Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is one of the most widely cultivated vegetables in the world. High temperature and other stress conditions can affect the growth and development of this plant, even leading to the decreases in yield and quality. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family plays a crucial role in plant stress responses. However, the role of MPK4 in the stress response of cucumber remains to be reported. In this study, we cloned CsMPK4, which encoded 383 amino acid residues. The qRT-PCR results showed that the expression level of CsMPK4 was the highest in leaves and flowers, moderate in roots, and the lowest in stems and tendrils. CsMPK4 was located in the nucleus and cytoplasm, and it had a close relationship with CmMPK4 in muskmelon. The cucumber plants overexpressing CsMPK4 became stronger and shorter, with reduced length and quantity of tendrils. Moreover, the transgenic seedlings were more resistant to high temperatures, with decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content and increased activities of peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in young leaves. Furthermore, the protein-protein interaction between CsMPK4 and CsVQ10, a member of the valine-glutamine family, was confirmed by yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays. The results suggested that CsVQ10 cooperated with CsMPK4 in response to the high temperature stress in cucumber. This study laid a foundation for the further study on the stress response mechanism of CsMPK4 and the breeding of stress-resistant cucumber varieties.
Cucumis sativus/metabolism* ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/physiology* ; Plant Proteins/metabolism* ; Plants, Genetically Modified/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Stress, Physiological/genetics* ; Cloning, Molecular

Objective To observe the characteristics of patients with extra long-term hospital stays at an infectious dis-eases hospital,formulate corresponding strategies,and effectively control the length of stays so as to improve the efficiency of medical resource utilization.Methods Data of all discharged patients in 2023,including age,gender,disease name,discharge department,and length of stay,were retrieved from the hospital's medical record management system.Statistical analysis was conducted using Excel and SPSS.Results The analysis indicated that the proportion of male patients with excessively long hos-pital stays was significantly higher than that of female patients.Additionally,prolonged hospital stays were correlated with age,and elderly patients exhibited a higher proportion of extended stays.Most patients were covered by employee medical insurance and resident medical insurance,while only a small portion relied on self-funded medical insurance.Over half of the excessively hospitalized patients were affected with specific infectious and parasitic diseases(A00-B99).Controlling the length of these hos-pitalizations could reduce costs and alleviate patient burdens.Conclusion Controlling excessive hospital stays is effective through strengthened medical quality management,enhanced patient management in key departments,and a focus on specific dis-eases.Additional strategies for controlling extended hospital stay include improving doctor-patient communication,increasing comprehensive patient information sharing,reducing medical disputes,attaching importance to information technology,and rea-sonably utilize medical resources.