Search

With the rapid progress of sensor technology, underwater monitoring wireless sensor network (UMWSN) equipped with water resource monitoring capabilities have surfaced. UMWSN is currently emerging as a popular research and application area, with a wide range of applications in various fields, including but not limited to disaster warning, pollutant monitoring and hydrological data monitoring. However, due to the limited size and computing power of wireless sensors, UMWSN are exceedingly susceptible to network security attacks by contaminating entities. In order to tackle the problems of inadequate security, elevated network energy consumption, and high system latency in existing QoS routing research, this paper puts forward an innovative multi-objective routing protocol named multi-objective chaotic Boltzmann ant colony optimization routing protocol (MO-CBACORP). MO-CBACORP can minimize the energy consumption of sensor nodes in UMWSN routing, thereby effectively diminishing system latency and significantly enhancing routing security. During the routing optimization process, MO-CBACORP proposed an innovative design of the chaos operator and Boltzmann selection strategy, which effectively avoids the issue of being stuck in local optimal solutions and greatly enhances the convergence speed of the algorithm. Additionally, a novel experiment for underwater monitoring environments is presented that precisely replicates underwater monitoring conditions and attack scenarios. According to the experimental results, MO-CBACORP exhibits superior performance compared to the latest state-of-the-art research including THOA-MHR, ACO-MCMC, and MAP-ACO, with a minimum improvement of 7.25%, 9.31%, and 7.68% in terms of route security, network energy consumption, and delay, respectively. All in all, MO-CBACORP exhibits superior performance compared to the three latest research algorithms.

Yak (Bos grunniens) is an important and remarkable livestock species that survives in the challenging environment of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. However, its growth rate is slower and reproductive potential is generally lower than cattle. Meanwhile, it has been reported that enhanced nutrition improves the reproductive efficiency of animals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of concentrate supplementation on the miRNA expression profile in the ovaries of yak during the non-breeding season. The study displayed that non-breeding season supplementation significantly improved growth performance, serum biochemical indicators, and reproductive hormone concentrations in yaks. In this study, we also examined the differential expression analysis of miRNA in the ovaries of yak during non-breeding seasons using Illumina Hiseq sequencing technology. As a result, 51 differentially expressed miRNAs were found in the experimental group (CS) and control group (CON). Gene Ontology (go) and Kyoto Genome Encyclopedia (KEGG) analysis of target genes showed that beta-alanine metabolism; tryptophan metabolism; sphingolipid metabolism; alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism; and the inositol phosphate metabolism pathway attracted our attention. Based on qRT-PCR, seven miRNAs were assessed to verify the accuracy of the library database. We predicted and identified potential miRNA target genes, including LEP, KLF7, VEGFA, GNAQ, GTAT6, and CCND2. miRNA and corresponding target genes may regulate yaks’ seasonal reproduction through their nutritional status. This study will provide an experimental basis for improving the reproductive efficiency of yaks by supplementation in the non-breeding season.

Diacylglycerol acyltransferase-2 (DGAT2) plays a key role in the synthesis of animal triglycerides (TGs). This study investigated the relative expression of the DGAT2 gene in tissues, variation in the gene, and its association with carcass and meat quality traits in yaks (Bos grunniens). DGAT2 was found to be expressed in twelve tissues investigated, but the highest expression was detected in subcutaneous fat, and moderate levels were observed in the liver, heart, longissimus dorsi muscle, and abomasum. Three variants (A1 to C1) were found in intron 5 and another three variants (A2 to C2) were found in intron 6, with two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) being identified in each region in 694 Gannan yaks. Variants B1 and C2 were associated with a decrease in Warner⁻Bratzler shear force (WBSF) (p = 0.0020 and p = 0.0441, respectively), and variant C1 was associated with an increase in WBSF (p = 0.0434) and a decrease in drip loss rate (p = 0.0271), whereas variant B2 was associated with a decrease in cooking loss rate (p = 0.0142). Haplotypes A1-A2 and B1-A2 were found to be, respectively, associated with an increase and a decrease in WBSF (p = 0.0191 and p = 0.0010, respectively). These results indicate that DGAT2 could be a useful gene marker for improving meat tenderness in yaks.