Time pressure and deliberation affect moral punishment.

The deliberate-morality account implies that moral punishment should be decreased with time pressure and increased with deliberation while the intuitive-morality account predicts the opposite. In three experiments, moral punishment was examined in a simultaneous one-shot Prisoner's Dilemma game with a costly punishment option. The players cooperated or defected and then decided whether or not to punish their partners. In Experiment 1, the punishment decisions were made without or with time pressure. In Experiment 2, the punishment decisions were immediate or delayed by pauses in which participants deliberated their decisions. In Experiment 3, participants were asked to deliberate self-interest or fairness before deciding whether to punish their partners. Different types of punishment were distinguished using the cooperation-and-punishment model. In Experiment 1, time pressure decreased moral punishment. In Experiment 2, deliberation increased moral punishment. So far, the evidence supports the deliberate-morality account. Experiment 3 demonstrates that the effect of deliberation depends on what is deliberated. When participants deliberated self-interest rather than fairness, moral punishment was decreased. The results suggest that unguided deliberation increases moral punishment, but the effects of deliberation are modulated by the type of deliberation that takes place. These results strengthen a process-based account of punishment which offers a more nuanced understanding of the context-specific effect of deliberation on moral punishment than the deliberate-morality account.

Modeling pediatric antibiotic use in an area of declining malaria prevalence.

In malaria-endemic areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, overlap of clinical symptoms between malarial and non-malarial febrile illnesses can lead to empiric use of antibiotics among children. Our study aimed to illustrate the potential impact of decreasing malaria prevalence from malaria control efforts on antibiotic use. We constructed a probabilistic decision tree model representing antibiotic prescription in febrile children < 5 years. This model was used to predict change in absolute antibiotic use compared to baseline under levels of decreasing malaria prevalence. Model parameters were based on data from a hospital study in Ghana and validated via literature review. The baseline prevalence of malaria diagnoses was 52% among all hospitalized children. For our main results, we reported outcomes for a scenario representing a 50% decrease in malaria prevalence. Compared to baseline, absolute antibiotic prescription decreased from a baseline of 639 doses (95% CI 574-694) to 575 (95% CI 502-638). This reflected a 10% (95% CI 7%-13%) decrease in absolute antibiotic use. Our findings demonstrate that effective malaria control can reduce pediatric antibiotic use. However, until substantial progress is made in developing accurate diagnostics for non-malarial febrile illnesses, further reductions in antibiotic use will remain a challenge.

Beyond mutations: Accounting for quantitative changes in the analysis of protein evolution.

Molecular phylogenetic research has relied on the analysis of the coding sequences by genes or of the amino acid sequences by the encoded proteins. Enumerating the numbers of mismatches, being indicators of mutation, has been central to pertinent algorithms. Specific amino acids possess quantifiable characteristics that enable the conversion from "words" (strings of letters denoting amino acids or bases) to "waves" (strings of quantitative values representing the physico-chemical properties) or to matrices (coordinates representing the positions in a comprehensive property space). The application of such numerical representations to evolutionary analysis takes into account not only the occurrence of mutations but also their properties as influences that drive speciation, because selective pressures favor certain mutations over others, and this predilection is represented in the characteristics of the incorporated amino acids (it is not born out solely by the mismatches). Besides being more discriminating sources for tree-generating algorithms than match/mismatch, the number strings can be examined for overall similarity with average mutual information, autocorrelation, and fractal dimension. Bivariate wavelet analysis aids in distinguishing hypermutable versus conserved domains of the protein. The matrix depiction is readily subjected to comparisons of distances, and it allows the generation of heat maps or graphs. This analysis preserves the accepted taxa order where tree construction with standard approaches yields conflicting results (for the protein S100A6). It also aids hypothesis generation about the origin of mitochondrial proteins. These analytical algorithms have been automated in R and are applicable to various processes that are describable in matrix format.

Prediction of Major Adverse Cardiac Events After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation: A Machine Learning Approach with GRACE Score.

