguang , Wu Rubi , Belfield Eric J. , Harberd Nicholas P. , Christensen Bent T. , Charles Mike , Bogaard Amy
Published: October 2022

Foxtail and broomcorn millets are the most important crops in northern China since the early Neolithic. However, little evidence is available on how people managed these two crops in the past, especially in prehistory. Previous research on major C3 crops in western Eurasia demonstrated the potential of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of charred archaeobotanical remains to reveal the management of water and manure, respectively. Here, we evaluate the feasibility of a similar approach to C4 millets. Foxtail and broomcorn millet plants grown in pots in a greenhouse under different manuring and watering regimes were analysed to test the effects of management on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of grains. Stable nitrogen isotope values of both millets increased as manuring level increased, ranging from 1.7 ‰ to 5.8 ‰ in different conditions; hence, it appears a feasible tool to identify manuring practices, in agreement with results from recent field studies. However, the two millets exhibit opposing trends in stable carbon isotope values as watering level increased. The shift in stable carbon isotope values of millets is also smaller than that observed in wheat grown in the same experimental environment, making it difficult to identify millet water status archaeologically. In addition, we charred millet grains at different temperatures and for varying durations to replicate macro-botanical remains recovered archaeologically, and to evaluate the offsets in carbon and nitrogen isotope values induced by charring. We found that the stable nitrogen isotope values of foxtail millet and broomcorn millet can shift up to 1–2 ‰ when charred, while the stable carbon isotope values change less than 0.3 ‰. Overall, we demonstrate that stable nitrogen isotope values of charred foxtail and broomcorn millet seeds could provide insight into past field management practices, and both carbon and nitrogen isotope values can together inform palaeodietary reconstruction.
Evaluation of rice bacterial blight severity from lab to field with hyperspectral imaging technique
Authors: Bai Xiulin , Zhou Yujie , Feng Xuping , Tao Mingzhu , Zhang Jinnuo , Deng Shuiguang , Lou Binggan , Yang Guofeng , Wu Qingguan , Yu Li , Yang Yong , He Yong
Published: October 2022

Hyperspectral imaging technique combined with machine learning is a powerful tool for the evaluation of disease phenotype in rice disease-resistant breeding. However, the current studies are almost carried out in the lab environment, which is difficult to apply to the field environment. In this paper, we used visible/near-infrared hyperspectral images to analysis the severity of rice bacterial blight (BB) and proposed a novel disease index construction strategy (NDSCI) for field application. A designed long short-term memory network with attention mechanism could evaluate the BB severity robustly, and the attention block could filter important wavelengths. Best results were obtained based on the fusion of important wavelengths and color features with an accuracy of 0.94. Then, NSDCI was constructed based on the important wavelength and color feature related to BB severity. The correlation coefficient of NDSCI extended to the field data reached -0.84, showing good scalability. This work overcomes the limitations of environmental conditions and sheds new light on the rapid measurement of phenotype in disease-resistant breeding.
Identification of the major QTL QPm.cas-7D for adult plant resistance to wheat powdery mildew
Authors: Liu Hong , Han Guohao , Gu Tiantian , Jin Yuli , Shi Zhipeng , Xing Lixian , Yan Hanwen , Wang Jing , Hao Chenyang , Zhao Meicheng , An Diaoguo
Published: October 2022

Developing effective and durable host plant resistance is crucial for controlling powdery mildew, a devastating disease caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt). In the present study, we dissected the genetic basis of the adult plant resistance to powdery mildew using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) composed of 176 F9 RILs population derived from a cross between PuBing 3228 (P3228) and susceptible cultivar Gao 8901. P3228 exhibits stable adult-plant resistance to powdery mildew in the field over consecutive years. We identified two QTLs on chromosomes 7DS (QPm.cas-7D) and 1AL (QPm.cas-1A) contributed by P3228, and one QTL on 3DS (QPm.cas-3D) contributed by Gao 8901, which could explain 65.44%, 3.45%, and 2.18% of the phenotypic variances, respectively. By analyzing the annotated genes in the 1.168 Mb physical interval of the major QTL QPm.cas-7D, we locked a previously cloned adult-plant resistance gene Pm38 that was most probably the candidate gene of QPm.cas-7D. Sequence alignment analysis revealed that the candidate gene of QPm.cas-7D in P3228 was identical to the reported Pm38 sequence. Two haplotypes QPm-7D-R and QPm-7D-S were identified in the whole Pm38 genomic regions between P3228 and Gao 8901. To apply QPm.cas-7D in wheat breeding, we developed a kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) marker Kasp5249 that is closely linked with these haplotypes. It is worth mentioning that the QPm-7D-R haplotype significantly decreased TKW and underwent negative selection for higher yields in China wheat breeding. In this study, we identified a major QTL QPm.cas-7D and revealed the relationship between its resistance and yield, which could be beneficial for further applications in wheat disease resistance and high-yield breeding.
The genome of single-petal jasmine (Jasminum sambac) provides insights into heat stress tolerance and aroma compound biosynthesis
Authors: Qi Xiangyu , Wang Huadi , Chen Shuangshuang , Feng Jing , Chen Huijie , Qin Ziyi , Blilou Ikram , Deng Yanming
Published: October 2022

