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Abstract Background Family-based selective breeding programs typically employ both between-family and within-family selection in aquaculture. However, these programs may exhibit a reduced genetic gain in the presence of a genotype by environment interactions (G × E) when employing biosecurity-based breeding schemes (BS), compared to non-biosecurity-based breeding schemes (NBS). Fortunately, genomic selection shows promise in improving genetic gain by taking within-family variance into account. Stochastic simulation was employed to evaluate genetic gain and G × E trends in BS for improving the body weight of L. vannamei, considering selective genotyping strategies for test group (TG) at a commercial farm environment (CE), the number individuals of the selection group (SG) genotyped at nucleus breeding center (NE), and varying levels of G × E. Results The loss of genetic gain in BS ranged from 9.4 to 38.9% in pedigree-based selection and was more pronounced when G × E was stronger, as quantified by a lower genetic correlation for body weight between NE and CE. Genomic selection, particularly with selective genotyping of TG individuals with extreme performance, effectively offset the loss of genetic gain. With a genetic correlation of 0.8, genotyping 20 SG individuals in each candidate family achieved 93.2% of the genetic gain observed for NBS. However, when the genetic correlation fell below 0.5, the number of genotyped SG individuals per family had to be increased to 50 or more. Genetic gain improved by on average 9.4% when the number of genotyped SG individuals rose from 20 to 50, but the increase in genetic gain averaged only 2.4% when expanding from 50 to 80 individuals genotyped. In addition, the genetic correlation decreased by on average 0.13 over 30 generations of selection when performing BS and the genetic correlation fluctuated across generations. Conclusions Genomic selection can effectively compensate for the loss of genetic gain in BS due to G × E. However, the number of genotyped SG individuals and the level of G × E significantly affected the extra genetic gain from genomic selection. A family-based BS selective breeding program should monitor the level of G × E and genotyping 50 SG individuals per candidate family to minimize the loss of genetic gain due to G × E, unless the level of G × E is confirmed to be low.

Im Zuge des digitalen Wandels ist die virtuelle Kommunikation – sehr häufig in Form von virtuellen Meetings – das neue Normal in der Arbeitswelt geworden. Dies stellt insbesondere interkulturelle Teams vor neue Herausforderungen. Ein wichtiger Aspekt dabei ist die Vertrauensbildung zwischen Teammitgliedern aus unterschiedlichen Kulturkreisen, die die vorliegende Arbeit als Forschungsthema untersucht und erörtert. Unterstützt von qualitativen Experteninterviews wird in der Arbeit das genannte Thema am Beispiel von virtuellen Meetings unter Mitgliedern chinesisch-deutscher Teams beleuchtet. Durch leitfadengestützte Experteninterviews mit 28 chinesischen und 12 deutschen Fach- und Führungskräften von 20 chinesischen Unternehmen in Deutschland und zehn deutschen Unternehmen in China konnten Erfahrungen, Erwartungen und Empfehlungen in Bezug auf Vertrauensbildung in den chinesisch-deutschen Teams bei virtuellen Meetings erfasst werden. Basierend auf der Auswertung der in den Interviews gewonnenen Daten mit Hilfe von MAXQDA 2022 wurde das Konstrukt der Vertrauensbildung unter chinesischen und deutschen Teammitgliedern auf kognitiver, affektiver und konativer Ebene mit insgesamt acht Schlüsselfaktoren ausgearbeitet. Darüber hinaus wurden Atmosphäre und Umfeld als kontextueller Rahmen für die Vertrauensbildung postuliert und näher erläutert. Basierend auf der oben geschilderten systematischen Datenauswertung wurde ein multimodales und multidimensionales Modell zur Vertrauensbildung unter chinesischen und deutschen Teammitgliedern bei virtuellen Meetings entwickelt und es wurden Strategien und Ansätze zum Vertrauensauf- und -ausbau ausgelotet.

Deutschland und China gelten als wichtige Knotenpunkte der Neuen Seidenstraße und werden aufgrund ihrer wirtschaftlichen Bedeutung häufig zum Gegenstand der Medienberichterstattung bezüglich der Neuen Seidenstraße. Trotz Anerkennung der Relevanz von der Multimodalität beim Prozess der Sinnbildung bzw. Bedeutungskonstruktion beschäftigen sich die meisten vorangegangenen Untersuchungen zur Imagekonstitution im Zusammenhang mit der neuen Seidenstraße mit schriftlichen Texten (vor allem mit Medienberichten). In dem vorliegenden Beitrag wird der deutsche Dokumentarfilm Die Neue Seidenstraße – Chinas Griff nach Westen, der mit verschiedenen Modalitäten arbeitet, als Untersuchungsgegenstand ausgewählt und auf das multimodal konstituierte Chinesen-Image untersucht. Von relevanten Ansätzen der multimodalen Analyse und linguistischer Diskursanalyse ausgehend versucht dieser Beitrag, die gängigen Herangehensweisen im Rahmen der Erhellung von Sprachgebrauchsmustern auf die Bildmodalität zu übertragen und dadurch ein sprache-bild-integratives Untersuchungsmodell zu erarbeiten. Aus der Untersuchung ergeben sich insgesamt 4 durch die Zusammenwirkung von Sprach- und Bildmodalität konstituierte Imageaspekte der Chinesen: ‚greifende Fremde‘ In diesem Beitrag werden die Imageaspekte von Chinesen durch einfache Anführungszeichen gekennzeichnet. ‚Gewinner bei der Zusammenarbeit‘ ‚fleißige Opfer‘ und ‚Leiter bei der Zusammenarbeit‘. Diese Arbeit zeigt auch die methodische Relevanz, bei der Imagekonstruktion verschiedene Modalitäten zu berücksichtigen.

