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Diabetes is commonly treated with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists including liraglutide and others. However, liraglutide was found to raise plasma glucose levels in normal rats. The current study aims to determine how liraglutide causes this contentious condition in rats, both normal and diabetic. An adrenalectomy was performed to investigate the relationship between steroid hormone and liraglutide. To investigate the effect of central liraglutide infusion on blood glucose in rats, rats were intracerebroventricularly administrated with liraglutide with or without HPA axis inhibitors such as berberine and dexamethasone. The results showed that a single injection of liraglutide caused a temporary increase in blood glucose in healthy rats. Another GLP-1R agonist, Exendin-4 (Ex-4), increased blood sugar in a manner similar to that of liraglutide. The effects of liraglutide were also blocked by guanethidine pretreatment and vanished in normal rats with adrenalectomy. Additionally, central infusion of liraglutide via intracerebroventricular (icv) injection into normal rats also causes a temporary increase in blood glucose that was blocked by GLP-1R antagonists or the inhibitors such as berberine and dexamethasone. Similarly, central liraglutide treatment causes temporary increases in plasma glucose, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol levels, which were reversed by inhibitors for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. In normal rats, the temporary glucose-increasing effect of liraglutide was gradually eliminated during consecutive daily treatments, indicating tolerance formation. Additionally, liraglutide and Ex-4 cross-tolerance was also discovered in normal rats. Liraglutide was more effective in diabetic rats than in normal rats in activating GLP-1R gene expression in the isolated adrenal gland. Interestingly, the effect of liraglutide on glycemic control varied depending on whether the rats were diabetic or not. In normal rats, bolus injection of liraglutide, such as Ex-4, may stimulate the HPA axis, resulting in hyperglycemia. The cross-tolerance of liraglutide and Ex-4 provided a novel perspective on GLP-1R activation.

Body size is an important growth indicator in ducks and is a primary selection criterion for physical improvement. An excessively rapid growth rate in meat ducks can result in excessive body size, which may hinder subsequent processing and slaughter operations. However, only a few molecular markers related to body size have been studied in meat ducks. In this study, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify candidate genes and QTLs affecting body length (BL), keel bone length (KBL), neck length (NL), and breast width (BrW) in Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domestica). Our results indicate the significant SNP for NL is located within a pseudogene, whereas the significant SNP for BrW is located in an intergenic region. More importantly, our analysis identified a haplotype that was significantly associated with both BL and KBL. This haplotype, containing 48 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), is localized within the XKR4 gene. The identification of this haplotype suggests that XKR4 may be a key candidate gene influencing BL and KBL in Pekin ducks. These findings have important implications for the breeding and genetic improvement of Pekin ducks, and provide valuable insights into the genetic architecture of body size traits in this species.

Egg production traits are crucial in the poultry industry, including age at first egg (AFE), egg number (EN) at different stages, and laying rate (LR). Ducks exhibit higher egg production capacity than other poultry species, but the genetic mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this study, we collected egg-laying data of 618 Peking ducks from 22 to 66 weeks of age and genotyped them by whole-genome resequencing. Genetic parameters were calculated based on SNPs, and a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed for these traits. The SNP-based heritability of egg production traits ranged from 0.09 to 0.54. The GWAS identified nine significant SNP loci associated with AFE and egg number from 22 to 66 weeks. These loci showed that the corresponding alleles were positively correlated with a decrease in the traits. Moreover, three potential candidate genes (ENSAPLG00020011445, ENSAPLG00020012564, TMEM260) were identified. Functional enrichment analyses suggest that specific immune responses may have a critical impact on egg production capacity by influencing ovarian function and oocyte maturation processes. In conclusion, this study deepens the understanding of egg-laying genetics in Peking duck and provides a sound theoretical basis for future genetic improvement and genomic selection strategies in poultry.

