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Neuropathic pain (NP) is caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory system and is characterized by abnormal hypersensitivity to stimuli and nociceptive responses to non-noxious stimuli, affecting approximately 7–10% of the general population. However, current first-line drugs like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents and opioids have limitations, including dose-limiting side effects, dependence, and tolerability issues. Therefore, developing new interventions for the management of NP is urgent. In this study, we discovered that the high-frequency terahertz stimulation (HFTS) at approximately 36 THz effectively alleviates NP symptoms in mice with spared nerve injury. Computational simulation suggests that the frequency resonates with the carbonyl group in the filter region of Kv1.2 channels, facilitating the translocation of potassium ions. In vivo and in vitro results demonstrate that HFTS reduces the excitability of pyramidal neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex likely through enhancing the voltage-gated K+ and also the leak K+ conductance. This research presents a novel optical intervention strategy with terahertz waves for the treatment of NP and holds promising applications in other nervous system diseases.

Abstract Exercise is usually regarded to have short-term beneficial effects on immune health. Here we show that early-life regular exercise exerts long-term beneficial effects on inflammatory immunity. Swimming training for 3 months in male mice starting from 1-month-old curbs cytokine response and mitigates sepsis when exposed to lipopolysaccharide challenge, even after an 11-month interval of detraining. Metabolomics analysis of serum and liver identifies pipecolic acid, a non-encoded amino acid, as a pivotal metabolite responding to early-life regular exercise. Importantly, pipecolic acid reduces inflammatory cytokines in bone marrow-derived macrophages and alleviates sepsis via inhibiting mTOR complex 1 signaling. Moreover, early-life exercise increases histone 3 lysine 4 trimethylation at the promoter of Crym in the liver, an enzyme responsible for catalyzing pipecolic acid production. Liver-specific knockdown of Crym in adult mice abolishes this early exercise-induced protective effects. Our findings demonstrate that early-life regular exercise enhances anti-inflammatory immunity during middle-aged phase in male mice via epigenetic immunometabolic modulation, in which hepatic pipecolic acid production has a pivotal function.

Background: Some blood groups, such as S and s blood groups in the MNS blood group system, and Kidd and CTL2 blood group systems, can cause severe fetal and newborn alloimmune disorders. Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) to predict fetal blood groups and knowledge of local blood group gene frequency are both important for pregnancy management decisions. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) has high specificity and sensitivity in detecting fetal single nucleotide variation. Objectives: The objective is to predict fetal Ss, Kidd, and CTL2 blood groups using multiplex ddPCR. The gene frequencies of three blood groups were detected by ddPCR in northwest China. Design: This is a prospective study. Methods: Cell-free fetal DNA isolated from 26 healthy single pregnant women at different gestational stages was tested with QX200 Droplet Digital PCR. Results were compared with fetal genotypes. DNA samples purified from 20 blood pools containing a total of 1000 donors in northwest China were subjected to ddPCR to detect the gene frequency of three blood groups. Results: Ss, Kidd, and CTL2 blood groups of 26 pregnant fetuses were accurately detected by multiplex ddPCR. The multiplex ddPCR results were consistent with the Sanger sequencing results of 26 fetal blood samples after birth. The gene frequencies of the three blood groups detected by ddPCR were 9.30% for S, 90.70% for s, 48.43% for Jk a , 51.57% for Jk b , 66.57% for HNA-3A, and 33.43% for HNA-3B. Conclusions: It is reliable to predict fetal Ss, Kidd, and CTL2 blood groups by multiplex ddPCR. Meanwhile, we designed a simple and efficient method for inferring the gene frequency of three blood groups based on ddPCR.

