Feasible and economic DIY procedures of a hand-held fluorescence detector set-FluorDetector to assist laboratory course development.

Fluorescence-related experimental techniques play an important role in biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology. However, fluorescence-related experiments are rarely included in the laboratory courses of most Chinese universities. This is mainly due to the conflict between large class size (50-60 students in one room) and funding/space limitations to purchase and accommodate enough fluorescence detection equipment. Here, we proposed feasible and economical Do It Yourself (DIY) procedures of a hand-held fluorescence detector set-FluorDetector to support the development of laboratory courses. Tested on several samples, clear fluorescence signals could be directly observed by FluorDetector and photographed with a smartphone. In addition, FluorDetector was able to turn a conventional stereomicroscope into a fluorescence stereomicroscope, detecting fluorescence signals with clean background. FluorDetector is easy to make with a 3D printer, with an extremely low cost ($200 each) when compared with a commercial fluorescence microscope or fluorescence stereomicroscope, and almost as sensitive as a microplate reader in measuring fluorescence. Therefore, FluorDetector is a possible strategy to solve the problem and help to integrate fluorescence-related experimental modules in laboratory courses.

Estimation of the population size of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Canada, 2020.

Background: Gay or bisexual (GB) and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) globally and domestically in Canada. Reliable and recent population size estimates are necessary to allocate resources to meet prevention needs and for modelling the HIV epidemic. However, previous direct estimates did not account for GB men who would not reveal their sexual identity to a government survey, nor MSM not identifying as GB. The objective of this study was to develop two national population size estimates of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) in 2020. First, GB men based on identity, regardless of sexual experience, and MSM who do not identify as GB but reported anal sex with a man in the past 1-5 years ("Identity-or-Behaviour" estimate). Second, an estimate of gbMSM who reported past 6-12 months anal sex with a man ("Behaviour-only" estimate). Methods: Estimates for males aged 15 years and older were drawn from Statistics Canada's population size estimates, the Canadian Community Health Survey and the Community-Based Research Centre's Sex Now Survey. Estimated proportions of GB identity, those not likely to disclose GB identity and MSM who do not identify as GB but who reported past 1-5 years anal sex were applied. Past 6-12 months anal sex history was subsequently used to limit estimates to those sexually active anally. Results: It was estimated that 3.5% of the male population in Canada aged 15 years and older identified as GB. Of GB males, 86.5% were likely to disclose their sexual identity to a government survey. A further 0.1% of non-GB identified males reported past year anal sex with a man. The national Identity-or-Behaviour gbMSM population size in 2020 was estimated at 669,613 people, equivalent to 4.3% of the Canadian male population aged 15 years and older. The estimate of Behaviour-only gbMSM was 412,186, representing 2.6% of the Canadian male population aged 15 years and older. Conclusion: Using data from multiple sources, a model applied to estimate the population size of gbMSM, accounting for populations previously not included in prior estimates, has been described.

National Hepatitis C estimates: Incidence, prevalence, undiagnosed proportion and treatment, Canada, 2019.

Background: Estimates of the number of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are important for monitoring efforts aimed at preventing disease transmission, especially following the introduction of a highly effective treatment. This report provides updated estimates of HCV incidence, prevalence, undiagnosed proportion and treatment in Canada. Methods: A combination of back calculation modelling and a modified version of the workbook method were used to estimate the incidence and prevalence of anti-HCV positive persons, the prevalence of chronic HCV infection and the undiagnosed proportion. The number of people treated for chronic HCV was estimated using administrative pharmaceutical data. Results: An estimated 9,470 new infections occurred in 2019, corresponding to an incidence rate of 25 per 100,000 population, a 7.7% decrease since 2015. The estimated prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies in the Canadian population was 1.03% (plausible range: 0.83%-1.38%), and the estimated prevalence of chronic HCV was 0.54% (plausible range: 0.40%-0.79%). The overall proportion of anti-HCV positive persons who were undiagnosed was estimated at 24% of all infections, with individuals born between 1945 and 1975 being the priority population the most likely to be undiagnosed. An estimated 74,500 people with chronic HCV have been treated since the introduction of direct-acting antivirals in 2014. Conclusion: Estimates of HCV incidence and prevalence are key metrics to guide interventions and resource allocation. While our estimates show that HCV incidence has decreased in Canada in recent years and treatment of chronic HCV has continued to increase, ongoing efforts are required to reduce the burden of HCV in Canada.