Abstract Background Accurate breed identification is essential for the conservation and sustainable use of indigenous farm animal genetic resources. In this study, we evaluated the phylogenetic relationships and genomic breed compositions of 13 sheep breeds using SNP and InDel data from whole genome sequencing. The breeds included 11 Chinese indigenous and 2 foreign commercial breeds. We compared different strategies for breed identification with respect to different marker types, i.e. SNPs, InDels, and a combination of SNPs and InDels (named SIs), different breed-informative marker detection methods, and different machine learning classification methods. Results Using WGS-based SNPs and InDels, we revealed the phylogenetic relationships between 11 Chinese indigenous and two foreign sheep breeds and quantified their purities through estimated genomic breed compositions. We found that the optimal strategy for identifying these breeds was the combination of DFI_union for breed-informative marker detection, which integrated the methods of Delta, Pairwise Wright's FST, and Informativeness for Assignment (namely DFI) by merging the breed-informative markers derived from the three methods, and KSR for breed assignment, which integrated the methods of K-Nearest Neighbor, Support Vector Machine, and Random Forest (namely KSR) by intersecting their results. Using SI markers improved the identification accuracy compared to using SNPs or InDels alone. We achieved accuracies over 97.5% when using at least the 1000 most breed-informative (MBI) SI markers and even 100% when using 5000 SI markers. Conclusions Our results provide not only an important foundation for conservation of these Chinese local sheep breeds, but also general approaches for breed identification of indigenous farm animal breeds.

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) have been shown to increase patient morbidity and mortality, impact on quality of life and place a significant economic burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Irrigation using wound cleansing and antiseptic effective solutions during surgical procedures is a key part of SSI prevention. The optimal solution would have minimal cytotoxicity to the patient while maintaining a minimum concentration required for antimicrobial activity necessary to prevent opportunistic pathogens and biofilm formation.Method: A variety of common wound irrigation products, including polyhexanide in various concentrations and compositions, iodine and hypochlorous acid-based solutions, were tested and compared for their activity against pathogens according to the ESKAPE group of nosocomial relevant microbes. The antimicrobial efficacy of the solutions was tested against planktonic cells using a time-kill assay. Its minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) and its cytotoxicity against mouse fibroblast cells were determined. Finally, the Therapeutic Index (TI) was compared and the biofilm activity of a selected solution containing 0.1% polyhexanide (PHMB) was tested. Results: Irrigation solutions containing 0.1% PHMB demonstrated rapid inactivation against planktonic cultures, achieving >4 lg reduction within 60 seconds. When comparing the TI of all irrigation solutions tested, the combination of 0.1% PHMB and poloxamer as an additive showed the best results in killing nosocomial pathogens and also to be less cytotoxic to mammalian fibroblasts, as demonstrated for Surgical Irrigation. When exposed to five single-species biofilms, PREVENTIA Surgical Irrigation showed a 3 lg reduction (average) after 60 minutes; this was supported by microscopy showing significant biofilm disruption and an abundance of non-viable microcolony formations.Conclusion: This study highlights the impact of irrigation solutions containing PHMB. It also demonstrated the effect of using different concentrations of PHMB in combination with surfactants as additives. The combination of 0.1% PHMB and poloxamer as a surfactant demonstrated effective benefits in eradicating established biofilm combined with a relatively high Therapeutic Index (TI), indicating low cytotoxicity and high bactericidal activity.

Legislators from the leading party in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan are moving to pass an amendment that could effectively paralyze the Constitutional Court. Under the proposed changes to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act, the Court may find itself unable to carry out its constitutional mandate. This week, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan will deliberate the amendments. If the amendments are passed in their current form, Taiwan could face nothing less than a full-blown constitutional crisis.

Carbon steel butt welds are widely used in aircraft carrier, shipbuilding, railway, aerospace and other industries. As a new technology of ultrasonic non-destructive testing, Total Focusing Method (TFM) technology is a method of image reconstruction in which the value of each constituent datum of the image results from focused ultrasound. TFM may also be understood as a broad term encompassing a family of processing techniques for image reconstruction from full matrix capture (FMC). This paper compares resolution and focus between TFM and conventional phased array technology, by using phased array test block type B. The paper also introduces the testing system, including equipment, probe, wedge, calibration block as per ASME, PC analysis software, for detection of 21mm thickness carbon steel welds. In order to improve the defect detection ability, a customized software on board was designed based on TFM technology, and an appropriate propagation mode was adopted for different types of defects, such as longitudinal cracks on surface, lack of fusion, porosities, slag inclusions. The test results showing that compared with conventional phased array technology, the defect information such as length and depth detected by TFM are nearer to the actual situation, and the shape is closer to the physical one. TFM technology has more advantages in quantitative and qualitative capabilities in testing carbon steel butt welds, and can meet the requirements of on-site testing.

Abstract Background Enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) play a crucial role in transcriptional regulation. While significant progress has been made in understanding epigenetic regulation mediated by eRNAs, research on the construction of eRNA-mediated gene regulatory networks (eGRN) and the identification of critical network components that influence complex traits is lacking. Results Here, employing the pig as a model, we conducted a comprehensive study using H3K27ac histone ChIP-seq and RNA-seq data to construct eRNA expression profiles from multiple tissues of two distinct pig breeds, namely Enshi Black (ES) and Duroc. In addition to revealing the regulatory landscape of eRNAs at the tissue level, we developed an innovative network construction and refinement method by integrating RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals and enhancer-modulating effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) measured by self-transcribing active regulatory region sequencing (STARR-seq) experiments. Using this approach, we unraveled eGRN that significantly influence the growth and development of muscle and fat tissues, and identified several novel genes that affect adipocyte differentiation in a cell line model. Conclusions Our work not only provides novel insights into the genetic basis of economic pig traits, but also offers a generalizable approach to elucidate the eRNA-mediated transcriptional regulation underlying a wide spectrum of complex traits for diverse organisms.