Abstract Background Neurodegenerative diseases encompass an extensive and heterogeneous group of nervous system disorders which are characterized by progressive degeneration and death of neurons. Many lines of evidence suggest the participation of mitochondria dysfunction in these diseases. Mitochondrial phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase, encoded by FARS2, catalyzes the transfer of phenylalanine to its cognate tRNA for protein synthesis. As a member of mt-aaRSs genes, FARS2 missense homozygous mutation c.424G > T (p.D142Y) found in a Chinese consanguineous family first built the relationship between pure hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) and FARS2 gene. More FARS2 variations were subsequently found to cause heterogeneous group of neurologic disorders presenting three main phenotypic manifestations: infantile-onset epileptic mitochondrial encephalopathy, later-onset spastic paraplegia and juvenile onset refractory epilepsy. Studies showed that aminoacylation activity is frequently disrupt in cases with FARS2 mutations, indicating a loss-of-function mechanism. However, the underlying pathogenesis of neuropathy-associated Fars2 deficiency is still largely unknown. Results Early gestation lethality of global Fars2 knockout mice was observed prior to neurogenesis. The conditional Fars2 knockout-mouse model delayed lethality to late-gestation, resulting in a thinner cortex and an enlarged ventricle which is consist with the MRI results revealing cortical atrophy and reduced cerebral white matter volume in FARS2-deficient patients. Delayed development of neurite outgrowth followed by neuronal apoptosis was confirmed in Fars2-knockdown mouse primary cultured neurons. Zebrafish, in which fars2 was knocked down, exhibited aberrant motor neuron function including reduced locomotor capacity which well restored the spastic paraplegia phenotype of FARS2-deficient patients. Altered mitochondrial protein synthesis and reduced levels of oxidative phosphorylation complexes were detected in Fars2-deficient samples. And thus, reduced ATP, total NAD levels and mitochondrial membrane potential, together with increased ROS production, revealed mitochondrial dysfunction both in vitro and in vivo. Dctn3 is a potential downstream molecule in responds to Fars2 deficient in neurons, which may provide some evidence for the development of pathogenesis study and therapeutic schedule. Conclusions The Fars2 deficiency genetic models developed in this study cover the typical clinical manifestations in FARS2 patients, and help clarify how neuropathy-associated Fars2 deficiency, by damaging the mitochondrial respiratory chain and impairing mitochondrial function, affects neuronal development and potentiates neuronal cell apoptosis.

In the adult skeleton, the bone remodeling process involves a dynamic coordination between osteoblasts and osteoclasts, which is disrupted in diseases with high bone turnover rates and dysregulated transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1). However, little is known about how TGF-β1 signaling mediates bone resorption. Here, we described a pedigree with a heterozygous variant in TGF-β1 (R218C) that resulted in aberrant activation of TGF-β1 through an activating mechanism that caused Camurati-Engelmann disease (CED). We showed that CED patients have high levels of active Rho GTPases and the migration-related proteins Integrin β1 and Integrin β3 in their peripheral blood. HEK293T cells transfected with a plasmid encoding this mutant expressed high levels of TGF-β1 and active Rho GTPases. Furthermore, activation of Rho by TGF-β1 increased osteoclast formation and bone resorption, with increased migration of pre-osteoclasts, as well as cytoskeletal remodeling of pre-osteoclasts and mature osteoclasts. Importantly, pharmacological inhibition of Rho GTPases effectively rescued hyperactive TGF-β1-induced osteoclastogenesis in vitro. Overall, we propose that Rho GTPases mediate TGF-β1-induced osteoclastogenesis and suggest that Rho-TGF-β1 crosstalk is associated with high bone turnover in CED.

Many studies have shown that clustered Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have a better performance in terms of the balance of energy and lifetime. However, due to the harsh environment and open communication, the clustered WSNs are easy to be attacked. The selective forwarding attack is one of the most difficult attacks to be detected. When a malicious sensor node launches the selective forwarding attacks, it drops part of or all the data packets it received. In this paper, we propose a Noise-Based Density Peaks Clustering (NB-DPC) algorithm for detecting selective forwarding attacks. It can detect selective forwarding attacks by clustering the Cumulative Forwarding Rates (CFRs) of all sensor nodes. The NB-DPC algorithm has been improved by defining noise points specifically for identifying malicious behavior and deleting the unnecessary steps in Density Peaks Clustering (DPC) for faster detection speed. The NB-DPC has a low Missed Detection Rate (MDR) and False Detection Rate (FDR) of below 1% according to the simulation results.