Effects of different sedatives/analgesics on stress responses in patients undergoing craniotomy and bone flap decompression.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of sedation and analgesia with dexmedetomidine and other drugs on the stress response in patients with cerebral hemorrhage after craniotomy hematoma removal and bone flap decompression and insertion of an indwelling endotracheal catheter. METHODS: A total of 180 patients with cerebral hemorrhage with consciousness disturbance who underwent emergency surgery were included in this study. They were divided into six groups treated with propofol, dexmedetomidine, lidocaine, sufentanil, dezocine, and remifentanil, respectively. Intravenous medication was given after recovery of spontaneous respiration, and stress responses were compared among the group. RESULTS: Serum concentrations of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and cortisol and systolic blood pressure were significantly correlated with drug treatment. Serum norepinephrine concentrations differed significantly among the groups, except between the sufentanil and propofol groups. There were significant differences in serum epinephrine concentrations among all groups, and significant differences in serum cortisol concentrations among all groups, except the propofol, dexmedetomidine, and lidocaine groups. CONCLUSION: Dexmedetomidine can reduce the stress response in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage undergoing emergency craniotomy and bone flap decompression, and can reduce adverse events from an indwelling endotracheal catheter 3 hours post-operation.

Trends in HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis use in eight Canadian provinces, 2014-2018.

INTRODUCTION: : Canada has endorsed the Joint United National Programme on HIV and AIDS global targets to end the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, including reducing new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections to zero, by 2030. Given the effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent new infections, it is important to measure and report on PrEP utilization to help inform planning for HIV prevention programs and policies. METHODS: : Annual estimates of persons using PrEP in Canada were generated for 2014-2018 from IQVIA's geographical prescription monitor dataset. An algorithm was used to distinguish users of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) for PrEP versus treatment or post-exposure prophylaxis. We provide the estimated number of people using PrEP in eight Canadian provinces by sex, age group, prescriber specialty and payment type. RESULTS: : The estimated number of PrEP users increased dramatically over the five-year study period, showing a 21-fold increase from 460 in 2014 to 9,657 in 2018. Estimated PrEP prevalence was 416 users per million persons across the eight provinces in 2018. Almost all PrEP users were male. Use increased in both sexes, but increase was greater for males (23-fold) than females (five-fold). Use increased across all provinces, although there were jurisdictional differences in the prevalence of use, age distribution and prescriber types. CONCLUSION: : The PrEP use in Canada increased from 2014 to 2018, demonstrating increased awareness and uptake of its use for preventing HIV transmission. However, there was uneven uptake by age, sex and geography. Since new HIV infections continue to occur in Canada, it will be important to further refine the use of PrEP, as populations at higher risk of HIV infection need to be offered PrEP as part of comprehensive sexual healthcare.

Codon usage bias regulates gene expression and protein conformation in yeast expression system P. pastoris.

BACKGROUND: Protein synthesis is one of the extremely important anabolic pathways in the yeast expression system Pichia pastoris. Codon optimization is a commonly adopted strategy for improved protein expression, although unexpected failures did appear sometimes waiting for further exploration. Recently codon bias has been studied to regulate protein folding and activity in many other organisms. RESULTS: Here the codon bias profile of P. pastoris genome was examined first and a direct correlation between codon translation efficiency and usage frequency was identified. By manipulating the codon choices of both endogenous and heterologous signal peptides, secretion abilities of N-terminal signal peptides were shown to be tolerant towards codon changes. Then two gene candidates with different levels of structural disorder were studied, and full-length codon optimization was found to affect their expression profiles differentially. Finally, more evidences were provided to support possible protein conformation change brought by codon optimization in structurally disordered proteins. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that codon bias regulates gene expression by modulating several factors including transcription and translation efficiency, protein folding and activity. Because of sequences difference, the extent of affection may be gene specific. For some genes, special codon optimization strategy should be adopted to ensure appropriate expression and conformation.

Research on COVID-19 based on ARIMA modelΔ-Taking Hubei, China as an example to see the epidemic in Italy.