Abstract Background With the introduction of digital phenotyping and high-throughput data, traits that were previously difficult or impossible to measure directly have become easily accessible, offering the opportunity to enhance the efficiency and rate of genetic gain in animal production. It is of interest to assess how behavioral traits are indirectly related to the production traits during the performance testing period. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of behavior data extracted from day-wise video recordings and estimate the genetic parameters of behavior traits and their phenotypic and genetic correlations with production traits in pigs. Behavior was recorded for 70 days after on-test at about 10 weeks of age and ended at off-test for 2008 female purebred pigs, totaling 119,812 day-wise records. Behavior traits included time spent eating, drinking, laterally lying, sternally lying, sitting, standing, and meters of distance traveled. A quality control procedure was created for algorithm training and adjustment, standardizing recording hours, removing culled animals, and filtering unrealistic records. Results Production traits included average daily gain (ADG), back fat thickness (BF), and loin depth (LD). Single-trait linear models were used to estimate heritabilities of the behavior traits and two-trait linear models were used to estimate genetic correlations between behavior and production traits. The results indicated that all behavior traits are heritable, with heritability estimates ranging from 0.19 to 0.57, and showed low-to-moderate phenotypic and genetic correlations with production traits. Two-trait linear models were also used to compare traits at different intervals of the recording period. To analyze the redundancies in behavior data during the recording period, the averages of various recording time intervals for the behavior and production traits were compared. Overall, the average of the 55- to 68-day recording interval had the strongest phenotypic and genetic correlation estimates with the production traits. Conclusions Digital phenotyping is a new and low-cost method to record behavior phenotypes, but thorough data cleaning procedures are needed. Evaluating behavioral traits at different time intervals offers a deeper insight into their changes throughout the growth periods and their relationship with production traits, which may be recorded at a less frequent basis.

This study examines the effect of four subtitling conditions — no subtitle, intralingual subtitles, interlingual subtitles, and keyword subtitles — on vocabulary learning among diverse learner groups, as well as their perception of the effectiveness of subtitles. The study involved four participant types, all learning English as a foreign language: second-year primary school students (N = 147), fourth-year primary school students (N = 97), middle school students (year 8, N = 38), and high school students (year 10, N = 50). Participants watched videos under different subtitling conditions, followed by a vocabulary test. Our findings revealed that middle and high school students scored higher on vocabulary meaning recall when subtitles were provided. Meanwhile, second- and fourth-year primary school students did not benefit from the subtitles in terms of meaning recognition. Among the subtitle types, bilingual keyword subtitles were the most effective for middle school students, while interlingual subtitles proved to be the best for high school students. Generally, the students' perception of the effectiveness of the subtitles in the experiment aligned with their actual learning outcomes.

With the surge of participatory culture and dynamic of media convergence, danmu have experienced their continued proliferation on East Asian online streaming. Facilitated by pseudo-synchronicity and congruency technologies, existing research has focused on describing and conceptualising the final product of danmu rather than being grounded in the empirical process of receiving danmu. We know little of how audiences perceive danmu and to what extent danmu affect viewers’ gratifications. Adopting an online-based experiment, this study contributes to examining viewers’ engagement with and gratifications from different types of danmu. It attempts to understand what types of danmu matter to the audience’s viewing gratifications in terms of its content and multimodality, and what (dis)connections can be observed between the audience reception of danmu and conventional subtitles. The results show that extra cultural information danmu stand out as the most gratifying type, significantly satisfying viewers’ utilitarian and hedonic needs for information and entertainment seeking. Scrolling speed and size are the two most influential multimodal factors in viewers’ gratifications with danmu. However, the potential connections between conventional subtitles and danmu depend highly on a video's content or genre.

Abstract Background Egg-laying performance is economically important in poultry breeding programs. Crossbreeding between indigenous and elite commercial lines to exploit heterosis has been an upward trend in traditional layer breeding for niche markets. The objective of this study was to analyse the genetic background and to estimate the heterosis of longitudinal egg-laying traits in reciprocal crosses between an indigenous Beijing-You and an elite commercial White Leghorn layer line. Egg weights were measured for the first three eggs, monthly from 28 to 76 weeks of age, and at 86 and 100 weeks of age. Egg quality traits were measured at 32, 54, 72, 86, and 100 weeks of age. Egg production traits were measured from the start of lay until 43, 72, and 100 weeks of age. Heritabilities and phenotypic and genetic correlations were estimated. Heterosis was estimated as the percentage difference of performance of a crossbred from that of the parental average. Reciprocal cross differences were estimated as the difference between the reciprocal crossbreds as a percentage of the parental average. Results Estimates of heritability of egg weights ranged from 0.29 to 0.75. Estimates of genetic correlations between egg weights at different ages ranged from 0.72 to 1.00. Estimates of heritability for cumulative egg numbers until 43, 72, and 100 weeks of age were around 0.15. Estimates of heterosis for egg weight and cumulative egg number increased with age, ranging from 1.0 to 9.0% and from 1.4 to 11.6%, respectively. From 72 to 100 weeks of age, crossbreds produced more eggs per week than the superior parent White Leghorn (3.5 eggs for White Leghorn, 3.8 and 3.9 eggs for crossbreds). Heterosis for eggshell thickness ranged from 2.7 to 6.6% when using Beijing-You as the sire breed. No significant difference between reciprocal crosses was observed for the investigated traits, except for eggshell strength at 54 weeks of age. Conclusions The heterosis was substantial for egg weight and cumulative egg number, and increased with age, suggesting that non-additive genetic effects are important in crossbreds between the indigenous and elite breeds. Generally, the crossbreds performed similar to or even outperformed the commercial White Leghorns for egg production persistency.