Jasmine [Jasminum sambac (L.) Aiton] is a commercially important cultivated plant species known for its fragrant flowers used in the perfume industry, medicine and cosmetics. In the present study, we obtained a draft genome for the J. sambac cultivar ‘Danbanmoli’ (JSDB, a single-petal phenotype). We showed that the final genome of J. sambac was 520.80 Mb in size (contig N50 = 145.43 kb; scaffold N50 = 145.53 kb) and comprised 35,363 genes. Our analyses revealed that the J. sambac genome has undergone only an ancient whole-genome duplication (WGD) event. We estimated that the lineage that has given rise to J. sambac diverged from the lineage leading to Osmanthus fragrans and Olea europaea approximately 31.1 million years ago (Mya). On the basis of a combination of genomic and transcriptomic analyses, we identified 92 transcription factors (TFs) and 206 genes related to heat stress response. Base on a combination of genomic, transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses, a range of aroma compounds and genes involved in the benzenoid/phenylpropanoid and terpenoid biosynthesis pathways were identified. In the newly assembled J. sambac genome, we identified a total of 122 MYB, 122 bHLH and 69 WRKY genes. Our assembled J. sambac JSDB genome provides fundamental knowledge to study the molecular mechanism of heat stress tolerance, and improve jasmine flowers and dissect its fragrance.
Mapping and functional verification of leaf yellowing genes in watermelon during whole growth period
Authors: Zhu Yingchun , Yuan Gaopeng , Wang Yifan , An Guolin , Li Weihua , Liu Junpu , Sun Dexi
Published: October 2022

Increasing light energy utilization efficiency is an effective way to increase yield and improve quality of watermelon. Leaf is the main place for photosynthesis, and the color of leaf is directly related to the change of photosynthesis. In addition, leaf yellowing can be used as a marker trait to play an important role in watermelon hybrid breeding and improve seed breeding. It can not only be used to eliminate hybrids at seedling stage, but also be used to determine seed purity. In this study, transcriptome analysis was first carried out using the whole growth period leaf yellowing watermelon mutant w-yl and inbred line ZK, and identified 2,471 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the comparison group w-yl-vs-ZK. Among the top 20 terms of the gene ontology (GO) enrichment pathway, 17 terms were related to photosynthesis. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the most abundant pathway was photosynthesis—antenna proteins. The F2 population was constructed by conventional hybridization with the inbred line ZK. Genetic analysis showed that leaf yellowing of the mutant was controlled by a single recessive gene. The leaf yellowing gene of watermelon located between Ind14,179,011 and InD16,396,362 on chromosome 2 by using indel-specific PCR markers, with a region of 2.217 Mb. In the interval, it was found that five genes may have gene fragment deletion in w-yl, among which Cla97C02G036010, Cla97C02G036030, Cla97C02G036040, Cla97C02G036050 were the whole fragment loss, and Cla97C02G0360 was the C-terminal partial base loss. Gene function verification results showed that Cla97C02G036040, Cla97C02G036050 and Cla97C02G036060 may be the key factors leading to yellowing of w-yl leaves.
Linking quantitative genetics with community-level performance: Are there operational models for plant breeding?
Authors: Firmat Cyril , Litrico Isabelle
Published: October 2022