In the event-driven wireless sensor networks (EWSNs), the event of interests occurs irregularly and at random in the network. Then, sensor nodes near the event sense the event and send out data packets of the event. Next, router nodes (RNs) forward those packets to the sink node (SN) by multi-hop communications. Compromised RNs would become malicious and launch selective forwarding attacks by dropping part of or all the packets from other nodes. On the other hand, a harsh environment makes the channel poor, so the routing nodes under a harsh environment have low packet forwarding rates because they sometimes have to give up forwarding the current packets after many tries to forward them due to poor channel. If the malicious nodes’ forwarding rates become close to those of nodes under a harsh environment, the schemes based on packet forwarding rates for detecting selective forwarding attack may fail because they cannot differentiate the low data packet forwarding rates resulting from the malicious behaviors or harsh environment. To solve this problem, we provide a combined scheme for detecting selective forwarding attack in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) under harsh environments. This scheme employs a data clustering algorithm (DCA) to screen the malicious nodes out by clustering their cumulative forwarding rates (CFRs) and designs a voting decision method to protect the nodes under a harsh environment from being judged as malicious nodes. The simulation results show that our scheme has a low false detection rate (FDR) of 1% and a low missed detection rate (MDR) of 5% respectively with negligible energy consumption in WSNs under a local variable harsh environment.

Background: Human neutrophil antigen-3A (HNA-3A) and human neutrophil antigen-3B (HNA-3B) are generated by a single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs2288904, c.461G > A) in exon 7 of the choline transporter-like protein-2 gene (CTL2, also known as SLC44A2). Antibodies to HNA-3 can be generated following blood transfusion or other factors resulting in exposure to HNA-3 antigens. These antibodies can cause transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) or neonatal alloimmune neutropenia (NAIN). This study describes a sensitive and specific TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to screen for the HNA-3 genotype using specific primers and probes designed to detect allelic polymorphisms. Considering the high sensitivity and accuracy of droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) in the identification of the rare SLC44A2*2 allele, we used this technique to identify blood donors with the rare HNA-3B antigen and calculate the allele frequency of SLC44A2 in mixed populations with different proportions.Methods: DNA samples purified from 208 donors in northwest China were subjected to TaqMan real-time PCR to detect allelic polymorphisms in SLC44A2. The results were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. The rare HNA-3B antigen was detected by ddPCR. SLC44A2 frequency was determined by two-channel ddPCR.Results: The genotypes of all DNA samples were detected by the TaqMan real-time PCR using specific probes for HNA-3, and the results were consistent with the Sanger sequencing results in respect to the HNA-3A and HNA-3B polymorphisms. The allele frequencies of SLC44A2*1 and SLC44A2*2 in the 208 donors in northwest China were 64.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 59%–70.8%) and 35.1% (95% CI, 29.2%–41%), respectively. The ratio of SLC44A2*2 alleles was accurately detected in all blood pools by ddPCR but not by TaqMan real-time PCR. This allowed for the SLC44A2 frequency in the population to be accurately inferred.Conclusion: This new method of detecting SLC44A2 alleles was highly sensitive and specific, as confirmed by Sanger sequencing. ddPCR using the designed probes resulted in successful detection of the rare HNA-3B antigen. Furthermore, we successfully detected the rare HNA-3B antigen and inferred the SLC44A2 frequency by ddPCR using the probes that we designed.

BackgroundCardiac calcification is a type of ectopic pathologic calcification of unknown etiology and mechanisms. Once diagnosed, the location, extent and morphology of the calcified lesions, as well as their functional significance in the heart, are usually the focus of case reports. Calcification is mostly distributed in myocardium, but rarely reported in atrium. In addition, because of limited sampling and complex pathological mechanisms, the etiology underlying the formation of these calcified lesions also remains unclear.MethodsTwo cardiac calcifications were found in a patient, died of trauma-induced subarachnoid hemorrhage after slightly drinking, during a standard autopsy. The location and morphological characteristics of the calcified lesions were determined by computed tomography (CT) and CT-based 3D reconstruction. The specific histopathological characteristics of the lesions were determined by multi-staining. The concentration of free calcium and inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi) in plasma reflected the change of calcium metabolism. The expression and membranal localization of the ATP Binding Cassette Subfamily C Member 6 (ABCC6) in hepatocytes were detected by immunofluorescence. The variants of the ABCC6 were detected by Sanger sequencing and potential pathogenic variants were further identified by in silico analysis.ResultsThe present study describes a patient with idiopathic calcification with two pear-shaped and irregularly hollow lesions symmetrically distributed in the patient's atrium. Massive accumulation of calcium salts was identified by multi-staining. For this patient, the plasma concentration of free calcium was higher than the control, indicating that calcium metabolism was disturbed. Furthermore, the plasma PPi of the patient was lower than the normal. By using immunofluorescence, the expression and membranal localization of ABCC6 was decreased and impaired in hepatocytes, respectively. Combined with Sanger sequencing and in silico analysis, 7 variants were identified.ConclusionsThis study described a novel patient with symmetrically distributed idiopathic atrial calcifications. Furthermore, all the results indicated that these pathologic calcifications may be secondary to reduced plasma PPi content due to ABCC6 dysfunction in hepatocytes. Moreover, these findings provided novel clues to the pathogenesis, clinical diagnosis and treatment of idiopathic atrial calcification in future.