Abstract Background Heterosis is routinely exploited to improve animal performance. However, heterosis and its underlying molecular mechanism for feed intake and efficiency have been rarely explored in chickens. Feed efficiency continues to be an important breeding goal trait since feed accounts for 60 to 70% of the total production costs in poultry. Here, we profiled the mRNA-lncRNA landscape of 96 samples of the hypothalamus, liver and duodenum mucosa from White Leghorn (WL), Beijing-You chicken (YY), and their reciprocal crosses (WY and YW) to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of heterosis. Results We observed negative heterosis for both feed intake and residual feed intake (RFI) in YW during the laying period from 43 to 46 weeks of age. Analysis of the global expression pattern showed that non-additivity was a major component of the inheritance of gene expression in the three tissues for YW but not for WY. The YW-specific non-additively expressed genes (YWG) and lncRNA (YWL) dominated the total number of non-additively expressed genes and lncRNA in the hypothalamus and duodenum mucosa. Enrichment analysis of YWG showed that mitochondria components and oxidation phosphorylation (OXPHOS) pathways were shared among the three tissues. The OXPHOS pathway was enriched by target genes for YWL with non-additive inheritance of expression in the liver and duodenum mucosa. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis revealed divergent co-expression modules associated with feed intake and RFI in the three tissues from WL, YW, and YY. Among the negatively related modules, the OXPHOS pathway was enriched by hub genes in the three tissues, which supports the critical role of oxidative phosphorylation. Furthermore, protein quantification of ATP5I was highly consistent with ATP5I expression in the liver, which suggests that, in crossbred YW, non-additive gene expression is down-regulated and decreases ATP production through oxidative phosphorylation, resulting in negative heterosis for feed intake and efficiency. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that non-additively expressed genes and lncRNA involved in oxidative phosphorylation in the hypothalamus, liver, and duodenum mucosa are key regulators of the negative heterosis for feed intake and RFI in layer chickens. These findings should facilitate the rational choice of suitable parents for producing crossbred chickens.

Abstract Background Most genomic prediction applications in animal breeding use genotypes with tens of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). However, modern sequencing technologies and imputation algorithms can generate ultra-high-density genotypes (including millions of SNPs) at an affordable cost. Empirical studies have not produced clear evidence that using ultra-high-density genotypes can significantly improve prediction accuracy. However, (whole-genome) prediction accuracy is not very informative about the ability of a model to capture the genetic signals from specific genomic regions. To address this problem, we propose a simple methodology that detects chromosome regions for which a specific model (e.g., single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (ssGBLUP)) may fail to fully capture the genetic signal present in such segments—a phenomenon that we refer to as signal leakage. We propose to detect regions with evidence of signal leakage by testing the association of residuals from a pedigree or a genomic model with SNP genotypes. We discuss how this approach can be used to map regions with signals that are poorly captured by a model and to identify strategies to fix those problems (e.g., using a different prior or increasing marker density). Finally, we explored the proposed approach to scan for signal leakage of different models (pedigree-based, ssGBLUP, and various Bayesian models) applied to growth-related phenotypes (average daily gain and backfat thickness) in pigs. Results We report widespread evidence of signal leakage for pedigree-based models. Including a percentage of animals with SNP data in ssGBLUP reduced the extent of signal leakage. However, local peaks of missed signals remained in some regions, even when all animals were genotyped. Using variable selection priors solves leakage points that are caused by excessive shrinkage of marker effects. Nevertheless, these models still miss signals in some regions due to low linkage disequilibrium between the SNPs on the array used and causal variants. Thus, we discuss how such problems could be addressed by adding sequence SNPs from those regions to the prediction model. Conclusions Residual single-marker regression analysis is a simple approach that can be used to detect regional genomic signals that are poorly captured by a model and to indicate ways to fix such problems.

Abstract Background Genomic selection is widely applied for genetic improvement in livestock crossbreeding systems to select excellent nucleus purebred (PB) animals and to improve the performance of commercial crossbred (CB) animals. Most current predictions are based solely on PB performance. Our objective was to explore the potential application of genomic selection of PB animals using genotypes of CB animals with extreme phenotypes in a three-way crossbreeding system as the reference population. Using real genotyped PB as ancestors, we simulated the production of 100,000 pigs for a Duroc x (Landrace x Yorkshire) DLY crossbreeding system. The predictive performance of breeding values of PB animals for CB performance using genotypes and phenotypes of (1) PB animals, (2) DLY animals with extreme phenotypes, and (3) random DLY animals for traits of different heritabilities ( $${h}^{2}$$ h 2 = 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5) was compared across different reference population sizes (500 to 6500) and prediction models (genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) and Bayesian sparse linear mixed model (BSLMM)). Results Using a reference population consisting of CB animals with extreme phenotypes showed a definite predictive advantage for medium- and low-heritability traits and, in combination with the BSLMM model, significantly improved selection response for CB performance. For high-heritability traits, the predictive performance of a reference population of extreme CB phenotypes was comparable to that of PB phenotypes when the effect of the genetic correlation between PB and CB performance ( $${r}_{pc}$$ r pc ) on the accuracy obtained with a PB reference population was considered, and the former could exceed the latter if the reference size was large enough. For the selection of the first and terminal sires in a three-way crossbreeding system, prediction using extreme CB phenotypes outperformed the use of PB phenotypes, while the optimal design of the reference group for the first dam depended on the percentage of individuals from the corresponding breed that the PB reference data comprised and on the heritability of the target trait. Conclusions A commercial crossbred population is promising for the design of the reference population for genomic prediction, and selective genotyping of CB animals with extreme phenotypes has the potential for maximizing genetic improvement for CB performance in the pig industry.