Objectives: Predictive risk scores have a significant impact on patient selection and assessing the likelihood of complications following interventions in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). This study aims to explore the utility of machine learning (ML) techniques in predicting 30-day major adverse cardiac events (MACE) by analyzing parameters, including the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score. Methods: This retrospective, multi-center, observational study enrolled 453 consecutive patients diagnosed with severe AS who underwent transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) from April 2020 to January 2023. The primary outcome was defined as a composition of MACE comprising periprocedural myocardial infarction (MI), cerebrovascular events (CVE), and all-cause mortality during the 1-month follow-up period after the procedure. Conventional binomial logistic regression and ML models were utilized and compared for prediction purposes. Results: The study population had a mean age of 76.1, with 40.8% being male. The primary endpoint was observed in 7.5% of cases. Among the individual components of the primary endpoint, the rates of all-cause mortality, MI, and CVE were reported as 4.2%, 2.4%, and 1.9%, respectively. The ML-based Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model with the GRACE score demonstrated superior discriminative performance in predicting the primary endpoint, compared to both the ML model without the GRACE score and the conventional regression model [Area Under the Curve (AUC)= 0.98 (0.91-0.99), AUC= 0,87 (0.80-0.98), AUC= 0.84 (0.79-0.96)]. Conclusion: ML techniques hold the potential to enhance outcomes in clinical practice, especially when utilized alongside established clinical tools such as the GRACE score.

Salvadora persica leaves: phytochemical profile and in vitro-inhibitory activity on inflammatory mediators implicated in periodontal disease.

CONTEXT: Virtually all parts of Salvadora persica L. (Salvadoraceae) are used in traditional medicine. The twigs and leaves are used for oral health, but leaves are far less investigated. OBJECTIVE: This study assesses the oral health-promoting potential of S. persica leaves with emphasis on anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative effects and provides an in depth-characterization of their metabolite profile. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hot-water and methanolic S. persica leaf extracts (1, 10, and 100 µg/mL) and their major constituents (5, 10, and 50 µM), were subjected to cellular assays on IL-8 and TNFα release in LPS-stimulated human neutrophils, NO-release in LPS/IFNγ stimulated mouse macrophages, and proliferation of HNO97 human tongue carcinoma cells. Metabolite profiling was performed by UHPLC-HRMS analysis. Major constituents were isolated and structurally elucidated. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Both extracts showed pronounced anti-inflammatory activity in LPS-stimulated neutrophils. Major identified compound classes were flavonoid glycosides, the glucosinolate glucotropaeolin, phenyl- and benzylglycoside sulfates, and megastigmane glycosylsulfates, the latter ones identified for the first time in S. persica. Glucotropaeolin strongly inhibited the release of IL-8 and TNF-α (13.3 ± 2.0 and 22.7 ± 2.6% of the release of stimulated control cells at 50 µM), while some flavonoids and 3-(3'-O-sulfo-ß-d-glucopyranosyloxy)-7,8-dihydro-ß-ionone, a newly isolated megastigmane glycosylsulfate, were moderately active. Benzylisothiocyanate, which is likely formed from glucotropaeolin during traditional application of S. persica, showed considerable antiproliferative activity (IC50 in HNO97 cells: 10.19 ± 0.72 µM) besides strongly inhibiting IL-8 and TNFα release. CONCLUSIONS: Glucotropaeolin and benzylisothiocyanate are likely implicated in the oral health-promoting effects of S. persica leaves. The chemistry and pharmacology of the newly identified megastigmane glycosylsulfates should be further evaluated.

Integrated effect of aspect ratio and tree spacing on pedestrian thermal comfort of street canyon.

Increasing heat stress in urban environments due to climate change has a significant adverse impact on human work and daily life. Street canyons as the main component of the underlying surface of the city and the main place of residents' activities, a comprehensive understanding of street morphology and tree planting practices can help to improve thermal comfort. Based on survey data and field experiments, this study designed 30 scenarios and employed ENVI-met model (version 5.0.3) to quantify the effect of street aspect ratio (H/W: H is building height and W is street width) and tree spacing (TS) on pedestrian thermal comfort in two differently oriented streets (north-south and east-west) in Taiyuan, China. Results showed that H/W ratio and TS significantly influenced the street thermal comfort mainly owing to shading. H/W ratio played a pivotal role in reducing mean radiant temperature (Tmrt) and physiological equivalent temperature (PET), and was negatively correlated with Tmrt and PET. Compared to no-tree scenarios, street trees significantly improved thermal comfort (mean reductions of Tmrt and PET were 12.74℃ and 5.66℃, respectively), and PET and Tmrt were significantly negatively correlated with TS. The improvement effect of street trees on Tmrt and PET in east-west oriented street was better than north-south oriented street. H/W = 1.0 and TS = 6 m appeared as the proposed combination to mitigate the summer thermal comfort in the temperate monsoon climate zone. These quantitative results provide new insights into renewal and design strategies for future urban planning.