Aphids and Sclerotinia stem rot in oilseed rape are often studied in isolation, and their relationship is rarely explored. Our field studies have revealed a significant positive correlation between the number of aphids and the incidence of Sclerotinia stem rot. Hence, starting with the colonizing stages of the two pests, Breveroryne brassicae was assessed for its potential to acquire, transmit, and inoculate Sclerotinia sclerotiorum by being sprayed with an ascospore suspension. Moreover, distinctions in aphid feeding behavior were examined between aphids on inoculated/uninoculated winter and spring oilseed rape plants or aphids, both with and without S. sclerotiorum ascospores, using electropenetrography (EPG). The results showed that aphid feeding followed by dropping ascospore suspension significantly increased the incidence of S. sclerotiorum. Ascospores were able to adhere to aphids and were carried by aphids to healthy plants, causing disease. The results of the EPG analysis indicated that aphid feeding behavior was significantly altered in all leaf tissue levels following infection with S. sclerotiorum. Specifically, aphids initiated their first puncture significantly sooner, began probing mesophyll cells earlier, had a significantly shorter pathway duration, and secreted saliva more frequently but reduced salivation prior to feeding and ingestion compared to aphids feeding on uninfected oilseed rape. Additionally, the feeding behavior of aphids carrying ascospores was markedly different from that of aphids not carrying ascospores, implying that ascospores directly influence aphid feeding behavior but that this influence appeared to be beneficial only for S. sclerotiorum infection. Aphids carrying ascospores started to puncture cells more quickly, with a significant increase in the frequency and duration of short probes and cell punctures, shortened pathway durations, and reduced salivation before feeding compared to aphids not carrying ascospores. It is clear that there is an interaction between aphids and S. sclerotiorum. The impact of S. sclerotiorum on aphid feeding behavior is directional, favoring the spread of the fungus.

Neural style transfer is an algorithm that transfers the style of one image to another image and converts the style of the second image while preserving its content. In this paper, we propose a style transfer approach for sand painting generation based on convolutional neural networks. The proposed approach aims to improve sand painting generation via neural style transfer, which can address the problem of blurred objects. Furthermore, it can reduce background noise caused by neural style transfers. First, we segment the main objects from the content image. Subsequently, we perform close–open filtering operations on the content image to obtain smooth images. Subsequently, we perform Sobel edge detection to process the images and obtain edge maps. Based on these edge maps and the input style image, we perform neural style transfer to generate sand painting images. Finally, we integrate the generated images to obtain the final stylized sand painting image. The results show that the proposed approach yields good visual effects from sand paintings. Moreover, the proposed approach achieves better visual effects for sand painting than the previous method.

Direct and indirect effects of plant virus infection on vector behavior have been discovered to improve virus transmission efficiency, but the impact of plant cultivars in virus–vector–plant interactions has received little attention. Electropenetrography (EPG) allows real-time tracking and quantification of stylet penetration behaviors, pathogen transmission, and plant resistance mechanisms. Quantitative probing behaviors on a spring oilseed rape cultivar, ‘Xinyou17’, and a winter oilseed rape cultivar, ‘Zheping4’, were investigated using EPG to compare turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) regulation of cabbage aphid probing behavior. Results for indirect effects showed that compared to mock-inoculated plants, cabbage aphids on infected plants increased brief probing frequency, cell penetration frequency, intracellular probing time, and decreased time to first probe and pathway time, potentially promoting viral acquisition. TuMV also directly influences aphid probing behavior. Viruliferous aphids had reduced pathway time, increased cell penetration frequency, increased intracellular probing time, increased salivation frequency, and ingested less sap than non-viruliferous aphids, primed for viral infection. Although oilseed rape cultivars can also influence aphid behavior, the main effect of cultivars was not significant on TuMV-infected plants.