Abstract Livestock and poultry play a significant role in human nutrition by converting agricultural by-products into high-quality proteins. To meet the growing demand for safe animal protein, genetic improvement of livestock must be done sustainably while minimizing negative environmental impacts. Transposable elements (TE) are important components of livestock and poultry genomes, contributing to their genetic diversity, chromatin states, gene regulatory networks, and complex traits of economic value. However, compared to other species, research on TE in livestock and poultry is still in its early stages. In this review, we analyze 72 studies published in the past 20 years, summarize the TE composition in livestock and poultry genomes, and focus on their potential roles in functional genomics. We also discuss bioinformatic tools and strategies for integrating multi-omics data with TE, and explore future directions, feasibility, and challenges of TE research in livestock and poultry. In addition, we suggest strategies to apply TE in basic biological research and animal breeding. Our goal is to provide a new perspective on the importance of TE in livestock and poultry genomes.

Abstract Background Whole-genome sequence (WGS) data harbor causative variants that may not be present in standard single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip data. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of using preselected variants from WGS for single-step genomic predictions in maternal and terminal pig lines with up to 1.8k sequenced and 104k sequence imputed animals per line. Methods Two maternal and four terminal lines were investigated for eight and seven traits, respectively. The number of sequenced animals ranged from 1365 to 1491 for the maternal lines and 381 to 1865 for the terminal lines. Imputation to sequence occurred within each line for 66k to 76k animals for the maternal lines and 29k to 104k animals for the terminal lines. Two preselected SNP sets were generated based on a genome-wide association study (GWAS). Top40k included the SNPs with the lowest p-value in each of the 40k genomic windows, and ChipPlusSign included significant variants integrated into the porcine SNP chip used for routine genotyping. We compared the performance of single-step genomic predictions between using preselected SNP sets assuming equal or different variances and the standard porcine SNP chip. Results In the maternal lines, ChipPlusSign and Top40k showed an average increase in accuracy of 0.6 and 4.9%, respectively, compared to the regular porcine SNP chip. The greatest increase was obtained with Top40k, particularly for fertility traits, for which the initial accuracy based on the standard SNP chip was low. However, in the terminal lines, Top40k resulted in an average loss of accuracy of 1%. ChipPlusSign provided a positive, although small, gain in accuracy (0.9%). Assigning different variances for the SNPs slightly improved accuracies when using variances obtained from BayesR. However, increases were inconsistent across the lines and traits. Conclusions The benefit of using sequence data depends on the line, the size of the genotyped population, and how the WGS variants are preselected. When WGS data are available on hundreds of thousands of animals, using sequence data presents an advantage but this remains limited in pigs.

Abstract Background Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) aim at identifying genomic regions involved in phenotype expression, but identifying causative variants is difficult. Pig Combined Annotation Dependent Depletion (pCADD) scores provide a measure of the predicted consequences of genetic variants. Incorporating pCADD into the GWAS pipeline may help their identification. Our objective was to identify genomic regions associated with loin depth and muscle pH, and identify regions of interest for fine-mapping and further experimental work. Genotypes for ~ 40,000 single nucleotide morphisms (SNPs) were used to perform GWAS for these two traits, using de-regressed breeding values (dEBV) for 329,964 pigs from four commercial lines. Imputed sequence data was used to identify SNPs in strong ( $$\ge$$ ≥ 0.80) linkage disequilibrium with lead GWAS SNPs with the highest pCADD scores. Results Fifteen distinct regions were associated with loin depth and one with loin pH at genome-wide significance. Regions on chromosomes 1, 2, 5, 7, and 16, explained between 0.06 and 3.55% of the additive genetic variance and were strongly associated with loin depth. Only a small part of the additive genetic variance in muscle pH was attributed to SNPs. The results of our pCADD analysis suggests that high-scoring pCADD variants are enriched for missense mutations. Two close but distinct regions on SSC1 were associated with loin depth, and pCADD identified the previously identified missense variant within the MC4R gene for one of the lines. For loin pH, pCADD identified a synonymous variant in the RNF25 gene (SSC15) as the most likely candidate for the muscle pH association. The missense mutation in the PRKAG3 gene known to affect glycogen content was not prioritised by pCADD for loin pH. Conclusions For loin depth, we identified several strong candidate regions for further statistical fine-mapping that are supported in the literature, and two novel regions. For loin muscle pH, we identified one previously identified associated region. We found mixed evidence for the utility of pCADD as an extension of heuristic fine-mapping. The next step is to perform more sophisticated fine-mapping and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis, and then interrogate candidate variants in vitro by perturbation-CRISPR assays.

Abstract Background Currently, meat cut traits are integrated in pig breeding objectives to gain extra profit. However, little is known about the heritability of meat cut proportions (MCP) and their correlations with other traits. The aims of this study were to assess the heritability and genetic correlation of MCP with carcass and meat quality traits using single nucleotide polymorphism chips and conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify candidate genes for MCP. Results Seventeen MCP, 12 carcass, and seven meat quality traits were measured in 2012 pigs from four populations (Landrace; Yorkshire; Landrace and Yorkshire hybrid pigs; Duroc, and Landrace and Yorkshire hybrid pigs). Estimates of the heritability for MCP ranged from 0.10 to 0.55, with most estimates being moderate to high and highly consistent across populations. In the combined population, the heritability estimates for the proportions of scapula bone, loin, back fat, leg bones, and boneless picnic shoulder were 0.44 ± 0.04, 0.36 ± 0.04, 0.44 ± 0.04, 0.38 ± 0.04, and 0.39 ± 0.04, respectively. Proportion of middle cuts was genetically significantly positively correlated with intramuscular fat content and backfat depth. Proportion of ribs was genetically positively correlated with carcass oblique length and straight length (0.35 ± 0.08 to 0.45 ± 0.07) and negatively correlated with backfat depth (− 0.26 ± 0.10 to − 0.45 ± 0.10). However, weak or nonsignificant genetic correlations were observed between most MCP, indicating their independence. Twenty-eight quantitative trait loci (QTL) for MCP were detected by GWAS, and 24 new candidate genes related to MCP were identified, which are involved with growth, height, and skeletal development. Most importantly, we found that the development of the bones in different parts of the body may be regulated by different genes, among which HMGA1 may be the strongest candidate gene affecting forelimb bone development. Moreover, as previously shown, VRTN is a causal gene affecting vertebra number, and BMP2 may be the strongest candidate gene affecting hindlimb bone development. Conclusions Our results indicate that breeding programs for MCP have the potential to enhance carcass composition by increasing the proportion of expensive cuts and decreasing the proportion of inexpensive cuts. Since MCP are post-slaughter traits, the QTL and candidate genes related to these traits can be used for marker-assisted and genomic selection.