Tree failure - A natural phenomenon with forensic implications.

Tree failure, or summer branch drop, refers to situations where large branches or whole trees may unexpectedly drop on unsuspecting victims. On occasion, this involves vehicles impacted by falling overhanging trees or branches. To study this phenomenon further review of the Forensic Science SA, Adelaide, Australia, database and an internet news search were undertaken over a 20 year period from March 2004 to February 2024 for all cases where unexpected accidental deaths in South Australia had been caused by falling branches or trees. There were six cases (age range 12-63 years; average 39 years; M:F 1:2). Three deaths occurred when branches dropped onto vehicles being driven along roads, 2 occurred when entire trees dropped onto the victims (one in windy weather) and 1 was due to a branch drop. Three tree species were identified as a grey box gum tree (Eucalyptus microcarpa), a lemon-scented gum tree (Corymbia citriodora) and a Cottonwood tree (Populus deltoides). The remainder were variants of eucalyptus (gum) trees. Deaths due to tree failures are uncommon and may involve a variety of different tree species with these events not necessarily occurring during high winds or storms. The major findings at autopsy are blunt force injuries.

Integration of ecological indicators to assess a multitemporal impact of cement industries.

The present study evaluated an integrated biomonitoring approach based on three different bioindicators: tree rings, lichens, and beetles in a complex environment (urban-industrial-forest). In Central Italy, four sampling sites were selected to assess the anthropogenic impact of cement plants taking into account (1) long-term exposure (1988-2020) through the analysis of trace elements in tree rings of Quercus pubescens; (2) medium-term exposure (2020-2021) through the analysis of trace elements in thalli (outermost portions) of the lichen Xanthoria parietina; (3) short-term exposure in spring 2021 through the bioaccumulation and evaluation of sample vitality in transplants of the lichen Evernia prunastri and a periodic survey of entomological biodiversity carried out during spring and summer 2021. Trace elements of industrial origin were found in tree rings, with different levels of accumulation between 1988 and 2020 and a maximum in 2012. Native thalli of the lichen X. parietina showed an overall low bioaccumulation of trace elements except for Cr, probably reflecting the influence of national lockdown measures. The transplants of E. prunastri showed a weak stress response in the industrial and urban sites, but not in the forest, and identified Tl and V as the main elements contributing to atmospheric contamination, with peaks at the industrial sites. Concerning the beetles, a significantly lower number of species was found at the Semonte industrial site.

Mating behavior and oviposition of Palpita forficifera (Lepidoptera: Crambidae).

Palpita forficifera Munroe, 1959 (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is considered the main pest of the olive tree (Olea europaea L., Oleaceae) in Brazil and Uruguay. The aim of this work was to study the mating and oviposition behavior of P. forficifera in the field and laboratory. In the field, the sex emitting the mating pheromone was determined and in the laboratory, the rate of emergence of males and females; the age, time and duration of mating; number of copulations and oviposition time of P. forficifera were recorded. The field results showed that it was possible to capture up to five males per trap in just one night in traps with the presence of female P. forficifera. Copulation occurs between the seventh and twenty-third day of life and is most frequent during the third and sixth hours of scotophase. The average duration of the first copulation was 174 min, with 35% of couples recopulating, and there were cases of up to five copulations. Oviposition times were concentrated between 20:00 and 02:00. The results obtained provide insight into the reproductive behavior of P. forficifera and are useful for future studies aimed at identifying the sex pheromone to improve monitoring of the pest in olive orchards.

