Stepwise Confidence Interval Method for MTD Studies with Binomial Populations

Now we extend one method into a sequence of binomial data, propose a stepwise confidence interval method for toxic-ity study, and also in our paper, two methods of constructing intervals for the risk difference are proposed. The first one is based on the well-known conditional confidence intervals for odds ratio, and the other one comes from Santner“small-sample confidence intervals for the difference of two success probabilities”, and it produces exact intervals, through employing our method.

放松生育管控对劳动供给的影响研究:来自中国全面二孩政策的经验证据

伴随全面三孩政策的落地,中国越来越致力于促进生育,那表征为放松生育管控的生育政策调整会对中国劳动市场,尤其是已婚个体的劳动供给产生何种影响呢?这关乎生育配套政策的制定。为识别放松生育管控对中国已婚个体劳动供给的影响,全面二孩政策提供了一个准自然实验的机会。本文基于2014、2016、2018年中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)微观数据,运用双重差分(DID)方法,考察了全面二孩政策对劳动供给的影响。结果表明,在实施全面二孩政策的第一年,全面二孩政策显著降低了已婚个体的劳动供给,大体上,在一个孩子的基础上,再多生育一个孩子,参与劳动的概率下降了9.3%。这一方面源于在缺乏社会和家庭照料下,生育对父母照料的刚性需求不可替代,另一方面源于生育带来了人力资本损耗下的工资率下降,进一步阻碍个人就业。进一步分析发现,首先,女性、农村户口群体、20-35岁年轻群体、家庭收入较低群体因为生育政策的放松,其参与劳动的概率更低;其次,全面二孩政策也降低个体的劳动时间,即在生育一孩的基础上,再生育二孩,个人周工作时间平均下降3.787小时;最后,随着时间的推进,全面二孩政策对劳动供给无显著影响,这也意味着当前生育政策的放松在长期内对劳动市场的影响趋于减弱。

A Resource for Inactivation of MicroRNAs Using Short Tandem Target Mimic Technology in Model and Crop Plants

microRNAs (miRNAs)are endogenous small non-coding RNAs that bind to mRNAs and target them for cleavage and/or translational repression,leading to gene silencing.We previously developed short tandem target mimic (STTM)technology to deactivate endogenous miRNAs in Arabidopsis.Here,we created hundreds of STTMs that target both conserved and species-specific miRNAs in Arabidopsis,tomato,rice,and maize,providing a resource for the functional interrogation of miRNAs.We not only revealed the functions of several miRNAs in plant development,but also demonstrated that tissue-specific inactivation of a few miRNAs in rice leads to an increase in grain size without adversely affecting overall plant growth and development.RNA-seq and small RNAseq analyses of STTM156/157 and STTM165/166 transgenic plants revealed the roles of these miRNAs in plant hormone biosynthesis and activation,secondary metabolism,and ion-channel activity-associated electrophysiology,demonstrating that STTM technology is an effective approach for studying miRNA functions.To facilitate the study and application of STTM transgenic plants and to provide a useful platform for storing and sharing of information about miRNA-regulated gene networks,we have established an online Genome Browser (https://blossom.ffr.mtu.edu/designindex2.php) to display the transcriptomic and miRNAomic changes in STTMinduced miRNA knockdown plants.

Short Tandem Target Mimic:A Long Journey to the Engineered Molecular Landmine for Selective Destruction/Blockage of MicroRNAs in Plants and Animals

MicroRNAs（miRNAs） are a population of highly conserved specific small ribo-regulators that negatively regulate gene expressions in both plants and animals.They play a key role in post-transcriptional gene regulation by destabilizing the target gene transcripts or blocking protein translation from them.Interestingly,these negative regulators are largely compromised by an upstream layer of negative regulators ＂target mimics＂ found in plants or ＂endogenous competing RNAs＂ revealed recently in animals.These endogenous regulatory mechanisms of ＂double negatives making a positive＂ have now been developed into a key strategy in the study of small RNA functions. This review presents some reflections on the long journey to the short tandem target mimic（STTM） for selective destruction/blockage of specific miRNAs in plants and animals,and the potential applications of STTM are discussed.

Magnetically Driven Soft Continuum Microrobot for Intravascular Operations in Microscale

Remotely controlled soft continuum robots with active steering capability have broad prospects in medical applications.However,conventional continuum robots have the miniaturization challenge.This paper presents a microscale soft continuum microrobot with steering and locomotion capabilties based on magnetic field actuation.The magnetically driven soft continuum microrobot is made of NdFeB particles and polyd imethylsiloxane(PDMS),and it can be as small as 200 pum in diameter.Moreover,a hydrogel layer is covered on the surface of the microrobot,which not only overcomes the adhesion force between the microobjects and the soft tip but also reduces the friction between the microrobot and substrate.The performance test indicates the soft continuum microrobot featured excellent control and steering capabilities.The experimental results demonstrate that the soft continuum microrobot can travel through the microfluidic channel by its own vibration and flexibly steer in a bifurcation environment.Moreover,the micromanipulation of microbeads in the microfluidic channels proves that the proposed microscale soft continuum microrobot has a great potential for intravascu lar manipu lation.