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Objective·To evaluate the effects of anterior maxillary segmental distraction osteogenesis (AMSDO) in treating sagittal maxillary hypoplasia in cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients and to report a 3D-printed surgical guide to facilitate the osteotomy.Methods·Twelve patients with CLP who underwent AMSDO were included in this study. Virtual osteotomy was performed in a 3-dimensional model and the osteotomy line were fabricated into a tooth-borne surgical guide by using 3D-printing technique. Lateral cephalograms taken before surgery (T0), at the end of consolidation (T1) and six months after consolidation (T2) were used to evaluate the effects of AMSDO. The accuracy of the osteotomy guide was measured by superimposing the postoperative CT data to virtual planning.Results·All the patients went through surgery without serious complications. SNA and overjet changed significantly both from T0 to T1 and from T0 to T2. ANB, facial convexity, and palatal length changed without significance from T0 to T1 and from T0 to T2. SNB remained stable. All the variables remained relatively stable from T1 to T2. The anteroposterior linear root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) between planning and actual results was 0.90 mm, while the angular RMSD in the sagittal plane was 5.07°.Conclusion·AMSDO is an effective treatment for maxillary hypoplasia secondary to CLP. The accuracy of this 3D-printed osteotomy guide is clinically acceptable, and this can simplify the surgery with fewer complications.

Abstract Polyploidization is a major driver of genome diversification and environmental adaptation. However, the merger of different genomes may result in genomic conflicts, raising a major question regarding how genetic diversity is interpreted and regulated to enable environmental plasticity. By analyzing the genome-wide binding of 191 trans-factors in allopolyploid wheat, we identified like heterochromatin protein 1 (LHP1) as a master regulator of subgenome-diversified genes. Transcriptomic and epigenomic analyses of LHP1 mutants reveal its role in buffering the expression of subgenome-diversified defense genes by controlling H3K27me3 homeostasis. Stripe rust infection releases latent subgenomic variations by eliminating H3K27me3-related repression. The simultaneous inactivation of LHP1 homoeologs by CRISPR–Cas9 confers robust stripe rust resistance in wheat seedlings. The conditional repression of subgenome-diversified defenses ensures developmental plasticity to external changes, while also promoting neutral-to-non-neutral selection transitions and adaptive evolution. These findings establish an LHP1-mediated buffering system at the intersection of genotypes, environments, and phenotypes in polyploid wheat. Manipulating the epigenetic buffering capacity offers a tool to harness cryptic subgenomic variations for crop improvement.

Abstract Transposable elements (TEs) comprise ~85% of the common wheat genome, which are highly diverse among subgenomes, possibly contribute to polyploid plasticity, but the causality is only assumed. Here, by integrating data from gene expression cap analysis and epigenome profiling via hidden Markov model in common wheat, we detect a large proportion of enhancer-like elements (ELEs) derived from TEs producing nascent noncoding transcripts, namely ELE-RNAs, which are well indicative of the regulatory activity of ELEs. Quantifying ELE-RNA transcriptome across typical developmental stages reveals that TE-initiated ELE-RNAs are mainly from RLG_famc7.3 specifically expanded in subgenome A. Acquisition of spike-specific transcription factor binding likely confers spike-specific expression of RLG_famc7.3-initiated ELE-RNAs. Knockdown of RLG_famc7.3-initiated ELE-RNAs resulted in global downregulation of spike-specific genes and abnormal spike development. These findings link TE expansion to regulatory specificity and polyploid developmental plasticity, highlighting the functional impact of TE-driven regulatory innovation on polyploid evolution.

The inhibitory effects of Pogostemon cablin essential oil (patchouli essential oil, PEO) and its primary bioactive compound, patchouli alcohol (PA), on tyrosinase and melanin were investigated in vitro and ex vivo. Treatment with PEO and PA significantly, as well as dose-dependently, reduced forskolin (FRK)-induced melanin biosynthesis, cellular tyrosinase activity, and tyrosinase (TYR) protein expression. However, the transcriptional levels of TYR and tyrosinase-related proteins (TRP-1 and TRP-2) remained unaffected. These results suggest that PEO and PA may directly interrupt tyrosinase enzyme activity, leading to a reduction in melanin biosynthesis. Further experiments supported this notion, revealing that both PEO and PA significantly and dose-dependently inhibited mushroom tyrosinase activity in both the monophenolase and diphenolase phases. Additionally, an in silico molecular docking analysis was performed, utilizing a homology model of human tyrosinase. In conclusion, these findings strongly suggest that patchouli essential oil and its primary bioactive component, patchouli alcohol, hold promise as potential treatments for hyperpigmentary skin conditions and in the development of cosmetic products designed to lighten the skin.

Heat stress is one of the most devastating abiotic stresses which causes significant loss of agricultural crop productivity. Thus, it is critical to examine the wheat’s response to the heat stress at seedling stage and adopt an appreciated breeding method to develop heat tolerance and to avoid harmful effects. Therefore, twenty wheat genotypes, including two local landraces, were evaluated in the current study to investigate the genetic diversity for heat tolerance at the seedling stage. Grains of wheat genotypes were placed on filter papers in Petri dishes for germinating at different temperature ranges (i.e., 25 °C as control, 30 °C, 35 °C, and 40 °C). The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) with the factorial arrangement and the number of replications was three. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for seedling traits and biochemical analysis showed that the genotypes had significant differences for coleoptile length, shoot length (SL), root length (RL), shoot fresh weight (SFW), vigor index (VI), glycine betaine (GB) and proline content. The effect of temperature treatments on different wheat genotypes also exhibited highly significant variation for VI. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that four factors contributed 82.8% to total variability with the Eigen value greater than 0.7 at 35 °C. Correlation analysis showed that coleoptile length and germination percentage (GP) had a highly significant-positive correlation with SL, VI, and SFW. Results showed that wheat genotypes of ‘Maraj’, ‘Fareed’, ‘Darabi’, ‘Zincol-16’, ‘Barsat’, ‘NARC-2011’, and ‘Mundar’ showed superior performance when grown under different temperatures. ‘NARC-2011’, ‘Inqalab-91’, and ‘Galexy’ wheat genotypes performed well regarding of H2O2 and antioxidant activity. These genotypes had a significant level of variability under heat stress and can be used under high temperatures in future breeding programs for further research purposes.

Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, mobile technologies, services, and Internet connectivity have become critical among the Malaysian elderly as an alternative to staying actively and socially connected. However, the elderly find it difficult to adapt to online technology tools with restricted skills under technology challenges. Studies related to mobile adoption and usage experiences among the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic or endemic are not rigorously conducted by researchers. Little discussion was focused specifically on aging and gender perspectives, including the importance of an intersectionality lens in understanding the interconnected factors that influence one's ability to benefit from technology. To fill in the research gaps, this paper aims to use an intersectionality lens to identify experiences on how female elderly use their mobile phones and services, as women are constantly underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) studies. The study employed qualitative case studies method with seven older women in Malaysia, 60 to 77 years old, using multiple data sources through semi-structured interviews, mobile walkthrough, and diary studies. Data were transcribed and analyzed by categorizing the key themes digitally using Nvivo. The findings showed that mobile culture and supportive environment; family roles; socialization; education and economic backgrounds; digital literacy level; well-being; and motivation were interconnected, shaping the experiences of the seven female elderly in accessing, learning, and using their mobile phones. This study has built an understanding of the intersecting factors that can contribute to a more inclusive society, especially in promoting the elderly to embrace mobile technologies in their lives.

Abstract The success of common wheat as a global staple crop was largely attributed to its genomic diversity and redundancy due to the merge of different genomes, giving rise to the major question how subgenome-divergent and -convergent transcription is mediated and harmonized in a single cell. Here, we create a catalog of genome-wide transcription factor-binding sites (TFBSs) to assemble a common wheat regulatory network on an unprecedented scale. A significant proportion of subgenome-divergent TFBSs are derived from differential expansions of particular transposable elements (TEs) in diploid progenitors, which contribute to subgenome-divergent transcription. Whereas subgenome-convergent transcription is associated with balanced TF binding at loci derived from TE expansions before diploid divergence. These TFBSs have retained in parallel during evolution of each diploid, despite extensive unbalanced turnover of the flanking TEs. Thus, the differential evolutionary selection of paleo- and neo-TEs contribute to subgenome-convergent and -divergent regulation in common wheat, highlighting the influence of TE repertory plasticity on transcriptional plasticity in polyploid.

Due to Malaysia's population growth, solid waste production has grown, with each individual producing 1.17 kg of rubbish daily and Malaysia producing an estimated 39,000 tons of garbage daily. The trash produced by households, industry, and trade increases in volume and becomes a key problem if not properly managed. Municipalities or governments must spend more on waste management if it is inefficient need. Nowadays, individuals rely more on their phones for daily chores. A strategy of using mobile apps known as e-Waze is proposed to support the existing waste management system. e-Waze’s primary goal is to enable the public to direct lodging complaints with local authorities regarding waste complaints. To propose a new strategy for enhancing the waste management system to the public, it is necessary to investigate the public's acceptance of the proposed strategy. Therefore, a set of questionnaires has been prepared and delivered to Malaysian via WhatsApp to obtain their opinion on the solid waste management system and their willingness to report improper waste management through the online system. The questionnaire was designed structured style, with both closed and open-ended questions. This survey was conducted using a convenient sampling approach from February 25 until March 19, 2022. As a result, 100 respondents expressed dissatisfaction with their residential area's cleanliness. The respondents reported odours, rats, insects, and rubbish scattered around certain areas. In addition, 277 respondents agreed to use online platforms such as the e-Waze apps to report their waste complaints. Overall, using online technologies such as the e-Waze apps has the potential to be adopted by the public in facilitating the community to sustain the environment effectively.

Traditional and folk medicine has used the placenta to treat a wide range of ailments. Fatigue is one of the frequent physiological reactions resulting from hard physical and mental work or severe life stress. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of sheep placental extract (SPE) on memory and exercise performance in aged mice. Senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8 (SAMP8) was used as an ageing model and mice were fed with 3 (low, medium, and high) doses of SPE. Passive and active avoidance tests were performed to assess the memory function, treadmill exercise, forelimb grip strength test, liver glycogen and serum lactate were measured to assess the exercise performance. The memory of the aged mice was improved after SPE administration. Further, SPE treatment increased exercise performance by increasing forelimb grip strength and liver glycogen levels and decreasing serum lactate levels. To conclude, feeding sheep placental extract improves learning, memory, and exercise performance in ageing mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precision agriculture benefits from point set registration, which can monitor plant health and growth in real time, promote the precise application of fertilizers and pesticides, and provide technical support for achieving sustainable development of agriculture. In this work, we propose a robust point set registration method for precision agriculture based on L*a*b* color guidance, bidirectional search and Cauchy distribution. First, the L*a*b* color guidance is applied to establish accurate correspondences between agricultural RGB‐D data. Second, the bidirectional nearest neighbor search strategy between point sets improves the reliability of establishing correspondences and broadens the convergence domain of the algorithm. Third, Cauchy distribution is utilized as an energy function for noise suppression, which further improves the robustness of the algorithm in dealing with complex vegetation scenes. Finally, results of ablation and simulation experiments indicate that the proposed registration algorithm can achieve more accurate and robust alignment results than other classic and state‐of‐the‐art point cloud registration algorithms to achieve monitoring and comparison of plant growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]