Quantifying the resistance of mixed-forests against natural hazards in the Pyrenees.

Mountain protection forests can prevent natural hazards by reducing their onset and propagation probabilities. In fact, individual trees act as natural barriers against hydrogeomorphic events. However, assessing the structural strength of trees against these hazards is challenging, especially in a context of climate change due to the intensification of extreme events and changes in forest dynamics. Here, we focus on the mechanical analyses of two of the most common tree species across the Pyrenees (Abies alba Mill. and Fagus sylvatica L.) growing in two different areas (Spain and France), and affected by recurrent snow avalanche and rockfall events. We first performed 53 pulling test on mature trees, where the root-plate stiffness and the modulus of elasticity of the stems were evaluated. To further analyse the impact of forest management and climate on protective forests, we yielded information on tree growth using dendroecology techniques. Then, we assessed structure and neighbourhood characteristics for each target tree to account for the surrounding forest structure. Finally, using linear and structured equation models we tested if the mechanical capacity of the trees is determined either by functional traits (e.g. species, tree growth, diameter and height) or forest structural traits (e.g. tree density, tree structure and slenderness) or both. Our results suggest that the forest neighbourhood influences tree mechanical capacity through two pathways, including both functional and structural traits. The individual stiffness parameter of trees is influenced by their functional traits, while their structural traits are more closely related with changes in the modulus of elasticity. Both species exhibit varying levels of dominance in different locations, which is related to their resilience to the diverse natural hazards they confront. Our findings provide relevant insights to anticipating management strategies for forests that serve as a protective barrier against natural hazards in the context of a changing climate.

Phylogenetic Diversity Indices from an Affine and Projective Viewpoint.

Phylogenetic diversity indices are commonly used to rank the elements in a collection of species or populations for conservation purposes. The derivation of these indices is typically based on some quantitative description of the evolutionary history of the species in question, which is often given in terms of a phylogenetic tree. Both rooted and unrooted phylogenetic trees can be employed, and there are close connections between the indices that are derived in these two different ways. In this paper, we introduce more general phylogenetic diversity indices that can be derived from collections of subsets (clusters) and collections of bipartitions (splits) of the given set of species. Such indices could be useful, for example, in case there is some uncertainty in the topology of the tree being used to derive a phylogenetic diversity index. As well as characterizing some of the indices that we introduce in terms of their special properties, we provide a link between cluster-based and split-based phylogenetic diversity indices that uses a discrete analogue of the classical link between affine and projective geometry. This provides a unified framework for many of the various phylogenetic diversity indices used in the literature based on rooted and unrooted phylogenetic trees, generalizations and new proofs for previous results concerning tree-based indices, and a way to define some new phylogenetic diversity indices that naturally arise as affine or projective variants of each other or as generalizations of tree-based indices.

Whole-genome sequencing of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli causing urinary tract infection in an immunocompromised patient: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Escherichia coli is a major human pathogen responsible for a broad range of clinical illnesses. It has been linked to endemic and epidemic nosocomial diseases caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens in Sudan as well as throughout the globe. CASE PRESENTATION: A 76-year-old African woman arrived at Saad Rashwan Medical Centre complaining of backaches and discomfort during urination. Throughout the preceding 5 years, the patient had recurrent urinary tract infections. Following overnight incubation at 37 °C, Escherichia coli was found in her midstream urine specimen on cysteine lactose electrolyte deficient agar media. Minimum inhibitory concentration (colorimetric/turbidimetric method) was employed to test a wide range of antimicrobial drugs against this bacterial strain, and the results revealed significant multidrug resistance. QIAamp® DNA Mini Kit was used to obtain DNA Template from the purified Escherichia coli (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). The bacterial whole-genome sequence was done by Novogene company (Hong Kong) using Illumina HiSeq 2500 (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA), followed by whole genome reconstructions, and identification of antibiotic-resistant genes. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that our strain was related to the Escherichia coli DSM30083 ( genome sequence ID: CP033092.2) from the USA. Our strain possessed the following antimicrobial-resistant genes: aminoglycoside (kdpE, baeR, cpxA, aadA5), nitroimidazole (msbA), phosphonic acid (mdtG), tetracycline (emrY), macrolide, penam, tetracycline, (evgA, TolC, H-NS), fluoroquinolone, cephalosporin, glycylcycline, penam, tetracycline, rifamycin, phenicol antibiotic, disinfecting agents and antiseptics (acrB; marA), sulfonamide (sul1), macrolide (Mrx), cephalosporin, penam (CTX-M-15), carbapenem, cephalosporin, and penam (OXA-1). CONCLUSION: This study found that the isolated Escherichia coli strain had varied antimicrobial resistance genes on the basis of whole-genome sequencing and phenotypic resistance analyses. Whole-genome sequencing is critical for control and preventative methods to battle the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. A larger investigation is recommended for improved generalization of results.