COVID-19 has spread throughout the world; various forecast models have been used to predict the development of the pandemic. The number of new cases from the outbreak to zero has gone through a complete cycle in Hubei, China, on lockdown over coronavirus. So, we created the time series ARIMA models for new cases and new deaths daily during this period. Moreover, these models have been used in Italy, which has the same population conditions and on lockdown as Hubei, in order to predict the epidemic in Italy in the next ten days and provide a theoretical basis for the development of pandemics in some countries in the future.

Expression patterns of NbrgsCaM family genes in Nicotiana benthamiana and their potential roles in development and stress responses.

rgsCaM has been reported as a calmodulin-like (CML) factor induced by viral infection in Nicotiana. There are three CMLs that belong to the rgsCaM family in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this study, we found a total of 5 NbrgsCaM coding sequences in N. benthamiana genome. We analyzed transcription patterns of NbrgsCaMs in transgenic plants expressing a ß-glucuronidase (GUS) under the promoter of NbrgsCaMs by histochemistry staining and RT-qPCR. Similar to their Arabidopsis homologs, most NbrgsCaMs have an overlapping but distinct expression pattern in response to developmental and environmental changes. Specifically, the NbrgsCaM4 promoter exhibited robust activity and showed distinct regulatory response to viral infection, developmental stages and other abiotic stimuli. Overall, these findings provide clues for further understanding of the NbrgsCaM family genes in regulating plant growth and development under biotic stress and environmental stimulation.

Comparative study on life cycle assessment of gasoline with methyl tertiary-butyl ether and ethanol as additives.

China has proposed to use ethanol instead of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) as a gasoline additive, with full compliance planned for 2020. At present, previous studies on gasoline additive focus almost exclusively on effects of fuel performance and engine, however, the environmental impact production and use of additives cannot be ignored. Herein, we use the life cycle assessment (LCA) method, the environmental effects of E10 (10% maize ethanol and 90% gasoline, v/v) and M10 (10% MTBE and 90% gasoline, v/v) were evaluated and compared. Quantifying the net environmental benefits of implementing this national policy from a life cycle perspective. The results showed that the environmental impact of E10 was 15.4% lower than that of M10. Thus, replacing MTBE with ethanol reduces the total environmental impact. However, there were some negative environmental impacts such as waste solids and water use. Finally, we propose further improvements to make E10 more environmentally friendly.

Integrated Analysis of the Water-Energy-Environmental Pollutant Nexus in the Petrochemical Industry.

China has set high water-conservation, energy-saving, and pollutant-reduction goals for the petrochemical industry. This represents a challenge to petrochemical enterprises because of the complex coupling between water, energy, and environmental pollutant (WEE) subsystems, elements (different types of WEE), and production units. However, there has been little research on the element-level coupling relationship. The connection and difference between the coupling relationships of the system, element, and unit levels are not well understood. Therefore, an integrated analysis method was developed to quantify the petrochemical WEE nexus (WEEN) at these three levels, including a generic WEEN model, material and energy flow analysis, and a WEEN analysis matrix. Three indicators were proposed to analyze three-level coupling quantitatively and to formulate improvement strategies for water-conservation, energy-saving, and pollutant-reduction. A case study demonstrated significant three-level coupling. The coupled percentage of WEE subsystems were 95.87%, 61.97%, and 54.99%, respectively. The dominant energy subsystem was the root of high consumption and pollution. Based on synergies and trade-offs, we proposed element optimization priorities: High priority (deoxidized water and fuel), medium priority (steam, circulating water, and wastewater), and low priority (fresh water, demineralized water, waste gas, and electricity). The identified unit improvement potential revealed overestimation (hydrotreating and delayed coking units) and underestimation (crude distillation units) of conventional methods that overlook three-level coupling.

Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl China Virus Impairs Photosynthesis in the Infected Nicotiana benthamiana with ßC1 as an Aggravating Factor.

Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus is a species of the widespread geminiviruses. The infection of Nicotiana benthamiana by Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus (TYLCCNV) causes a reduction in photosynthetic activity, which is part of the viral symptoms. ßC1 is a viral factor encoded by the betasatellite DNA (DNAß) accompanying TYLCCNV. It is a major viral pathogenicity factor of TYLCCNV. To elucidate the effect of ßC1 on plants' photosynthesis, we measured the relative chlorophyll (Chl) content and Chl fluorescence in TYLCCNV-infected and ßC1 transgenic N. benthamiana plants. The results showed that Chl content is reduced in TYLCCNV A-infected, TYLCCNV A plus DNAß (TYLCCNV A + ß)-infected and ßC1 transgenic plants. Further, changes in Chl fluorescence parameters, such as electron transport rate, F v /F m , NPQ, and qP, revealed that photosynthetic efficiency is compromised in the aforementioned N. benthamiana plants. The presense of ßC1 aggravated the decrease of Chl content and photosynthetic efficiency during viral infection. Additionally, the real-time quantitative PCR analysis of oxygen evolving complex genes in photosystem II, such as PsbO, PsbP, PsbQ, and PsbR, showed a significant reduction of the relative expression of these genes at the late stage of TYLCCNV A + ß infection and at the vegetative stage of ßC1 transgenic N. benthamiana plants. In summary, this study revealed the pathogenicity of TYLCCNV in photosynthesis and disclosed the effect of ßC1 in exacerbating the damage in photosynthesis efficiency by TYLCCNV infection.

Impact of Parental Incarceration on Body Weight Status of Children and Young Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objectives: Parental incarceration might impact children's body weight through household financial strain, lack of caregiving, social stigma, and stress. In this study, we systematically reviewed scientific literature linking parental incarceration to body weight status of children and young adults. Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, and Cochrane Library for relevant peer-reviewed articles and abstracts. Meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the association between parental incarceration and children's body weight. Results: Five US-based studies were identified. Three examined children 17 years and younger, and 2 examined adults 18-34 years. After adjusting for individual, family and neighborhood characteristics, 2 reported a negative association, 2 reported a null relationship, and one reported a positive association between parental incarceration and children's weight. Meta-analysis did not identify an association between parental incarceration and children's body weight. Conclusion: Evidence linking parental incarceration to children's body weight remains limited due to the small body of heterogeneous literature and observational design. Future research should assess the impact of parental incarceration on body weight across children's stage of development, type and duration of incarceration, nature of conviction, population subgroup and geographical region, and elucidate the psychosocial pathways linking parental incarceration to unhealthy body weight.

Impact of built environment on physical activity and obesity among children and adolescents in China: A narrative systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Neighborhood built environment may profoundly influence children's physical activity (PA) and body weight. This study systematically reviewed scientific evidence regarding the impact of built environment on PA and obesity among children and adolescents in China. METHODS: A keyword and reference search was conducted in Active Living Research, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Web of Science. Studies that met all of the following criteria were included in the review: (1) study designs-experimental studies, observational studies, and qualitative studies; (2) study subjects-Chinese children and/or adolescents aged ≤17 years; (3) exposures-neighborhood built environment; (4) outcomes-PA and/or body weight status; (5) article type-peer-reviewed publications; (6) time window of search-from the inception of an electronicbibliographic database to May 31, 2018; (7) country-China; and (8) language-articles written in English. RESULTS: A total of 20 studies, including 16 cross-sectional studies, 3 longitudinal studies, and 1 descriptive study, met the predetermined selection criteria and were included in the review. A total of 13 studies adopted subjective built environment measures reported by parents and/or children,2 adopted objective measures (e.g., geographical information system, field observations), and 5 adopted both objective and subjective measures. PA behaviors included PA, physical inactivity, sedentary behavior, active/passive commuting from/to school, and park visits. Among the 16 studies that provided some quantitative estimates of the influence of built environment on PA and body weight status, all reported a statistically significant relationship in the expected direction. Availability and accessibility in proximity to greenspaces, parks, recreational facilities, and sidewalks were found to be associated with increased PA levels, reduced sedentary behaviors, and/or active commuting among Chinese childrenand adolescents. In contrast, the absence of bike lanes and living in higher density residential areas were associated with increased likelihood of childhood overweight and obesity. CONCLUSION: Neighborhood built environment plays an important role in Chinese children's PA engagement and weight outcomes. Building new exercise facilities and enhancing the accessibility of existing facilities hold the potential to enhance PA engagement among Chinese children and adolescents. In addition, urban designs that incorporate sidewalks, bike lanes, walking paths, less motorized traffic, and lower residential density are likely to promote PA and prevent childhood obesity in China.

Cross-pathway control gene CPC1/GCN4 coordinates with histone acetyltransferase GCN5 to regulate catalase-3 expression under oxidative stress in Neurospora crassa.