Deployed in a harsh or hostile environment and running in an unattended state, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are vulnerable to many attacks. The selective forwarding attack is one most difficult to be detected, and trust-based detection methods often fail especially under the poor wireless channels. Based on nodes' cumulative forwarding rates (CFRs) and cumulative transmission rates (CTRs), we propose a clustering scheme in clustered WSNs to divide the nodes into three types: malicious, suspicious, and regular nodes. To defend selective forwarding attacks of malicious nodes, our scheme isolates them from the network. For suspicious nodes, our scheme uses the non-cooperative game with incomplete information to force them to promote forwarding rates. In the game, the reward and punishment mechanism reduces the attackers' expected revenues and trust values. And the suspicious nodes, screened out by our clustering method, will be forced to forward packets to elude our detecting scheme. The Nash equilibrium of the game between regular nodes and suspicious nodes is proved to exist here. Simulation results show that our scheme can promote network throughput largely, and our dynamic-time behavior monitoring scheme can gain a longer network lifetime than that of the full-time behavior monitoring scheme.

Background: Mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (mtARSs) catalyze the binding of specific amino acids to their cognate tRNAs and play an essential role in the synthesis of proteins encoded by mitochondrial DNA. Defects in mtARSs have been linked to human diseases, but their tissue-specific pathophysiology remains elusive. Here we examined the role of mitochondrial phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase (FARS2) in developmental angiogenesis and its potential contribution to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease.Methods: Morpholinos were injected into fertilized zebrafish ova to establish an in vivo fars2 knock-down model. A visualization of the vasculature was achieved by using Tg (fli1: EGFP)y1 transgenic zebrafish. In addition, small interference RNAs (siRNAs) were transferred into human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to establish an in vitro FARS2 knock-down model. Cell motility, proliferation, and tubulogenesis were determined using scratch-wound CCK8, transwell-based migration, and tube formation assays. In addition, mitochondria- and non-mitochondria-related respiration were evaluated using a Seahorse XF24 analyzer and flow cytometry assays. Analyses of the expression levels of transcripts and proteins were performed using qRT-PCR and western blotting, respectively.Results: The knock-down of fars2 hampered the embryonic development in zebrafish and delayed the formation of the vasculature in Tg (fli1: EGFP)y1 transgenic zebrafish. In addition, the siRNA-mediated knock-down of FARS2 impaired angiogenesis in HUVECs as indicated by decreased cell motility and tube formation capacity. The knock-down of FARS2 also produced variable decreases in mitochondrial- and non-mitochondrial respiration in HUVECs and disrupted the regulatory pathways of angiogenesis in both HUVECs and zebrafish.Conclusion: Our current work offers novel insights into angiogenesis defects and cardiovascular diseases induced by FARS2 deficiency.

CYP4B1 belongs to the mammalian CYP4 enzyme family and is predominantly expressed in the lungs of humans. It is responsible for the oxidative metabolism of a wide range of endogenous compounds and xenobiotics. In this study, using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, a secondary analysis was performed to explore the expression profile of CYP4B1, as well as its prognostic value in patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Based on the obtained results, a significantly decreased CYP4B1 expression was discovered in patients with LUAD when compared with their normal counterparts (p

Abstract Background Ambiguous or atypical phenotypes can make a definite diagnosis of primary immunodeficiency diseases based on biochemical indices alone challenging. Further, mortality in early life because of infections in patients with these conditions supports the use of genetic tests to facilitate rapid and accurate diagnoses. Methods Genetic and clinical analyses of three unrelated Chinese children with clinical manifestations of recurrent infections, who were considered to have primary immunodeficiency diseases, were conducted. Patient clinical features and serum immunological indices were recorded. Next‐generation sequencing was used to screen for suspected pathogenic variants. Family co‐segregation and in silico analysis were conducted to evaluate the pathogenicity of identified variants, following the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guidance. Results All three patients were found to have predominant antibody defects. Sequencing analysis revealed that one had two compound heterozygous variants, c.255C>A and c.295C>T, in the autosomal gene, activation‐induced cytidine deaminase (AICDA). The other two patients were each hemizygous for the variants c.1185G>A and c.82C>T in the Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) gene on the X chromosome. In silico analysis revealed that identified substituted amino acids were highly conserved and predicted to cause structural and functional damage to the proteins. Conclusion Four pathogenic variants in AICDA and BTK were confirmed to cause different forms of hyper‐IgM syndrome type 2 (HIGM2) and X‐linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA); two were novel mutations that have never been reported previously. This is the first report of HIGM2 caused by AICDA deficiency in a patient from the Chinese mainland.

Primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (PHO) is a rare familial disorder with reduced penetrance for females. The genetic mutations associated with PHO have been identified in HPGD and SLCO2A1, which involved in prostaglandin E2 metabolism. Here, we report 5 PHO patients from four non-consanguineous families. Two heterozygous mutations in solute carrier organic anion transporter family member 2A1 (SLCO2A1) were identified in two brothers by whole-exome sequencing. Three heterozygous mutations and one homozygous mutation were identified in other three PHO families by Sanger sequencing. However, there was no mutation in HPGD. These findings confirmed that homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations of SLCO2A1 were the pathogenic cause of PHO. A female individual shared the same mutations in SLCO2A1 with her PHO brother but did not have any typical PHO symptoms. The influence of sex hormones on the pathogenesis of PHO and its implication were discussed.

Abstract Background Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is a group of heterogeneous autosomal recessive genetic disorder of melanin synthesis results in hypopigmented hair, skin, and eyes. OCA type 1, OCA type 2, and OCA type 4, which are respectively caused by mutations in TYR, OCA2, and SLC45A2 have high morbidity rates in Asia. Methods TYR, OCA2, and SLC45A2 mutation analysis was carried out on 18 nonconsanguineous OCA patients and four fetuses were included for prenatal diagnose. Three genes of all individuals were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and examined by Sanger sequencing. The pathogenicity of the detected mutations were analyzed by Mutation Taster, PolyPhen 2, and SIFT software, and the conservation of the substituted amino acids were analyzed by MEGA software. Results Eleven TYR mutations, three OCA2 mutations, and two SLC45A2 mutations were identified in 14 OCA type 1 patients, two OCA type 2 patients, and two OCA type 4 patients. c.1021A>G, p.R341G in TYR, c.1096_1104del, p.V366*, and c.1079C>T, p.S360F in OCA2 were novel. One of the four fetuses carried compound heterozygous mutation of TYR and became spontaneous abortion, the other three carried no mutations and appeared normal at birth. Conclusion In this study, specific clinical characteristics of OCA patients were described. Three novel pathogenic mutations were identified which will enrich the mutation spectrum of OCA, and the prenatal genetic screening in fetus at risk of OCA can provide vital information for genetic counseling.

Background: Milroy disease (MD) is rare and autosomal dominant resulting from mutations of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3 or FLT4), which leads to dysgenesis of the lymphatic system.Methods: Here we report a Chinese MD family with 2 affected members of two generations. We identified the mutation of c.3075G>A in one allele of FLT4 in Chinese population firstly. The father and child presented lymphedema under knees both. Unfortunately, the child was premature delivered for a car accident of the mother and then died of asphyxia. Then we gathered the tissue of the lower-limb from the child with permission from the parents and ethic committee. We stained the tissue with lymphatic marker D2-40 and hematoxylin-eosin to explore the histological changes. Afterwards, we compared the results with a normal child who unfortunately died of premature delivery also.Results: It is firstly identified the mutation of FLT4: c.3075G>A in Chinese population, and the mutation Inherited in the lineage. The histological evaluation indicated: (1) The number of lymphatic vessels decreased; (2) The morphology and structure of lymphatic vessels was abnormal. And what is added to our knowledge: (1) Capillary hyperemia and phlebectasia is severe; (2) Vascular malformations; (3) The number of vascular endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells decreased; (4) Large sheets of epidermis desquamated; (5) The numbers of cutaneous appendages reduced in MD.Conclusions: Based on the new findings, we assume that mutation of FLT4 not only affect the lymphogenesis, but also the angiogenesis, and epidermis structure.

The Hycleus cichorii and Hycleus phaleratus are two species of medicinal meloids widely distributed in southwest of China. We sequenced an annotated the complete mitochondrial genomes of H. cichorii and H. phaleratus, and the mitogenomes are 15,847 and 16,004 bp in length, respectively. Every mitochondrial genome encodes 13 proteins, 2 ribosomal RNAs, 22 tRNAs, and a control region with the identical arrangement to other beetles. The preliminary phylogenetic analysis with mitochondrial genomes of nine meloid species further confirmed the status of these two species.