Disentangling sources of gene tree discordance for Hordeum species via target-enriched sequencing assays.

Hordeum is an economically and evolutionarily important genus within the Triticeae tribe of the family Poaceae, and contains 33 widely distributed and diverse species which cytologically represent four subgenomes (H, Xa, Xu and I). These wild species (except Hordeum spontaneum, which is the primary gene pool of barley) are secondary or tertiary gene-pool germplasms for barley and wheat improvement, and uncovering their complicated evolutionary relationships would benefit for future breeding programs. Here, we developed a complexity-reduced pipeline via capturing genome-wide distributed fragments via two novel target-enriched assays (HorCap v1.0 and BarPlex v1.0) in conjugation with high-throughput sequencing of the enrichments. Both assays were tested for genotyping 40 species from three genera (Hordeum, Triticum, and Aegilops) containing 82 samples 67 accessions. Either of both assays worked efficiently in genotyping, while integration of both assays can significantly improve the robustness and resolution of the Hordeum phylogenetic trees. Interestingly, the incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) was inferred for the first time as the major factor causing phylogenetic discordance among the four subgenomes, whereas in New World species (carrying I genome) post-speciation introgression events were revealed. Through revising the evolutionary relationships of the Hordeum species based on an ancestral state reconstruction for the diploids and parental donor inference for the polyploids, our results raised new queries about the Hordeum phylogeny. Moreover, both newly-developed assays are applicable in genotyping and phylogenetic analysis of Hordeum and other Triticeae wild species.

Predicting the immunomodulatory activity of probiotic lactic acid bacteria using supervised Machine Learning in a Cornu aspersum snail model.

In the process of screening for probiotic strains, there are no clearly established bacterial phenotypic markers which could be used for the prediction of their in vivo mechanism of action. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time that Machine Learning (ML) methods can be used for accurately predicting the in vivo immunomodulatory activity of probiotic strains based on their cell surface phenotypic features using a snail host-microbe interaction model. A broad range of snail gut presumptive probiotics, including 240 new lactic acid bacterial strains (Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Lactococcus, and Enterococcus), were isolated and characterized based on their capacity to withstand snails' gastrointestinal defense barriers, such as the pedal mucus, gastric mucus, gastric juices, and acidic pH, in association with their cell surface hydrophobicity, autoaggregation, and biofilm formation ability. The implemented ML pipeline predicted with high accuracy (88%) strains with a strong capacity to enhance chemotaxis and phagocytic activity of snails' hemolymph cells, while also revealed bacterial autoaggregation and cell surface hydrophobicity as the most important parameters that significantly affect host immune responses. The results show that ML approaches may be useful to derive a predictive understanding of host-probiotic interactions, while also highlighted the use of snails as an efficient animal model for screening presumptive probiotic strains in the light of their interaction with cellular innate immune responses.

NodeFlow: Towards End-to-End Flexible Probabilistic Regression on Tabular Data.

