d. TP may also improve renal function and cause more peripheral ischaemia. PROSPERO registry CRD42016035872.BACKGROUND Salt significantly depresses the growth and development of the greater duckweed, Spirodela polyrhiza, a model species of floating aquatic plants. Physiological responses of this plant to salt stress have been characterized, however, the roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) remain unknown. RESULTS In this work, totally 2815 novel lncRNAs were discovered in S. polyrhiza by strand-specific RNA sequencing, of which 185 (6.6%) were expressed differentially under salinity condition. Co-expression analysis indicated that the trans-acting lncRNAs regulated their co-expressed genes functioning in amino acid metabolism, cell- and cell wall-related metabolism, hormone metabolism, photosynthesis, RNA transcription, secondary metabolism, and transport. In total, 42 lncRNA-mRNA pairs that might participate in cis-acting regulation were found, and these adjacent genes were involved in cell wall, cell cycle, carbon metabolism, ROS regulation, hormone metabolism, and transcription factor. In addition, the lncRNAs probably functioning as miRNA targets were also investigated. Specifically, TCONS_00033722, TCONS_00044328, and TCONS_00059333 were targeted by a few well-studied salt-responsive miRNAs, supporting the involvement of miRNA and lncRNA interactions in the regulation of salt stress responses. Finally, a representative network of lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA was proposed and discussed to participate in duckweed salt stress via auxin signaling. CONCLUSIONS This study is the first report on salt-responsive lncRNAs in duckweed, and the findings will provide a solid foundation for in-depth functional characterization of duckweed lncRNAs in response to salt stress.BACKGROUND Growth is a major economic production trait in aquaculture. Improvements in growth performance will reduce time and cost for fish to reach market size. However, genes underlying growth have not been fully explored in rainbow trout. RESULTS A previously developed 50 K gene-transcribed SNP chip, containing ~ 21 K SNPs showing allelic imbalances potentially associated with important aquaculture production traits including body weight, muscle yield, was used for genotyping a total of 789 fish with available phenotypic data for bodyweight gain.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/combretastatin-a4.html  Genotyped fish were obtained from two consecutive generations produced in the NCCCWA growth-selection breeding program. Weighted single-step GBLUP (WssGBLUP) was used to perform a genome-wide association (GWA) analysis to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with bodyweight gain. Using genomic sliding windows of 50 adjacent SNPs, 247 SNPs associated with bodyweight gain were identified. SNP-harboring genes were involved in cell growth, cell proliferation, cell cycle, lipid metabolism, proteolytic activities, chromatin modification, and developmental processes. Chromosome 14 harbored the highest number of SNPs (n = 50). An SNP window explaining the highest additive genetic variance for bodyweight gain (~ 6.4%) included a nonsynonymous SNP in a gene encoding inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase OCRL-1. Additionally, based on a single-marker GWA analysis, 33 SNPs were identified in association with bodyweight gain. The highest SNP explaining variation in bodyweight gain was identified in a gene coding for thrombospondin-1 (THBS1) (R2 = 0.09). CONCLUSION The majority of SNP-harboring genes, including OCRL-1 and THBS1, were involved in developmental processes. Our results suggest that development-related genes are important determinants for growth and could be prioritized and used for genomic selection in breeding programs.BACKGROUND Brassinolide (BR), as a new type of plant hormones, is involved in the processes of plant growth and stress response. Previous studies have reported the roles of BR in regulating plant developmental processes and also response tolerance to abiotic stresses in plants. The main purpose of our study was to explore whether nitric oxide (NO) plays a role in the process of BR-induced adventitious root formation in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). RESULTS Exogenous application of 1 μM BR significantly promoted adventitious rooting, while high concentrations of BR (2-8 μM) effectively inhibited adventitious rooting. NO donor (S-nitroso-N-acerylpenicillamine, SNAP) promoted the occurrence of adventitious roots. Simultaneously, BR and SNAP applied together significantly promoted adventitious rooting and the combined effect was superior to the application of BR or SNAP alone. Moreover, NO scavenger (c-PTIO) and inhibitors (L-NAME and Tungstate) inhibited the positive effects of BR on adventitious rooting. BR at 1 μM also increased endogenous NO content, NO synthase (NOS-like) and Nitrate reductase (NR) activities, while BRz (a specific BR biosynthesis inhibitor) decreased these effects. In addition, the relative expression level of NR was up-regulated by BR and SNAP, whereas BRz down-regulated it. The application of NO inhibitor (Tungstate) in BR also inhibited the up-regulation of NR. CONCLUSION BR promoted the formation of adventitious roots by inducing the production of endogenous NO in cucumber.BACKGROUND Point-of-care haemoglobin meters are attractive solutions to improve timely diagnosis of anaemia in resource-limited settings. However, concerns regarding the accuracy of these meters may affect their adoption. The accuracy of two hand-held point-of-care haemoglobin meters was evaluated against reference full blood count analyser. METHODS This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted at the Douala General hospital, Cameroon. Two handheld haemoglobin meters were assessed Urit12® (URIT Medical Electronics Co.,Ltd. Guangxi, China) and MissionHb®(ACON Laboratories, Inc., San Diego, USA); against a reference standard CELL-DYN RUBY® (ABBOTT DIAGNOSTICS, Illinois, USA). The Pearson's correlation and Bland-Altman agreement were used to assess the technical accuracy of the meters. Clinical accuracy was evaluated using total error allowable and area under the Receiver Operating Curve. Finally, their agreement with the reference in diagnosing anaemia was assessed using the kappa statistic. RESULTS A total of 228 participants were included in the study.