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Umbilical hernia (UH) is a prevalent congenital disorder in pigs, resulting in considerable economic losses and severe animal welfare issues. In the present study, we conducted a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) using the GeneSeek 50K Chip in 2777 pigs (Duroc, n = 1267; Landrace, n = 696; and Yorkshire, n = 814) to explore the candidate genes underlying the risk of umbilical hernia in pigs. After quality control analyses, 2748 animals and 48 524 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were retained for subsequent GWAS analysis using the FarmCPU model. The heritability of umbilical hernias was estimated to 0.51 ± 0.04, indicating a reasonable basis for investigating genetic markers associated with this disorder. We identified 54 SNPs and 517 candidate genes that showed significant associations with susceptibility to umbilical hernia across the combined population of the three pig breeds. Gene enrichment analyses highlighted several crucial pathways for platelet degranulation, inflammatory mediator regulation of TRP channels and ion transport. These findings provide further insights into the underlying genetic architecture of umbilical hernias in pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart fluorescent materials that can respond to environmental stimuli are of great importance in the fields of information encryption and anti‐counterfeiting. However, traditional fluorescent materials usually face problems such as lack of tunable fluorescence and insufficient surface‐adaptive adhesion, hindering their practical applications. Herein, inspired by the glowing sucker octopus, we present a novel strategy to fabricate a reversible fluorescent eutectogel with high transparency, adhesive and self‐healing performance for conformal information encryption and anti‐counterfeiting. Using anthracene as luminescent unit, the eutectogel exhibits photoswitchable fluorescence and can therefore be reversibly written/erased with patterns by non‐contact stimulation. Additionally, different from mechanically irreversible adhesion via glue, the eutectogel can adhere to various irregular substrates over a wide temperature range (−20 to 65 °C) and conformally deform more than 1000 times without peeling off. Furthermore, by exploiting surface‐adaptive adhesion, high transparency and good stretchability of the eutectogel, dual encryption can be achieved under UV and stretching conditions to further improve the security level. This study should provide a promising strategy for the future development of advanced intelligent anti‐counterfeiting materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass is an important indicator in estimating the growth and yield of crops. Mastering the growth state of crops by evaluating and monitoring biomass is crucial. Correlation analysis was used to identify hyperspectral sensitive bands with the best correlation with biomass, and a hyperspectral vegetation index was constructed. Plant height data was coupled with hyperspectral reflectance and vegetation index data, and a biomass inversion model was constructed using partial least squares (PLS), support vector machine (SVM), and random forest (RF) regression analysis. The R2, root mean square error (RMSE), and normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) were calculated to verify the accuracy of the model. Plant height coupled with hyperspectral reflectance and vegetation index data, R2, RMSE, and NRMSE of the biomass model establishment and validation, compared with the hyperspectral data alone, improved model accuracy of the three algorithms for maize (Zea mays L.) biomass inversion coupled with plant height data with the relative improvement in accuracy of 13.58, 9.6, and 1.05%, respectively. Additionally, the model becomes more stable, overcoming the spectral saturation of canopy to a certain extent. It provides supporting information for accurate farmland planning, growth monitoring, and yield estimation. Core Ideas: Use of plant height coupled hyperspectral reflectance data to perform the biomass inversion of maize.Development of biomass inversion model.Calculate R2, RMSE, and NRMSE to verify the model accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: >Emerging evidence indicates that microRNA (miRNA) plays an important role in adipogenesis and disease pathogenesis. To investigate the miRNA involved in regulating different periods of adipogenesis, we performed a comprehensive study on microRNAome during the stimulation of adipogenesis by an adipogenic differentiation cocktail in C2C12 myoblasts at 0, 2, 4, and 7 days using the Solexa sequencing technology. In this study, we identified 52 differentially expressed (DE) miRNA. Functional annotation indicated that the target genes of DE miRNA were mostly enriched in adipogenic transdifferentiation and fat metabolism‐related pathways, including Wnt, mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK), and insulin signaling. The insulin signaling pathway was further analyzed for its close connections to Wnt and MAPK signaling pathways as well as for