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Addressing conventional neurosurgical navigation systems' high costs and complexity, this study explores the feasibility and accuracy of a simplified, cost-effective mixed reality navigation (MRN) system based on a laser crosshair simulator (LCS). A new automatic registration method was developed, featuring coplanar laser emitters and a recognizable target pattern. The workflow was integrated into Microsoft's HoloLens-2 for practical application. The study assessed the system's precision by utilizing life-sized 3D-printed head phantoms based on computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 19 patients (female/male: 7/12, average age: 54.4 ± 18.5 years) with intracranial lesions. Six to seven CT/MRI-visible scalp markers were used as reference points per case. The LCS-MRN's accuracy was evaluated through landmark-based and lesion-based analyses, using metrics such as target registration error (TRE) and Dice similarity coefficient (DSC). The system demonstrated immersive capabilities for observing intracranial structures across all cases. Analysis of 124 landmarks showed a TRE of 3.0 ± 0.5 mm, consistent across various surgical positions. The DSC of 0.83 ± 0.12 correlated significantly with lesion volume (Spearman rho = 0.813, p < 0.001). Therefore, the LCS-MRN system is a viable tool for neurosurgical planning, highlighting its low user dependency, cost-efficiency, and accuracy, with prospects for future clinical application enhancements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interplanting is an efficient method of improving nutrient utilization. However, the impact of intraspecific interplanting on rhizosphere microbial nitrogen cycling needs to be studied further. In this study, two corn cultivars were selected as the materials: Zhengdan958 (ZD958, high nitrogen use efficiency) and Denghai3622 (DH3622, low nitrogen use efficiency). Three planting patterns (interplanting, ZD958 monocropping, and DH3622 monocropping) were set up to study the effects of interplanting on crop growth and rhizosphere microbial nitrogen cycle function under two nitrogen levels: low nitrogen (140 kg N ha−1) and normal nitrogen (280 kg N ha−1). The results showed that the grain yield and nitrogen content in interplanting were significantly increased due to an enhanced leaf area index and root dry weight. The nitrogen accumulation and nitrogen use efficiency were enhanced by 8.14% and 19.38% in interplanting, which resulted in reductions in NH4+ and NO3− content in the rhizosphere. Interplanting enhanced rhizosphere nitrogen cycling processes; nitrification, denitrification, and nitrate reduction were increased. This study demonstrated that interplanting promotes corn nitrogen acquisition from the soil and indirectly regulates rhizosphere microbial function. These findings imply that the intraspecific interplanting of crops with appropriate functional traits is a promising approach to establishing diversified, productive, and efficient resource utilization ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variance or complete loss of the avirulence gene (Avr) enables the pathogen to escape resistance protein (R) recognition. The field resistance effectiveness of the R gene is determined by its corresponding Avr gene in field isolates. To effectively deploy the rice blast R gene Pi54, the distribution, variation and evolution of the corresponding Avr gene, AvrPi54, were determined through PCR amplification, pathogenicity assay, gene sequences and evolutionary analysis. Among 451 Pyricularia isolates from rice and non-rice hosts, including Oryza rufipogon, Digitaria sanguinalis, Eleusine coracana, E. indica and Musa sp. in Yunnan province, the PCR amplification result showed that AvrPi54 alleles existed among 218 (48.3%) isolates including rice isolates, O. rufipogon isolates and E. coracana isolates. Pathogenicity assay showed that 336 (74.5%) isolates were avirulent to Tetep (holding Pi54). Five AvrPi54 haplotypes were identified among 142 isolates through the gene sequence. These haplotypes were determined to be avirulent to Pi54 through pathogenicity assay. Four novel haplotypes (H2 to H5) of the AvrPi54 gene would provide new target sites for rice blast control. Haplotype diversity analysis indicated that there existed a lower genetic diversity of AvrPi54 for P. oryzae populations (five haplotypes, Hd = 0.127, π = 2.9 × 10−4) in this study. Neutrality tests showed that AvrPi54's genetic variation was affected by purified selection. Haplotype network and phylogeny analysis showed that H1 was an ancestral haplotype and was widely distributed in rice isolates and O. rufipogon isolates, while H5 diverged early and evolved independently. These results indicate that the gene evolves slowly and stably and is a comparatively conserved Avr gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]