Plant breeding is focused on the genotype and population levels while targeting effects at higher levels of biodiversity, from crop covers to agroecosystems. Making predictions across nested levels of biodiversity is therefore a major challenge for the development of intercropping practices. New prediction tools and concepts are required to design breeding strategies with desirable outcomes at the crop community level. We reviewed theoretical advances in the field of evolutionary ecology to identify potentially operational ways of predicting the effects of artificial selection on community-level performances. We identified three main types of approaches differing in the way they model interspecific indirect genetic effects (IIGEs) at the community level: (1) The community heritability approach estimates the variance for IIGE induced by a focal species at the community level; (2) the joint phenotype approach quantifies genetic constraints between direct genetic effects and IIGE for a set of interacting species; (3) the community-trait genetic gradient approach decomposes the IIGE for a focal species across a multivariate set of its functional traits. We discuss the potential operational capacities of these approaches and stress that each is a special case of a general multitrait and multispecies selection index. Choosing one therefore involves assumptions and goals regarding the breeding target and strategy. Obtaining reliable quantitative, community-level predictions at the genetic level is constrained by the size and complexity of the experimental designs usually required. Breeding strategies should instead be compared using theoretically informed qualitative predictions. The need to estimate genetic covariances between traits measured both within and among species (for IIGE) is another obstacle, as the two are not determined by the exact same biological processes. We suggest future research directions and strategies to overcome these limits. Our synthesis offers an integrative theoretical framework for breeders interested in the genetic improvement of crop communities but also for scientists interested in the genetic bases of plant community functioning.
Appearance quality classification method of Huangguan pear under complex background based on instance segmentation and semantic segmentation
Authors: Zhang Yuhang , Shi Nan , Zhang Hao , Zhang Jun , Fan Xiaofei , Suo Xuesong
Published: October 2022

The ‘Huangguan’ pear disease spot detection and grading is the key to fruit processing automation. Due to the variety of individual shapes and disease spot types of ‘Huangguan’ pear. The traditional computer vision technology and pattern recognition methods have some limitations in the detection of ‘Huangguan’ pear diseases. In recent years, with the development of deep learning technology and convolutional neural network provides a new solution for the fast and accurate detection of ‘Huangguan’ pear diseases. To achieve automatic grading of ‘Huangguan’ pear appearance quality in a complex context, this study proposes an integrated framework combining instance segmentation, semantic segmentation and grading models. In the first stage, Mask R-CNN and Mask R-CNN with the introduction of the preprocessing module are used to segment ‘Huangguan’ pears from complex backgrounds. In the second stage, DeepLabV3+, UNet and PSPNet are used to segment the ‘Huangguan’ pear spots to get the spots, and the ratio of the spot pixel area to the ‘Huangguan’ pear pixel area is calculated and classified into three grades. In the third stage, the grades of ‘Huangguan’ pear are obtained using ResNet50, VGG16 and MobileNetV3. The experimental results show that the model proposed in this paper can segment the ‘Huangguan’ pear and disease spots in complex background in steps, and complete the grading of ‘Huangguan’ pear fruit disease severity. According to the experimental results. The Mask R-CNN that introduced the CLAHE preprocessing module in the first-stage instance segmentation model is the most accurate. The resulting pixel accuracy (PA) is 97.38% and the Dice coefficient is 68.08%. DeepLabV3+ is the most accurate in the second-stage semantic segmentation model. The pixel accuracy is 94.03% and the Dice coefficient is 67.25%. ResNet50 is the most accurate among the third-stage classification models. The average precision (AP) was 97.41% and the F1 (harmonic average assessment) was 95.43%.In short, it not only provides a new framework for the detection and identification of ‘Huangguan’ pear fruit diseases in complex backgrounds, but also lays a theoretical foundation for the assessment and grading of ‘Huangguan’ pear diseases.
A QTL approach in faba bean highlights the conservation of genetic control of frost tolerance among legume species
Authors: Carrillo-Perdomo Estefanía , Magnin-Robert Jean-Bernard , Raffiot Blandine , Deulvot Chrystel , Floriot Matthieu , Lejeune-Hénaut Isabelle , Marget Pascal , Burstin Judith , Tayeh Nadim , Aubert Grégoire
Published: October 2022