Catalase is an important enzyme found in nearly all aerobic organisms and plays an essential role in protecting cells from oxidative damage by catalyzing the degradation of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. In filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, the expression levels of catalases are rigorously regulated by morphogenetic transition during growth and development in cells. Our study revealed that catalase-3 transcription is positively regulated by histone acetyltransferase GCN5 and the cross-pathway control gene cpc-1, as the cat-3 expression level is significantly decreased in gcn5KO and cpc-1 (j-5) mutants. Moreover, gcn5KO and cpc-1 (j-5) mutants could not respond to H2O2 treatment due to the inadequate cat-3 transcription, while wild-type strains showed high expression levels of catalase upon H2O2 treatment. The global H3 acetylation and the acetylation of H3 at cat-3 locus dramatically decreased in gcn5KO under normal or oxidative stress conditions. Meanwhile, the expression of CAT-3 is reduced in gcn5E146Q, the catalytically dead mutant, suggesting that the catalytic activity of GCN5 functions in regulation of cat-3 transcription. In addition, GCN5 cannot acetylate histone H3 efficiently at cat-3 locus in cpc-1 (j-5) mutant strains under normal or oxidative stress conditions. Furthermore, ChIP assays data revealed that the CPC1/GCN4 can directly target the cat-3 promoter region, which may recruit GCN5 to modify the histone acetylation of this region. These results disclosed a distinctive function of CPC1/GCN4 in the regulatory pathway of cat-3 transcription, which is mediated by GCN5-dependent acetylation.

Folic Acid Supplementation in Pregnancy and the Risk of Pre-Eclampsia-A Cohort Study.

This prospective cohort study designed to assess the effect of folic acid supplementation in pregnancy on the risk of preeclampsia (PE) took place in Ottawa, ON and Kingston, ON, Canada, from September 1, 2002 to August 31, 2008. Pregnant women, less than 20 weeks gestational age were recruited and delivered in the Ottawa region and the Kingston General Hospital. Demographic characteristics of the study participants and the patterns of supplementation of folic acid were described and occurrence of PE between women with folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and women without were compared. Multiple logistic regression was used in the estimation of the independent effect of supplementation of folic acid. Additional analyses assessing the effect of low RBC and serum folate and dose-response relationship were performed. Analyses were performed in all study participants, and then in high risk and low risk sub-groups, respectively. A total of 7,669 participants were included in the final analysis. Ninety five percent of the study participants were taking folic acid supplementation in early second trimester. The rate of PE was lower in the supplementation group than in the no supplementation group, and the difference was statistically significant in high risk women. Similar patterns of associations were observed in analysis by RBC and serum folate levels and in dose-response analysis. Folic acid supplementation in pregnancy may reduce PE risk in pregnant women, especially in those women with increased risk of developing PE.

3D CPR Game Can Improve CPR Skill Retention.

Adequate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skill is essential in improving survival rate of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). However, the skill deteriorates rapidly following CPR training. We developed a computer game by using 3-Dimensional virtual technology (3-D CPR game) for laypersons in the purpose to improve skill retention. As the testing phase, a randomized control trial, in which we recruited 97 freshman medical students who had no prior CPR training experience, was used to test its effect on 3-month CPR Skill retention. The usability of the game was also tested using a 33 item questionnaire rated with 5-point Likert scale. Three months after the initial CPR training, the retention rate of CPR skill in the game group was significantly higher compared with the control (p<0.05) and the average score on 4 dimensions of usability were 3.99-4.05. Overall, using 3-D CPR game in improving CPR skill retention is feasible and effective.

Mechanism of siRNA production from repetitive DNA.

RNAi is a conserved genome defense mechanism in eukaryotes that protects against deleterious effects of transposons and viral invasion. Repetitive DNA loci are a major source for the production of eukaryotic small RNAs, but how these small RNAs are produced is not clear. Quelling in Neurospora is one of the first known RNAi-related phenomena and is triggered by the presence of multiple copies of transgenes. Here we showed that DNA tandem repeats and double-strand breaks are necessary and, when both are present, sufficient to trigger gene silencing and siRNA production. Introduction of a site-specific double-strand break or DNA fragile site resulted in homologous recombination of repetitive sequences, which is required for gene silencing. In addition to siRNA production, the quelling pathway also maintains tandem repeats by regulating homologous recombination. Our study identified the mechanistic trigger for siRNA production from repetitive DNA and established a role for siRNA in maintaining genome stability.

