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Pine wilt disease, caused by Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is a highly destructive and contagious forest affliction. Often termed the "cancer" of pine trees, it severely impacts the growth of Masson pine (Pinus massoniana). Previous studies have demonstrated that ectopic expression of the PmACRE1 gene from P. massoniana in Arabidopsis thaliana notably enhances resistance to pine wilt nematode infection. To further elucidate the transcriptional regulation and protein interactions of the PmACRE1 in P. massoniana in response to pine wilt nematode infection, we cloned a 1984 bp promoter fragment of the PmACRE1 gene, a transient expression vector was constructed by fusing this promoter with the reporter GFP gene, which successfully activated the GFP expression. DNA pull-down assays identified PmMYB8 as a trans-acting factor regulating PmACRE1 gene expression. Subsequently, we found that the PmACRE1 protein interacts with several proteins, including the ATP synthase CF1 α subunit, ATP synthase CF1 β subunit, extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (PmCAS), caffeoyl-CoA 3-O-methyltransferase (PmCCoAOMT), glutathione peroxidase, NAD+-dependent glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, phosphoglycerate kinase 1, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, auxin response factor 16, and dehydrin 1 protein. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays confirmed the interactions between PmACRE1 and PmCCoAOMT, as well as PmCAS proteins in vitro. These findings provide preliminary insights into the regulatory role of PmACRE1 in P. massoniana's defense against pine wilt nematode infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

aimei Yuan,4 Chengwu Feng,4 Geng Zong,4 Jingwen Zhu,4 Maoying Xing,5 Xin Geng51Department of Endocrinology, Changhai Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; 2Department of Nutrition, Shanghai Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; 3Department of General Surgery and Vascular Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; 4CAS Key Laboratory of Nutrition, Metabolism and Food Safety, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; 5National Center for Liver Cancer, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence: Maoying Xing; Xin Geng, Email [email protected] ; [email protected] Background: Neuregulin 4 (NRG4) was known to be associated with serum lipid levels and atherosclerosis. However, it is unknown whether the role of NRG4 in lipid homeostasis is causal to atherosclerosis and whether the effect is beneficial across different atherosclerosis subtypes. Methods: We investigated the causal role of the levels of serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides regulated by NRG4 in subtypes of atherosclerosis through two sample Mendelian randomization. Aggregated genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data for serum lipid level of 1.32 million individuals with European ancestry were obtained from the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium. GWAS summary data for four atherosclerosis subtypes (peripheral, coronary, cerebral and the other atherosclerosis) were obtained from FinnGen Consortium. Generalized inverse-variance–weighted Mendelian randomization and several sensitivity analyses were used to obtain the causal estimates. Results: A 1-SD genetically elevated LDL-C level mediated by NRG4 was validated to be nominally associated with the risk of peripheral atherosclerosis (log (odds ratio)= 4.14, 95% confidence interval 0.11 to 8.17, P = 0.04), and the other associations were not significant or could not be validated by sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: LDL-C lowering mediated by NRG4 is likely to prevent peripheral atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A timely and accurately predicted grain yield can ensure regional and global food security. The scientific community is gradually advancing the prediction of regional-scale maize yield. However, the combination of various datasets while predicting the regional-scale maize yield using simple and accurate methods is still relatively rare. Here, we have used multi-source datasets (climate dataset, satellite dataset, and soil dataset), lasso algorithm, and machine learning methods (random forest, support vector, extreme gradient boosting, BP neural network, long short-term memory network, and K-nearest neighbor regression) to predict China's county-level maize yield. The use of multi-sourced datasets advanced the predicting accuracy of maize yield significantly compared to the single-sourced dataset. We found that the machine learning methods were superior to the lasso algorithm, while random forest, extreme gradient boosting, and support vector machine represented the most preferable methods for maize yield prediction in China (R2 ≥ 0.75, RMSE = 824–875 kg/ha, MAE = 626–651 kg/ha). The climate dataset contributed more to the prediction of maize yield, while the satellite dataset contributed to tracking the maize growth process. However, the methods' accuracies and the dominant variables affecting maize growth varied with agricultural regions across different geographic locations. Our research serves as an important effort to examine the feasibility of multi-source datasets and machine learning techniques for regional-scale maize yield prediction. In addition, the methodology we have proposed here provides guidance for reliable yield prediction of different crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussed The eccentric-wheel clamping mechanism which used for clamping workpieces in industry, how to use the design method with double eccentric wheel self-clamping mechanism for civil life, and through this method to designed and realized a small clamping device which can be used for desktop or wall hanging. After extensive measurements for the practical use of mug drainage, the effectiveness of the design method discussed in this article is verified. It has been proved that even if the volume is not more than 85 * 85 * 40mm, it is possible to use a double eccentric wheel clamping mechanism to achieve a long time (>72 hours) can be effectively fixed. And can be achieved at low cost using ordinary 3D printing materials (PLA) and adhesive tape, etc., with the potential for large-scale mass production. In addition, through this example, it is also shown that pure mechanical equipment still has great practical significance in some long-term, low-energy consumption applications, and has the value of further in-depth exploration and development.