In this study, the trend and magnitudinal changes of monthly and annual temperature was determined by applying the non-parametric Mann-Kendall, modified Mann-Kendall, and Sen’s slope tests in the Kofarnihon River Basin. Also, Pettitt’s test was used to analyze the changes during the 1951–2012 and 1979–2012 time periods. The study revealed that the seasonal temperature trend decreased in winter and significantly increased in spring. The mean annual temperature trend at all six climate stations exhibited an increasing trend during 1951–2012-time period. The decadal temperature trend at all stations varied from 0.36 °C/decade at Isambay station and –0.18 °C/decade at Anzob station. Abrupt change points in air temperature occurred around the 1970s in the low altitude areas and in the high altitude areas occurred around 2000.

This is an in-depth study of a mimicked slotted point, carved from a cervid longbone, found in the lower reaches of the Pärnu River. The 3D digital model, created during this study, provides an interactive and innovative tool for studying the object in detail. The AMS dating places the artefact at the very beginning of human habitation in the present-day territory of Estonia. SEM-EDS, ATR-FT-IR and GC-FID/MS analyses demonstrate that this unique object was probably originally partially covered with a mixture of red ochre and some coniferous resin, possibly as hafting adhesive. As this is a detailed replica of a slotted point, it also demonstrates how people themselves saw slotted points in the Early Mesolithic, also raising the question of the purpose of this replica â was it an ordinary arrowhead or rather a ritual object?

Heavy metal contamination in soil, which is harmful to both ecosystem and mankind, has attracted worldwide attention from the academic and industrial communities. However, the most-widely used remediation technologies such as electrochemistry, elution, and phytoremediation. suffer from either secondary pollution, long cycle time or high cost. In contrast, in situ mineralization technology shows great potential due to its universality, durability and economical efficiency. As such, the development of mineralizers with both high efficiency and low-cost is the core of in situmineralization. In 2021, the concept of ‘Super-Stable Mineralization’ was proposed for the first time by Kong et al.[1] The layered double hydroxides (denoted as LDHs), with the unique host–guest intercalated structure and multiple interactions between the host laminate and the guest anions, are considered as an ideal class of materials for super-stable mineralization. In this review, we systematically summarize the application of LDHs in the treatment of heavy metal contaminated soil from the view of: 1) the structure–activity relationship of LDHs in in situ mineralization, 2) the advantages of LDHs in mineralizing heavy metals, 3) the scale-up preparation of LDHs-based mineralizers and 4) the practical application of LDHs in treating contaminated soil. At last, we highlight the challenges and opportunities for the rational design of LDH-based mineralizer in the future.

Abstract Background The genetic mechanisms that underlie phenotypic differentiation in breeding animals have important implications in evolutionary biology and agriculture. However, the contribution of cis-regulatory variants to pig phenotypes is poorly understood. Therefore, our aim was to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which non-coding variants cause phenotypic differences in pigs by combining evolutionary biology analyses and functional genomics. Results We obtained a high-resolution phased chromosome-scale reference genome with a contig N50 of 18.03 Mb for the Luchuan pig breed (a representative eastern breed) and profiled potential selective sweeps in eastern and western pigs by resequencing the genomes of 234 pigs. Multi-tissue transcriptome and chromatin accessibility analyses of these regions suggest that tissue-specific selection pressure is mediated by promoters and distal cis-regulatory elements. Promoter variants that are associated with increased expression of the lysozyme (LYZ) gene in the small intestine might enhance the immunity of the gastrointestinal tract and roughage tolerance in pigs. In skeletal muscle, an enhancer-modulating single-nucleotide polymorphism that is associated with up-regulation of the expression of the troponin C1, slow skeletal and cardiac type (TNNC1) gene might increase the proportion of slow muscle fibers and affect meat quality. Conclusions Our work sheds light on the molecular mechanisms by which non-coding variants shape phenotypic differences in pigs and provides valuable resources and novel perspectives to dissect the role of gene regulatory evolution in animal domestication and breeding.

Capsule endoscopy is a promising diagnostic tool for the entire gastrointestinal tract. Since a patient swallows the capsules, their size must be sufficiently small. The principal built-in components are cameras, silver-oxide batteries, light emitting diodes, and an antenna for transmitting the video. For diagnosis and treatment, the precise localization of the capsules for specific video frames is required. Recently, static magnetic localization of these capsules with an integrated permanent magnet showed promising results. However, in the state-of-the-art, relatively large magnets compared to the small capsules were used. Therefore, in this extended paper, the localization performance of a recently proposed optimized differential static magnetic localization method for different sized disc and ring magnets was evaluated. The ring magnets were designed for integration with the two batteries of commercial capsules. The magnets were evaluated in static and dynamic scenarios to evaluate the performance of the method in a patient's daily life. It was revealed that the mean position and orientation errors did not exceed 5 mm and 4∘, respectively, for all applied magnets except for the 1.5 and 3 mm long disc magnets. Moreover, the results indicated that the ferromagnetic batteries of capsule endoscopes increase the localization performance when they are centered within a diametrical ring magnet. Overall, it was revealed that the localization performance of the optimized differential method is significantly better than the state-of-the-art even when the magnet volume is significantly reduced compared to previous work. Therefore, it was concluded that 5 mm long disc magnet or a ring magnet are excellent candidates for integration into a commercial capsule for magnetic localization and yield the advantage of being passive magnetic sources.