Efficacy and biological safety of lopinavir/ritonavir based anti-retroviral therapy in HIV-1-infected patients: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) is the first ritonavir-boosted protease-inhibitor used in second-line anti-retroviral treatment (ART) in resource-limited regions. To evaluate the efficacy and safety outcomes of LPV/r in treatment-naïve and -experienced HIV-infected adults and pregnant women, we performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Ten cohorts from 8 articles involving 2,584 ART-naïve patients, 5 cohorts from 4 articles involving 1,124 ART-experienced patients, and 8 cohorts from 7 articles involving 2,191 pregnant women were selected for the meta-analyses. For ART-naïve patients, the virologic response rate (72.3%) of LPV/r combined with tenofovir (TDF) plus lamivudine/emtricitabine (3TC/FTC) arms was significantly greater than that of LPV/r plus non-TDF-FTC arms (65.5%, p = 0.047). For ART-experienced patients, the use of LPV/r revealed a 55.7% probability of virologic success. The incidence of abnormal total cholesterol (6.9%) for ART-experienced patients was significantly lower than that for ART-naïve patients (13.1%, p < 0.001). The use of LPV/r in pregnant women revealed a mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) rate of 1.1%, preterm birth rate of 13.2%, and low birth weight rate of 16.2%. Our meta-analysis indicated that LPV/r was an efficacious regimen for ART-naïve patients and was more tolerable for ART-experienced patients. LPV/r also displayed a significant effect in preventing MTCT.

The development and evaluation of a computerized diagnosis scheme for pneumoconiosis on digital chest radiographs.

PURPOSE: To diagnose pneumoconiosis using a computer-aided diagnosis system based on digital chest radiographs. METHODS: Lung fields were first extracted by combining the traditional Otsu-threshold method with a morphological reconstruction on digital radiographs (DRs), and then subdivided into six non-overlapping regions (region (a-f)). Twenty-two wavelet-based energy texture features were calculated exclusively from each region and selected using a decision tree algorithm. A support vector machine (SVM) with a linear kernel was trained using samples with texture features to classify an individual region of a healthy subject or a pneumoconiosis patient. The final classification results were obtained by integrating these individual classifiers with the weighted voting method. All models were developed on a dataset of 85 healthy controls and 40 stage I or II pneumoconiosis patients and validated by using the bootstrap resampling with replacement method. RESULTS: The areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of regions (c) and (f) were 0.688 and 0.563, which were worse than those of the other four regions. Region (c) and (f) were both excluded from the individual classifiers that were going to be assembled further. When built on the selected texture features, each individual SVM showed a higher diagnostic performance for the training set and the test set. The classification performance after an ensemble was 0.997 and 0.961 of the AUC value for the training and test sets, respectively. The final results were 0.974 ± 0.018 for AUC value and 0.929 ± 0.018 for accuracy. CONCLUSION: The integrated SVM model built on the selected feature set showed the highest diagnostic performance among all individual SVM models. The model has good potential in diagnosing pneumoconiosis based on digital chest radiographs.

Digital inventory of Arabidopsis transcripts revealed by 61 RNA sequencing samples.

Alternative splicing is an essential biological process to generate proteome diversity and phenotypic complexity. Recent improvements in RNA sequencing accuracy and computational algorithms have provided unprecedented opportunities to examine the expression levels of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) transcripts. In this article, we analyzed 61 RNA sequencing samples from 10 totally independent studies of Arabidopsis and calculated the transcript expression levels in different tissues, treatments, developmental stages, and varieties. These data provide a comprehensive profile of Arabidopsis transcripts with single-base resolution. We quantified the expression levels of 40,745 transcripts annotated in The Arabidopsis Information Resource 10, comprising 73% common transcripts, 15% rare transcripts, and 12% nondetectable transcripts. In addition, we investigated diverse common transcripts in detail, including ubiquitous transcripts, dominant/subordinate transcripts, and switch transcripts, in terms of their expression and transcript ratio. Interestingly, alternative splicing was the highly enriched function for the genes related to dominant/subordinate transcripts and switch transcripts. In addition, motif analysis revealed that TC motifs were enriched in dominant transcripts but not in subordinate transcripts. These motifs were found to have a strong relationship with transcription factor activity. Our results shed light on the complexity of alternative splicing and the diversity of the contributing factors.