Adipose-derived cytokines may contribute to the inflammation that occurs in metabolic syndrome (MetS). The Takeda G protein-coupled receptor (TGR5) regulates energy expenditure and affects the production of pro-inflammatory biomarkers in metabolic diseases. Etanercept, which acts as a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α antagonist, can also block the inflammatory response. Therefore, the interaction between TNF-α and TGR5 expression was investigated in rats with high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. Heart tissues isolated from the HFD-induced MetS rats were analyzed. Changes in TGR5 expression were investigated with lithocholic acid (LCA) as the agonist. Betulinic acid (BA) was used to activate TGR5 in urinary bladders. LCA was more effective in the heart tissues of HFD-fed rats, although etanercept alleviated the function of LCA. STAT3 activation and higher TGR5 expression were observed in the heart tissues collected from HFD-fed rats. Thus, cardiac TGR5 expression is promoted by HFD through STAT3 activation in rats. Moreover, the urinary bladders of female rats fed a HFD showed a low response, which was reversed by etanercept. Relaxation by BA in the bladders was more marked in HFD-fed rats. The high TGR5 expression in HFD-fed rats was characterized using a mRNA assay, and the increased cAMP levels were found to be stimulated by BA in the isolated bladders. Therefore, TGR5 expression increases with a HFD in both the hearts and urinary bladders. Collectively, cytokine-medicated TGR5 activation was observed in the hearts and urinary bladders of rats.

Circulation tumor cells (CTCs) play an important role in metastasis and highly correlate with cancer progression; thus, CTCs could be considered as a powerful diagnosis tool. Our previous studies showed that the number of CTCs could be utilized for recurrence prediction in colorectal cancer (CRC); however, the odds ratio was still lower than five. To improve prognosis in CRC patients, we analyzed CTC clusters/microemboli, CTC numbers, and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)/carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) levels using a self-assembled cell array (SACA) chip system for recurrence prediction. In CRC patients, the presence of CTC clusters/microemboli may have higher correlation in metastasis when compared to the high number of CTCs. Additionally, when both the number of CTCs and serum CEA levels are high, very high odds ratios of 24.4 and 17.1 are observed in patients at all stages and stage III of CRC, respectively. The high number of CTCs and CTC clusters/microemboli simultaneously suggests the high chance of relapse (odds ratio 8.4). Overall, the characteristic of CTC clusters/microemboli, CEA level, and CTC number have a clinical potential to enhance CRC prognosis.

This study investigated the matching designs between a power integration mechanism (PIM) and transmission system for single-motor parallel hybrid electric vehicles. The optimal matching design may lead to optimal efficiency and performance in parallel hybrid vehicles. The Simulink/Simscape environment is used to model the powertrain system of parallel hybrid electric vehicles, which the characteristics of the PIM, location of the gearbox at the driveline, and design of the gear ratio of a gearbox influenced. The matching design principles for torque-coupled–type PIM (TC-PIM) parameters and the location of the gearbox are based on the speed range of the electric motor and the internal combustion engine. The parameters of the TC-PIM (i.e., k 1 and k 2 ) are based on the k ratio theory. Numerical simulations of an extra-urban driving cycle and acceleration tests reveal that a higher k r a t i o has greater improved power-assist ability under a pre-transmission architecture. For example, a k r a t i o of 1.6 can improve the power-assist ability by 8.5% when compared with a k r a t i o of 1. By using an appropriate gear ratio and k r a t i o , the top speed of a hybrid electric vehicle is enhanced by 9.3%.

Plant resistance to aphids might be present in different plant tissues, such as the epidermis, mesophyll and phloem, but not all of them play a key role in determining the feeding preference of aphids. In this study, electrically recorded feeding behaviors of cabbage aphids were combined with choice tests and microscopic observations to understand the feeding preference of cabbage aphids on oilseed rape cultivars. The choice tests showed that more cabbage aphids survived on ‘Qianyou18’, and less on ‘Zhongshuang11’, compared with the other cultivars. The results of the choice tests were paradoxical with the results analyzed from the general and mesophyll-associated variables. The thick upper epidermis with bushy long trichomes on the leaves of ‘Zhongshuang11’ delayed the first probe of the cabbage aphids. The duration of phloem-feeding was similar among the four cultivars although there were differences in the hindrance of the mesophyll. However, salivation was increased when the aphids fed on ‘Zhongshuang11’, further indicating that the leaf’s physical properties could be important for aphid feeding preference on the four cultivars.