We introduce NodeFlow, a flexible framework for probabilistic regression on tabular data that combines Neural Oblivious Decision Ensembles (NODEs) and Conditional Continuous Normalizing Flows (CNFs). It offers improved modeling capabilities for arbitrary probabilistic distributions, addressing the limitations of traditional parametric approaches. In NodeFlow, the NODE captures complex relationships in tabular data through a tree-like structure, while the conditional CNF utilizes the NODE's output space as a conditioning factor. The training process of NodeFlow employs standard gradient-based learning, facilitating the end-to-end optimization of the NODEs and CNF-based density estimation. This approach ensures outstanding performance, ease of implementation, and scalability, making NodeFlow an appealing choice for practitioners and researchers. Comprehensive assessments on benchmark datasets underscore NodeFlow's efficacy, revealing its achievement of state-of-the-art outcomes in multivariate probabilistic regression setup and its strong performance in univariate regression tasks. Furthermore, ablation studies are conducted to justify the design choices of NodeFlow. In conclusion, NodeFlow's end-to-end training process and strong performance make it a compelling solution for practitioners and researchers. Additionally, it opens new avenues for research and application in the field of probabilistic regression on tabular data.

Contrasting Patterns of Fungal and Bacterial Endophytes Inhabiting Temperate Tree Leaves in Response to Thinning.

The phyllosphere is an important but underestimated habitat for a variety of microorganisms, with limited knowledge about leaf endophytes as a crucial component of the phyllosphere microbiome. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms of communities and co-occurrence networks of leaf endophytes in response to forest thinning in a temperate forest. As we expected, contrasting responses of fungal and bacterial endophytes were observed. Specifically, the diversity of leaf endophytic fungi and the complexity of their co-occurrence networks increased significantly with thinning intensity, whereas the complexity of endophytic bacterial co-occurrence networks decreased. In particular, microbiota inhabiting damaged leaves seem to be more intensively interacting, showing an evident fungi-bacteria trade-off under forest thinning. In damaged leaves, besides the direct effects of thinning, thinning-induced changes in neighbor tree diversity indirectly altered the diversity of leaf fungal and bacterial endophytes via modifying leaf functional traits such as leaf dry matter content and specific leaf area. These findings provide new experimental evidence for the trade-offs between leaf endophytic fungi and bacteria under the different magnitudes of deforestation, highlighting their dependence on the presence or absence of leaf damage.

Unraveling genomic features and phylogenomics through the analysis of three Mexican endemic Myotis genomes.

Background: Genomic resource development for non-model organisms is rapidly progressing, seeking to uncover molecular mechanisms and evolutionary adaptations enabling thriving in diverse environments. Limited genomic data for bat species hinder insights into their evolutionary processes, particularly within the diverse Myotis genus of the Vespertilionidae family. In Mexico, 15 Myotis species exist, with three-M. vivesi, M. findleyi, and M. planiceps-being endemic and of conservation concern. Methods: We obtained samples of Myotis vivesi, M. findleyi, and M. planiceps for genomic analysis. Each of three genomic DNA was extracted, sequenced, and assembled. The scaffolding was carried out utilizing the M. yumanensis genome via a genome-referenced approach within the ntJoin program. GapCloser was employed to fill gaps. Repeat elements were characterized, and gene prediction was done via ab initio and homology methods with MAKER pipeline. Functional annotation involved InterproScan, BLASTp, and KEGG. Non-coding RNAs were annotated with INFERNAL, and tRNAscan-SE. Orthologous genes were clustered using Orthofinder, and a phylogenomic tree was reconstructed using IQ-TREE. Results: We present genome assemblies of these endemic species using Illumina NovaSeq 6000, each exceeding 2.0 Gb, with over 90% representing single-copy genes according to BUSCO analyses. Transposable elements, including LINEs and SINEs, constitute over 30% of each genome. Helitrons, consistent with Vespertilionids, were identified. Values around 20,000 genes from each of the three assemblies were derived from gene annotation and their correlation with specific functions. Comparative analysis of orthologs among eight Myotis species revealed 20,820 groups, with 4,789 being single copy orthogroups. Non-coding RNA elements were annotated. Phylogenomic tree analysis supported evolutionary chiropterans' relationships. These resources contribute significantly to understanding gene evolution, diversification patterns, and aiding conservation efforts for these endangered bat species.

Predicting distant metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma using gradient boosting tree model based on detailed magnetic resonance imaging reports.