Frost is a major abiotic stress of winter type faba beans (Vica faba L.) and has adverse effects on crop yield. Climate change, far from reducing the incidence of frost events, is making these phenomena more and more common, severe, and prolonged. Despite the important interaction that the environment has in the tolerance of faba bean to frost, this trait seems to have good levels of heritability. Several QTLs for frost tolerance have already been reported, however, a more robust identification is needed to more precisely identify the genomic regions involved in faba bean tolerance to sub-zero temperatures. Several pea (Pisum sativum L.) and barrel medic (Medicago truncatula L.) frost tolerance QTLs appear to be conserved between these two species, furthering the hypothesis that the genetic control of frost tolerance in legume species might be more generally conserved. In this work, the QTL mapping in two faba bean recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations connected by a common winter-type parent has led to the identification of five genomic regions involved in the control of frost tolerance on linkage groups I, III, IV, and V. Among them, a major and robust QTL of great interest for marker-assisted selection was identified on the lower part of the long-arm of LGI. The synteny between the faba bean frost tolerance QTLs and those previously identified in other legume species such as barrel medic, pea or soybean highlighted at least partial conservation of the genetic control of frost tolerance among different faba bean genetic pools and legume species. Four novel RILs showing high and stable levels of tolerance and the ability to recover from freezing temperatures by accumulating frost tolerance QTLs are now available for breeding programs.
Contrasting effect of irrigation practices on the cotton rhizosphere microbiota and soil functionality in fields
Authors: Peng Bin , Zhao Shuai , Banerjee Samiran , Mai Wenxuan , Tian Changyan
Published: October 2022

Drip irrigation under plastic film mulch is a common agricultural practice used to conserve water. However, compared to traditional flood irrigation with film mulch, this practice limit cotton root development from early flowering stage and may cause premature senescence in cotton. Changes of root will consequently shape the composition and activity of rhizosphere microbial communities, however, the effect of this farming practice on cotton rhizosphere microbiota remains poorly understood. This study investigated rhizosphere bacteria and soil functionality in response to different irrigation practices —including how changes in rhizosphere bacterial diversity alter soil nutrient cycling. Drip irrigation under plastic film mulch was shown to enhance bacterial diversity by lowering the salinity and increasing the soil moisture. However, the reduced root biomass and soluble sugar content of roots decreased potential copiotrophic taxa, such as Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Gamma-proteobacteria, and increased potential oligotrophic taxa, such as Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Armatimonadetes. A core network module was strongly correlated with the functional potential of soil. This module not only contained most of the keystone taxa but also comprised taxa belonging to Planctomycetaceae, Gemmatimonadaceae, Nitrosomonadaceae, and Rhodospirillaceae that were positively associated with functional genes involved in nutrient cycling. Drip irrigation significantly decreased the richness of the core module and reduced the functional potential of soil in the rhizosphere. Overall, this study provides evidence that drip irrigation under plastic film mulch alters the core bacterial network module and suppresses soil nutrient cycling.
Single-cell transcriptome of Nepeta tenuifolia leaves reveal differentiation trajectories in glandular trichomes
Authors: Zhou Peina , Chen Hongyu , Dang Jingjie , Shi Zunrui , Shao Yongfang , Liu Chanchan , Fan Longjiang , Wu Qinan
Published: October 2022

The peltate glandular trichomes (PGTs) on Nepeta tenuifolia leaves can secrete and store bioactive essential oils. ScRNA-seq is a powerful tool for uncovering heterogeneous cells and exploring the development and differentiation of specific cells. Due to leaves rich in PGTs, the young leaves were used to isolated protoplasts and successfully captured 33,254 protoplasts for sequencing purposes. After cell type annotation, all the cells were partitioned into six broad populations with 19 clusters. Cells from PGTs were identified based on the expression patterns of trichome-specific genes, monoterpene biosynthetic genes, and metabolic analysis of PGT secretions. The developmental trajectories of PGTs were delineated by pseudotime analysis. Integrative analysis of scRNA-seq data from N. tenuifolia leaves and Arabidopsis thaliana shoot revealed that PGTs were specific to N. tenuifolia. Thus, our results provide a promising basis for exploring cell development and differentiation in plants, especially glandular trichome initiation and development.
How does COVID-19 pandemic affect entrepreneur anxiety? The role of threat perception and performance pressure
Authors: Li Yunjian , Chen Hongchuan , Liu Chunzhen , Liu Hong
Published: October 2022