A wireless sensor network (WSN) faces a number of outsider and insider attacks, and it is difficult to detect and defend against insider attacks. In particular, an insider selective-forwarding attack, in which the attackers select some of the received packets to drop, most threatens a WSN. Compared to a distributed WSN, a cluster-based WSN will suffer more losses, even the whole network’s destruction, if the cluster head is attacked. In this paper, a scheme solving the above issues is proposed with three types of nodes, the Cluster Head (CH), the Inspector Node (IN) and Member Nodes (MNs). The IN monitors the CH’s transmission to protect the cluster against a selective-forwarding attack; the CH forwards packets from MNs and other CHs, and randomly checks the IN to ascertain if it works properly; and the MNs send the gathered data packets to the CH and evaluate the behaviors of the CH and IN based on their own reputation mechanism. The novelty of our scheme is that in order to take both the safety and the lifespan of a network into consideration, the composite reputation value (CRV) including forwarding rate, detecting malicious nodes, and surplus energy of the node is utilized to select CH and IN under the new suggested network arrangement, and the use of a node’s surplus energy can balance the energy consumption of a node, thereby prolonging the network lifespan. Theoretical analysis and simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme can detect the malicious node accurately and efficiently, so the false alarm rate is lowered by 25.7% compared with Watchdog and the network lifespan is prolonged by 54.84% compared with LEACH (Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy).

BACKGROUND: MtDNA haplogroups could have important implication for understanding of the relationship between the mutations of the mitochondrial genome and diseases. Distribution of a variety of diseases among these haplogroups showed that some of the mitochondrial haplogroups are predisposed to disease. To examine the susceptibility of mtDNA haplogroups to ROU, we sequenced the mtDNA HV1, HV2 and HV3 in Chinese ROU. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: MtDNA haplogroups were analyzed in the 249 cases of ROU patients and the 237 cases of healthy controls respectively by means of primer extension analysis and DNA sequencing. Haplogroups G1 and H were found significantly more abundant in ROU patients than in healthy persons, while haplogroups D5 and R showed a trend toward a higher frequency in control as compared to those in patients. The distribution of C-stretch sequences polymorphism in mtDNA HV1, HV2 and HV3 regions was found in diversity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: For the first time, the relationship of mtDNA haplogroups and ROU in Chinese was investigated. Our results indicated that mtDNA haplogroups G1 and H might constitute a risk factor for ROU, which possibly increasing the susceptibility of ROU. Meanwhile, haplogroups D5 and R were indicated as protective factors for ROU. The polymorphisms of C-stretch sequences might being unstable and influence the mtDNA replication fidelity.

Deep reinforcement learning has strong perception and decision-making capabilities that can effectively solve the problem of continuous high-dimensional state-action space and has become the mainstream method in the field of traffic light timing. However, due to model structural defects or different strategic mechanisms of models, most deep reinforcement learning models have problems such as convergence and divergence or poor exploration capabilities. Therefore, this paper proposes a multi-agent Soft Actor–Critic (SAC) for traffic light timing. Multi-agent SAC adds an entropy item to measure the randomness of the strategy in the objective function of traditional reinforcement learning and maximizes the sum of expected reward and entropy item to improve the model’s exploration ability. The system model can learn multiple optimal timing schemes, avoid repeated selection of the same optimal timing scheme and fall into a local optimum or fail to converge. Meanwhile, it abandons low reward value strategies to reduce data storage and sampling complexity, accelerate training, and improve the stability of the system. Comparative experiments show that the method based on multi-agent SAC traffic light timing can solve the existing problems of deep reinforcement learning and improve the efficiency of vehicles passing through in different traffic scenarios. Practical Applications: This paper is devoted to research on the timing method of traffic lights at multiple intersections. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can effectively improve the throughput of each intersection, the waiting time of vehicles, and the number of queued vehicles. In comparison with related algorithms, it is fully proven that the method proposed in this paper can effectively solve the problems pervasive in existing algorithms. In the actual application process, the traffic status information is obtained via interactions with real traffic environment, and the timing scheme of the traffic lights is dynamically adjusted according to the information, so as to achieve the effect of alleviating traffic congestion at the intersection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]