the containing of thymoma viral proto‐oncogene‐3 (Akt3) and glycogen synthase kinase‐3 beta (Gsk3b), which were both target genes predicted by most DE miRNA. CLIP‐seq (crosslinking‐immunprecipitation and high‐throughput sequencing) data showed that Akt3 was targeted by seven DE miRNA, including five upregulated (miR‐203‐3p, miR‐181c‐5p, miR‐322‐5p, miR‐351‐5p, and miR‐181a‐5p) and two downregulated (miR‐15b‐5p and miR‐17‐5p) ones. Likewise, Gsk3b was targeted by six DE miRNA, including four upregulated (miR‐199a‐3p, miR‐126‐5p, miR‐26a‐5p, and miR‐101a‐3p) and two downregulated (miR‐150‐5p and miR‐140‐3p) ones. Moreover, Akt3 could regulate the key transcription factor (TF) Foxo1, targeted by two downregulated miRNA (miR‐96‐5p and miR‐183‐5p). The expression levels of Akt3 and Gsk3b were downregulated, and TF Foxo1, which worked on the transcription axis of Pgc1a–Pparα–Rxrg–Pparγ to regulate adipogenesis, was upregulated. In conclusion, DE miRNA stimulated the adipogenesis of C2C12 myoblasts through the targeted insulin signaling pathway involving the genes Akt3, Gsk3b, and TF Foxo1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A class of switched multi‐agent tracking problems with variable tracking number is explored. During the whole tracking course, tracking agents switch and the tracking number varies over different time intervals. Consequently, tracking errors jump and the dimension of Laplacian matrix of the multi‐agent system changes, which increase the difficulty of analysis. To solve this problem, the authors proposed a switched tracking strategy and designed an average norm of tracking errors as a Lyapunov function. Thereafter, conditions guaranteeing the stability of each subsystem and overall stability of the switched tracking system are obtained. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed tracking strategy and validity of the theoretical results are verified by a numerical simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liang et al.1 first reported a nationwide analysis of cancer patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection in China. They found COVID-19 cases with a history of cancer was higher than the incidence of cancer in the overall Chinese population, suggesting that cancer patients were more susceptible to infection, and were observed to have a higher risk of severe events. However, there are many options for radiotherapy timing in the comprehensive treatment plan, so it is recommended to postpone the radiotherapy plan if it is not necessary during the pandemic. [Extracted from the article]

Natural killer (NK) T cells are well known to play important roles in both tumor rejection and the defense against infectious. Therefore, the antitumor potential of NKT cell-activating antigens have been the focus for the development of NKT cell-based immunotherapies. Up to now, several studies have revealed that the administrations of glycolipids (e.g. α-galactosylceramide) can successfully treat certain metastatic tumors. However, liver injuries appeared upon the application of these antigens. We previously examined the potential of using β-glucosylceramide (β-GlcCer) to inhibit tumor metastasis to the liver. The aim of this study was to determine the antimetastatic effects of β-GlcCer and its impact on the activation of NKT cells. Intraperitoneal administration of β-GlcCer enhanced the production of interferon-γ from hepatic lymphocytes containing NKT cells, and increased the cytotoxicity of hepatic lymphocytes against tumor cells. Moreover, β-GlcCer administration suppressed the hepatic metastasis of tumors in wild type (WT) mice, but not in CD1d or Jα18 mice. The drawback associated with the other glycolipids in liver injury was not noted in WT mice treated with the continuous daily administration of β-GlcCer for 2 weeks. The present study demonstrated that β-GlcCer treatment activates invariant NKT cells, thus resulting in the inhibition of tumor metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormal phenotypes in cloned pigs can be partly due to changes in epigenetic modifications such as methylation levels of promoter CpG islands. Neuronatin is an imprinted gene, conserved in human, pig, cattle and mouse, which is expressed exclusively from the paternal allele. Three CpG islands located in the promoter region of the porcine neuronatin gene have the potential to regulate the gene expression by cytosine methylation. To illustrate whether neuronatin was differentially expressed among nuclear transfer macroglossia-positive and nuclear transfer macroglossia-negative pigs and in vitro-fertilized pigs, we detected its expression level by qRT-PCR and further quantified methylation levels by pyrosequencing DNA from the liver. The results showed that neuronatin was expressed at a significantly higher level in livers of nuclear transfer macroglossia-positive pigs compared with normal cloned and in vitro-fertilized pigs. Livers of nuclear transfer macroglossia-positive pigs also had a significantly lower methylation level at CpG island 2 and CpG island 3 in the promoter region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]