The entrepreneurial firms may be more vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the entrepreneurs of entrepreneurial firms are also threatened by the revenues decline and business failure, which vehemently affect their well-being. The mental health of the entrepreneur decides whether the entrepreneurial firms can make the right decision, which is related to the healthy development of the entrepreneurial firms. Based on the event system theory and the cognitive appraisal theory, this paper aims to explore the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the entrepreneur anxiety, and the threat perception and performance pressure are introduced to investigate the mediating mechanism and boundary of this effect. Using the simple random sampling to obtain questionnaire survey data, 168 entrepreneurs of entrepreneurial firms have participated in the empirical study, and the research results are as follows. First, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly positively affects entrepreneur anxiety. Second, the entrepreneur threat perception plays a mediating role between the COVID-19 pandemic and the entrepreneur anxiety, which means the COVID-19 pandemic can enhance the external threat perception of entrepreneurs, and then affect the entrepreneur anxiety. Third, the positive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entrepreneur anxiety is strengthened by the entrepreneur performance pressure, while the positive effect of entrepreneur threat perception on entrepreneur anxiety is weakened by the entrepreneur performance pressure. The above findings are helpful to explore the mechanism of the COVID-19 pandemic and other critical crisis events on entrepreneurs’ mental health from the new perspective of cognitive appraisal theory and event system theory, filling the research gaps between the COVID-19 pandemic and entrepreneur anxiety. Besides, this study broadens the applied range of the cognitive appraisal theory and the event system theory in the fields of crisis situations and entrepreneur research, and enriches the research outputs. Furthermore, this study will help provide a new theoretical analysis insight for the related research on how the COVID-19 pandemic affects entrepreneurs’ psychology, and further deepen researchers to understand the mechanism of entrepreneur anxiety under the COVID-19 pandemic, providing theoretical inspirations for reducing entrepreneur anxiety. What’s more, this study finds that individual pressure can affect their cognitive appraisal, which means that future research should take the pressure influential mechanism into consideration in the process of exploring “external stimulus--cognitive appraisal--emotional response,” further expanding the theoretical model of cognitive appraisal proposed from the perspective of pressure.
Socially facilitative robots for older adults to alleviate social isolation: A participatory design workshop approach in the US and Japan
Authors: Fraune Marlena R. , Komatsu Takanori , Preusse Harrison R. , Langlois Danielle K. , Au Rachel H. Y. , Ling Katrina , Suda Shogo , Nakamura Kiko , Tsui Katherine M.
Published: October 2022

Social technology can improve the quality of older adults' social lives and mitigate negative mental and physical health outcomes associated with loneliness, but it should be designed collaboratively with this population. In this paper, we used participatory design (PD) methods to investigate how robots might be used as social facilitators for middle-aged and older adults (age 50+) in both the US and Japan. We conducted PD workshops in the US and Japan because both countries are concerned about the social isolation of these older adults due to their rapidly aging populations. We developed a novel approach to participatory design of future technologies that spends 2/3 of the PD session asking participants about their own life experiences as a foundation. This grounds the conversation in reality, creates rapport among the participants, and engages them in creative critical thinking. Then, we build upon this foundation, pose an abstract topic, and ask participants to brainstorm on the topic based on their previous discussion. In both countries, participants were eager to actively discuss design ideas for socially facilitative robots and imagine how they might improve their social lives. US participants suggested design ideas for telepresence robots, social distancing robots, and social skills artificial intelligence programs, while Japanese participants suggested ideas for pet robots, robots for sharing experiences, and easy-to-operate instructor robots. Comparing these two countries, we found that US participants saw robots as tools to help facilitate their social connections, while Japanese participants envisioned robots to function as surrogate companions for their parents and distract them from loneliness when they were unavailable. With this paper, we contribute to the literature in two main ways, presenting: (1) A novel approach to participatory design of future technologies that grounds participants in their everyday experience, and (2) Results of the study indicating how middle-aged and older adults from the US and Japan wanted technologies to improve their social lives. Although we conducted the workshops during the COVID-19 pandemic, many findings generalized to other situations related to social isolation, such as older adults living alone.
Mental and physical health correlates of the psychological impact of the first wave of COVID-19 among general population of Pakistan
Authors: Kazmi Syed Messum Ali , Lewis Christopher Alan , Hasan Syeda Salma , Iftikhar Rabia , Fayyaz Muhammad Umar , Anjum Fayyaz Ahmed
Published: October 2022

The primary aim was to assess the role of mental and physical health of COVID-19 and its psychological impact in the general population of Pakistan during the first wave of COVID-19. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant predictive association among socio-demographic variables, psychological impact and mental health status resulting from COVID-19, and poor self-reported physical health would be significantly associated with adverse psychological impact and poor mental health status because of COVID-19. A cross-sectional survey research design was used in which 1,361 respondents were sampled online during lockdown imposed in the country. The Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R) was used to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) was used to assess participants’ mental health status. 18% of the respondents reported moderate to severe event-specific distress, 22.6% reported moderate to severely extreme depression, 29% reported moderate to extreme anxiety, and 12.1% reported moderate to extreme stress. Female gender, having graduate-level education, currently studying, and self-reported physical symptoms (persistent fever, chills, headache, cough, breathing difficulty, dizziness, and sore throat) were significantly associated with higher levels of psychological impact exhibited through higher scores on the IES-R and poorer mental health status exhibited through higher scores on the DASS-21 (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Subscales).
Psychophysiological factors as predictors of second language writing achievement in a computer-based test
Authors: Lee Shu-Ping , Chang Shujen Lee , Su Hui-Kai , Cui Zhen-Yang , Lee Shin-Da
Published: October 2022