Abstract Background Natural and artificial selection for more than 9000 years have led to a variety of domestic pig breeds. Accurate identification of pig breeds is important for breed conservation, sustainable breeding, pork traceability, and local resource registration. Results We evaluated the performance of four selectors and six classifiers for breed identification using a wide range of pig breeds (N = 91). The internal cross-validation and external independent testing showed that partial least squares regression (PLSR) was the most effective selector and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was the most powerful classifier for breed identification among many breeds. Five-fold cross-validation indicated that using PLSR as the selector and PLS-DA as the classifier to discriminate 91 pig breeds yielded 98.4% accuracy with only 3K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We also constructed a reference dataset with 124 pig breeds and used it to develop the web tool iDIGs ( http://alphaindex.zju.edu.cn/iDIGs_en/ ) as a comprehensive application for global pig breed identification. iDIGs allows users to (1) identify pig breeds without a reference population and (2) design small panels to discriminate several specific pig breeds. Conclusions In this study, we proved that breed identification among a wide range of pig breeds is feasible and we developed a web tool for such pig breed identification.

La competencia intercultural es una de las capacidades más fundamentales para cualquier persona en un mundo cada vez más globalizado, sobre todo para los estudiantes de lengua extranjera. Con el uso extendido de Internet, la modalidad de enseñanza ha de revolucionarse para satisfacer las necesidades de una nueva sociedad. El presente artículo indaga sobre la efectividad del curso «Introducción a las fiestas chinas y sus connotaciones culturales» impartido en modelo B-learning (MOOC + clases presenciales) en una universidad china. De ahí, se propone la construcción de un nuevo ecosistema para la enseñanza de la interculturalidad entre China y el mundo hispánico en que los tres niveles (técnico, cognitivo y axiológico) se entrelazan y se apoyan para crear un bucle cerrado.

This article examines the research literature on the economic aspects of the “Sino-Soviet Alliance”, which lasted from the end of the Chinese Civil war until the Sino-Soviet split (1949-1960/63). The Soviet and Eastern European contribution to China’s industrialization, called the “largest technology transfer in human history” by some, still awaits detailed examination. This article aims to structure the field as well as inspire future research. The included studies range from on-the-ground microstudies of engineers at specific industrial construction projects to macro-perspectives on economic exchange, trade and governmental negotiations. In contrast to classical Cold War perspectives, which assume a primacy of (geo-)politics, the paper builds on more recent studies, arguing that economic rationales mattered in both the split and the forging of the alliance. The literature review suggests that the room for manoeuvre of actors beyond the Kremlin and party leaderships has to be measured anew, and that the impact of the alliance on Eastern Europe awaits further research. Finally, the influence of the West with its technologies and world markets becomes visible when these apparently exclusive East-East relations are examined more closely.

Guided wave testing is now a widely accepted method for detection of structural damage in many different types of components, from pipelines to pressure vessels to tanks. Torsional wave modes (T modes) in pipes and shear horizontal (SH) mode guided waves in plates are good candidates for finding areas with generalized corrosion, due to the absence of fluid coupling effects and their lack of dispersion. However, from our field test experience, certain types of defects are difficult to detect with conventional T mode or SH mode guided wave probes. Gradual wall thinning is one such type of defect; another is crack-like defects in or close to welds or penetrations in the pipe. Recently, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has developed a new sensor configuration and scanning system that overcomes these limitations. We have recently developed a linear scanning magnetostrictive transducer (MsT) probe system, in which a FeCo strip wound with radio frequency (RF) coils is attached to the structure under test with shear wave couplant, and a moving permanent magnet driven by a motor is used to excite SH guided waves at predefined positions along this strip. The probe is designed to operate over a wide frequency range (20 – 500 kHz) and can be used to generate dispersive shear wave mode (SH1) in addition to the nondispersive SH0 mode. The use of different modes with the sensor at multiple positions allows detection of a range of defect types. In this paper, the performance of linear scanning MsTs is presented, including experimental evaluation of detection of gradual wall thinning patches of different depths and locations on a steel pipe and plate mockups. Another set of experiments evaluates detection of notches in seam welds. Indications from real-time B-scan and SAFT (synthetic aperture focusing technique) processing will be presented.

Low velocity impacts may cause damages to the composite material. Piezoelectric transducers can be mounted onto the plate surface to monitor the impact by recording the impact induced guided waves. In this study, an impact localization algorithm based on 1D convolutional neural network is proposed. To test the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, 4 PZTs were glued to a composite plate to monitor a region of 200 mm × 200 mm, and an impact experiment was conducted by dropping a glass ball at 117 different locations on the plate. The time-domain guided wave signals obtained by 4 PZTs were used as input to the 1D convolutional neural network. The output of the network was the coordinates of impact. The trained network was afterwards applied to locate impacts at unseen locations, and the mean localization error is 15.2 mm.