BACKGROUND: Development of distant metastasis (DM) is a major concern during treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, studies have demonstrated improved distant control and survival in patients with advanced NPC with the addition of chemotherapy to concomitant chemoradiotherapy. Therefore, precise prediction of metastasis in patients with NPC is crucial. AIM: To develop a predictive model for metastasis in NPC using detailed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reports. METHODS: This retrospective study included 792 patients with non-distant metastatic NPC. A total of 469 imaging variables were obtained from detailed MRI reports. Data were stratified and randomly split into training (50%) and testing sets. Gradient boosting tree (GBT) models were built and used to select variables for predicting DM. A full model comprising all variables and a reduced model with the top-five variables were built. Model performance was assessed by area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: Among the 792 patients, 94 developed DM during follow-up. The number of metastatic cervical nodes (30.9%), tumor invasion in the posterior half of the nasal cavity (9.7%), two sides of the pharyngeal recess (6.2%), tubal torus (3.3%), and single side of the parapharyngeal space (2.7%) were the top-five contributors for predicting DM, based on their relative importance in GBT models. The testing AUC of the full model was 0.75 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.69-0.82). The testing AUC of the reduced model was 0.75 (95%CI: 0.68-0.82). For the whole dataset, the full (AUC = 0.76, 95%CI: 0.72-0.82) and reduced models (AUC = 0.76, 95%CI: 0.71-0.81) outperformed the tumor node-staging system (AUC = 0.67, 95%CI: 0.61-0.73). CONCLUSION: The GBT model outperformed the tumor node-staging system in predicting metastasis in NPC. The number of metastatic cervical nodes was identified as the principal contributing variable.

In situ forest with lycopsid trees bearing lobed rhizomorphs from the Upper Devonian of Lincheng, China.

The earliest forests in the Devonian were reported from only four localities worldwide. The tree lycopsids, sometimes as the primary elements of Devonian forests, had evolved several types of rooting systems. In recent years, we found and excavated a Late Devonian (Famennian, 374-359 Ma) lycopsid forest from Zhejiang Province, China. The fossil forest occurs at seven locations of Lincheng Town of Changxing County and mainly consists of in situ small tree lycopsid (Heliodendron longshanense gen. et sp. nov.) stems usually connected to lobed cormose rhizomorphs. The four short lobes of each rhizomorph often branch once and bear roots arranged radially. Allometry is observed between the trunk diameter of Heliodendron and the length of its rhizomorphic lobes, indicating that the trunk develops later than the rhizomorph in tree lycopsid plants. The Devonian witnessed the transformation from clastic nonlycopsid dominated forests to Carboniferous swampy forests dominated by giant lycopsid trees. These trees form a multigenerational community, as shown by the in situ preserved stems at various levels within the same area due to frequent sedimentation events.

PpSAUR5 promotes plant growth by regulating lignin and hormone pathways.

Introduction: Peach (Prunus persica) has a high nutritional and economic value. However, its overgrowth can lead to yield loss. Regulating the growth of peach trees is challenging. The small auxin-up RNA (SAUR) gene family is the largest family of auxin-responsive genes, which play important roles in plant growth and development. However, members of this gene family are rarely reported in peach. Methods: In this study, we measured leaf area, chlorophyll and lignin content to detect the role of PpSAUR5 on growth through transgenic Arabidopsis. Results: PpSAUR5 responds to auxin and gibberellin, promoting and inhibiting the synthesis of gibberellin and auxin, respectively. The heterologous transformation of PpSAUR5 in Arabidopsis led to enhanced growth of leaves and siliques, lightening of leaf color, decrease in chlorophyll content, increase in lignin content, abnormalities in the floral organs, and distortion of the inflorescence axis. Transcriptome data analysis of PpSAUR5 overexpression and wild-type lines revealed 854 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). GO and KEGG analyses showed that the DEGs were primarily involved in biological processes, such as cellular processes, metabolic processes, response to stimuli, and catalytic activity. These genes were mainly enriched in pathways, such as phenylalanine biosynthesis, phytohormone signaling, and MAPK signaling. Discussion: In summary, these results suggested that PpSAUR5 might regulate tree vigor by modulating the synthesis of auxin and gibberellin. Future studies can use PpSAUR5 as a candidate gene to elucidate the potential regulatory mechanisms underlying peach tree vigor.