Sleep quality, personality, and cognitive load potentially increase second language writing (SLW) anxiety and subsequently affect SLW achievement. This study investigates the predictions of sleep quality, personality (social inhibition/ negative affectivity), and cognitive load (content/ computer) toward SLW anxiety and achievement in a computer-based test. Participants included 172 voluntary undergraduates majoring in English as foreign language. SLW anxiety in a computer-based test, sleep disturbance, personality and cognitive load was assessed with the SLW Anxiety Inventory, Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, Type-D Personality, and cognitive load questionnaires. A structural equation modeling approach was applied to examine the interdependence among the observed variables. An adequate-fit SLW anxiety model was built (X2 = 6.37,df = 6,p = 0.383,NFI = 0.97,CFI = 1.00,RMSEA = 0.02; R-squared multiple correlations: SLW anxiety in a computer-based test = 0.19, computer-based SLW achievement = 0.07). The structural model showed that sleep disturbance (+0.17), social inhibition personality (+0.31), and computer-induced cognitive load (+0.16) were significant predictors of SLW anxiety in a computer-based test. Subsequently, SLW anxiety in a computer-based test (−0.16) and computer-induced cognitive load (−0.16) were significant negative predictors of computer-based SLW achievement.
Grievance-fueled violence can be better understood using an enactive approach
Authors: Sizoo Bram , Strijbos Derek , Glas Gerrit
Published: October 2022

Understanding lone actor grievance-fueled violence remains a challenge. We believe that the concept of grievance provides an opportunity to add an engaged, first-person perspective to the assessment of lone actor extreme violence. We propose an enactivist philosophical approach that can help to understand the why and how of the pathway from grievance to violent extremism. Enactivism sees grievance as a dynamic, interpersonal, and context-sensitive construct that indicates how (potential) offenders make sense of the world they live in and how under certain circumstances it fuels violent behavior. Hence, grievance should not be understood as a given thing, but as an unfolding experience that involves sense-making through (regulation of one’s) interaction with the (social) environment. This (self-)relational and ecological understanding requires another approach than looking at demographic factors or life histories, only from an outsider’s perspective. Enactivism invites us to look at such risk factors as external indices of an ongoing process of active self-regulation and sense-making, and in some cases spiraling toward extreme violence. To understand the mindset of the offender we need to look more in depth at the processes that shape this mindset: why does this person, with this history, in this context, and at this point in time, proceed to use violence? The enactivist approach to the mind offers a complementary framework that may help us to understand the dynamics of grievance as a possible precursor to violent extremism. It also helps to appreciate why the relative unpredictability of the pathway toward lone actor extreme violence is not necessarily a sign of empirical weakness but a matter of principle due to the non-linearity of the processes involved. We end by summarizing how enactivism could contribute to the prevention of extremist violence and research and how it can help to avoid reinforcing stigmas and re-establishing a confirmation bias.
Commonalities for comorbidity: Overlapping features of the endocannabinoid system in depression and epilepsy
Authors: Epps S. Alisha
Published: October 2022

A wealth of clinical and pre-clinical data supports a bidirectional comorbidity between depression and epilepsy. This suggests commonalities in underlying mechanisms that may serve as targets for more effective treatment strategies. Unfortunately, many patients with this comorbidity are highly refractory to current treatment strategies, while others experience a worsening of one arm of the comorbidity when treating the other arm. This highlights the need for novel pharmaceutical targets that may provide safe and effective relief for both depression and epilepsy symptoms. The endocannabinoid system (ECS) of the brain has become an area of intense interest for possible roles in depression and epilepsy. Several existing literature reviews have provided in-depth analysis of the involvement of various aspects of the ECS in depression or epilepsy separately, while others have addressed the effectiveness of different treatment strategies targeting the ECS in either condition individually. However, there is not currently a review that considers the ECS when both conditions are comorbid. This mini-review will address areas of common overlap between the ECS in depression and in epilepsy, such as commonalities in endocannabinoids themselves, their receptors, and degradative enzymes. These areas of overlap will be discussed alongside their implications for treatment of this challenging comorbidity.