Abstract Background After domestication, the evolution of phenotypically-varied sheep breeds has generated rich biodiversity. This wide phenotypic variation arises as a result of hidden genomic changes that range from a single nucleotide to several thousands of nucleotides. Thus, it is of interest and significance to reveal and understand the genomic changes underlying the phenotypic variation of sheep breeds in order to drive selection towards economically important traits. Review Various traits contribute to the emergence of variation in sheep phenotypic characteristics, including coat color, horns, tail, wool, ears, udder, vertebrae, among others. The genes that determine most of these phenotypic traits have been investigated, which has generated knowledge regarding the genetic determinism of several agriculturally-relevant traits in sheep. In this review, we discuss the genomic knowledge that has emerged in the past few decades regarding the phenotypic traits in sheep, and our ultimate aim is to encourage its practical application in sheep breeding. In addition, in order to expand the current understanding of the sheep genome, we shed light on research gaps that require further investigation. Conclusions Although significant research efforts have been conducted in the past few decades, several aspects of the sheep genome remain unexplored. For the full utilization of the current knowledge of the sheep genome, a wide practical application is still required in order to boost sheep productive performance and contribute to the generation of improved sheep breeds. The accumulated knowledge on the sheep genome will help advance and strengthen sheep breeding programs to face future challenges in the sector, such as climate change, global human population growth, and the increasing demand for products of animal origin.

Abstract Background Early simulations indicated that whole-genome sequence data (WGS) could improve the accuracy of genomic predictions within and across breeds. However, empirical results have been ambiguous so far. Large datasets that capture most of the genomic diversity in a population must be assembled so that allele substitution effects are estimated with high accuracy. The objectives of this study were to use a large pig dataset from seven intensely selected lines to assess the benefits of using WGS for genomic prediction compared to using commercial marker arrays and to identify scenarios in which WGS provides the largest advantage. Methods We sequenced 6931 individuals from seven commercial pig lines with different numerical sizes. Genotypes of 32.8 million variants were imputed for 396,100 individuals (17,224 to 104,661 per line). We used BayesR to perform genomic prediction for eight complex traits. Genomic predictions were performed using either data from a standard marker array or variants preselected from WGS based on association tests. Results The accuracies of genomic predictions based on preselected WGS variants were not robust across traits and lines and the improvements in prediction accuracy that we achieved so far with WGS compared to standard marker arrays were generally small. The most favourable results for WGS were obtained when the largest training sets were available and standard marker arrays were augmented with preselected variants with statistically significant associations to the trait. With this method and training sets of around 80k individuals, the accuracy of within-line genomic predictions was on average improved by 0.025. With multi-line training sets, improvements of 0.04 compared to marker arrays could be expected. Conclusions Our results showed that WGS has limited potential to improve the accuracy of genomic predictions compared to marker arrays in intensely selected pig lines. Thus, although we expect that larger improvements in accuracy from the use of WGS are possible with a combination of larger training sets and optimised pipelines for generating and analysing such datasets, the use of WGS in the current implementations of genomic prediction should be carefully evaluated against the cost of large-scale WGS data on a case-by-case basis.

La escritura china tiene un sistema distinto al resto de las escrituras europeas. Esto ha aumentado el nivel de dificultad del aprendizaje-enseñanza los hispanohablantes. Actualmente se ha considerado muy efectiva la enseñanza de los componentes de la escritura china a los estudiantes extranjeros. Sin embargo, en cuanto al estudio componencial de los caracteres chinos hemos tenido varias teorías que curiosamente se basan en diferentes principios del desmontaje de los caracteres chinos, de modo que es menester replantear una teoría unificadora sobre los componentes, en nuestro caso, el caractema. Este artículo pretenderá dar a conocer este nuevo concepto tomando como punto de partida la introducción del estudio de los componentes de caracteres chinos y, a su vez, explicar de manera genérica su aplicación en la enseñanza-aprendizaje de la escritura china.

Platform regulation is not limited to Europe or the United States. Although much debate currently focuses on the latest news from Brussels, California, or Washington, other important regulatory ideas emerge elsewhere. One particularly consequential idea can be found in Taiwan. Simply put, Taiwan wants to, tacitly, democratize platform governance. Concretely, Taiwan wanted to establish a dedicated body that would potentially facilitate far-reaching civil society participation and enable ongoing citizen involvement in platform governance. This article explains what discourses about platform governance can learn from Taiwan and how vivid democratic discourse shapes platform governance beyond traditional regulatory models.

Abstract Background It is expected that functional, mainly missense and loss-of-function (LOF), and regulatory variants are responsible for most phenotypic differences between breeds and genetic lines of livestock species that have undergone diverse selection histories. However, there is still limited knowledge about the existing missense and LOF variation in commercial livestock populations, in particular regarding population-specific variation and how it can affect applications such as across-breed genomic prediction. Methods We re-sequenced the whole genome of 7848 individuals from nine commercial pig lines (average sequencing coverage: 4.1×) and imputed whole-genome genotypes for 440,610 pedigree-related individuals. The called variants were categorized according to predicted functional annotation (from LOF to intergenic) and prevalence level (number of lines in which the variant segregated; from private to widespread). Variants in each category were examined in terms of their distribution along the genome, alternative allele frequency, per-site Wright’s fixation index (FST), individual load, and association to production traits. Results Of the 46 million called variants, 28% were private (called in only one line) and 21% were widespread (called in all nine lines). Genomic regions with a low recombination rate were enriched with private variants. Low-prevalence variants (called in one or a few lines only) were enriched for lower allele frequencies, lower FST, and putatively functional and regulatory roles (including LOF and deleterious missense variants). On average, individuals carried fewer private deleterious missense alleles than expected compared to alleles with other predicted consequences. Only a small subset of the low-prevalence variants had intermediate allele frequencies and explained small fractions of phenotypic variance (up to 3.2%) of production traits. The significant low-prevalence variants had higher per-site FST than the non-significant ones. These associated low-prevalence variants were tagged by other more widespread variants in high linkage disequilibrium, including intergenic variants. Conclusions Most low-prevalence variants have low minor allele frequencies and only a small subset of low-prevalence variants contributed detectable fractions of phenotypic variance of production traits. Accounting for low-prevalence variants is therefore unlikely to noticeably benefit across-breed analyses, such as the prediction of genomic breeding values in a population using reference populations of a different genetic background.

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Copyright of Angewandte Chemie is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)