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(1) Background: Many studies have shown that microgravity experienced by astronauts or long-term bedridden patients results in increased oxidative stress and bone loss. Low-molecular-weight chondroitin sulfates (LMWCSs) prepared from intact chondroitin sulfate (CS) have been demonstrated to possess good antioxidant and osteogenic activities in vitro. This study aimed to assess the antioxidant activity of the LMWCSs in vivo and evaluate their potential in preventing microgravity-induced bone loss. (2) Methods: we used hind limb suspension (HLS) mice to simulate microgravity in vivo. We investigated the effects of LMWCSs against oxidative stress damage and bone loss in HLS mice and compared the findings with those of CS and a non-treatment group. (3) Results: LMWCSs reduced the HLS-induced oxidative stress level, prevented HLS-induced alterations in bone microstructure and mechanical strength, and reversed changes in bone metabolism indicators in HLS mice. Additionally, LMWCSs downregulated the mRNA expression levels of antioxidant enzyme- and osteogenic-related genes in HLS mice. The results showed that overall effect of LMWCSs was better than that of CS. (4) Conclusions: LMWCSs protect against the bone loss caused by simulated microgravity, which may be related to their ability to reduce oxidative stress. LMWCSs can be envisaged as potential antioxidants and bone loss protective agents in microgravity.

To solve the problems of image threshold segmentation based on weak continuous constraint theory, the running time is long, and the two parameters need to be selected manually, and therefore a fast single-parameter energy function thresholding for image segmentation based on region information (FSEFTISRI) is proposed in this paper. The proposed FSEFTISRI algorithm uses simple linear iterative clustering (SLIC) technology to pre-block the image, extract the image super-pixels, and then map the image super-pixels to the interval type-2 fuzzy set (IT2FS), so as to construct the single-parameter energy function to search the optimal threshold, and adaptively select the penalty parameters in the energy function through the class uncertainty theory. On a non-destructive testing (NDT) database and Berkeley segmentation datasets and benchmarks (BSDS), the proposed FSEFTISRI is compared with five related algorithms. The average misclassification error (ME) of the proposed FSEFTISRI algorithm on NDT and BSDS are 0.0466 and 0.0039, respectively. The results show that the proposed FSEFTISRI has acquired more satisfactory results in visual effect and evaluation index, and the running time of the proposed FSEFTISRI algorithm is shorter, which shows the effectiveness of the proposed FSEFTISRI.

Pefloxacin (PFLX) is a type of fluoroquinolone (FQ) that has been widely used in aquaculture and animal husbandry. It is also a new kind of pseudo-persistent pollutant, which has some toxic effects. In this study, zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were used as exposure models to analyze the toxicity of PFLX. The results showed that PFLX was absorbed on the outer membrane surface at the beginning, and then a few PFLX slowly entered the cytoplasm. The adsorption complied with the Langmuir isotherm adsorption model. The surface morphology of the embryonic membrane was changed. PFLX exposure had no effect on fetal autonomous movement, but it significantly inhibited the embryo hatching rate. After PFLX exposure, the embryo and larval survival rates showed a clear dose–effect relationship. Though PFLX exposure did not cause teratogenic toxicity, it still affected cardiovascular function. The potential toxicity mechanism and developmental toxicity of PFLX to zebrafish were revealed. These results could be important for studies concerning FQ toxicology.

Screening for candidate genes and genetic variants associated with litter size is important for goat breeding. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in PPP2R5C and SLC39A5 and litter size in Yunshang black goats. KASP genotyping was used to detect the SNP genetic markers in the PPP2R5C and SLC39A5 in a population of 569 Yunshang black goats. The results show that there were two SNPs in the PPP2R5C and SLC39A5 promoter regions. Association analysis revealed that the polymorphisms PPP2R5C g.65977743C>T and SLC39A5 g.50676693T>C were significantly associated with the litter size of the third parity of Yunshang black goats (p < 0.05). To further explore the regulatory mechanism of the two genes, the expression of different genotypes of PPP2R5C and SLC39A5 was validated by RT-qPCR and Western blotting. The expression of PPP2R5C was significantly higher in individuals with the TT genotype than in those with the TC and CC genotypes (p < 0.05). The expression of SLC39A5 was also significantly higher in individuals with the TT genotype than in TC and CC genotypes (p < 0.05). Dual luciferase reporter analysis showed that the luciferase activity of PPP2R5C-C variant was significantly higher than that of PPP2R5C-T variant (p < 0.05). The luciferase activity of SLC39A5-T variant was significantly higher than that of SLC39A5-C variant (p < 0.05). Software was used to predict the binding of transcription factors to the polymorphic sites, and the results show that SOX18, ZNF418, and ZNF667 and NKX2-4 and TBX6 might bind to PPP2R5C g.65977743C>T and SLC39A5 g.50676693T>C, respectively. These results provide new insights into the identification of candidate genes for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in goats.

Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), a member of the lipocalin family, is a specific carrier of retinol (vitamin A) in the blood. Numerous studies have shown that RBP4 plays an important role in mammalian embryonic development and that mutations in RBP4 can be used for the marker-assisted selection of animal reproductive traits. However, there are few studies on the regulation of reproduction and high-prolificacy traits by RBP4 in goats. In this study, the 5′ flanking sequence of RBP4 was amplified, and a G>C polymorphism in the promoter region -211 bp (g.36491960) was detected. An association analysis revealed that the respective first, second and third kidding number and mean kidding number of nanny goats with CC and GC genotypes (2.167 ± 0.085, 2.341 ± 0.104, 2.529 ± 0.107 and 2.189 ± 0.070 for CC and 2.052 ± 0.047, 2.206 ± 0.057, 2.341 ± 0.056 and 2.160 ± 0.039 for GC) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those with the GG genotype (1.893 ± 0.051, 2.027 ± 0.064, 2.107 ± 0.061 and 1.74 ± 0.05). The luciferase assay showed that luciferase activity was increased in C allele individuals compared with that in G allele individuals. A competitive electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) showed that individuals with the CC genotype had a stronger promoter region binding capacity than those with the GG genotype. In addition, transcription factor prediction software showed that the RBP4 g.36491960G>C mutation added a novel binding site for transcription factor DP-1 (TFDP1). RT–qPCR results showed that the expression of TFDP1 was significantly higher in the high-prolificacy group than in the low-prolificacy group, and the expression of RBP4 was higher in both the CC and GC genotypes than that in the GG genotype. TFDP1 overexpression significantly increased the expression of RBP4 mRNA (p < 0.05) and the expression of the cell proliferation factors cyclin-D1, cyclin-D2 and CDK4 (p < 0.05). The opposite trend was observed after interference with TFDP1. Both the EdU and CCK-8 results showed that TFDP1 expression could regulate the proliferation of goat ovarian granulosa cells. In summary, our results showed that RBP4 g.36491960G>C was significantly associated with fecundity traits in goats. The g.36491960G>C mutation enhanced the transcriptional activity of RBP4 and increased the expression of RBP4, thus improving the fertility of Yunshang black goats.

China has experienced extensive forest transition, from net deforestation to net forestation. Existing theories have highlighted economic growth, the intensification of agriculture and forest scarcity as the pathways of this transition, and studies, in particular from China, have also highlighted the contribution of a huge state afforestation program and the improved implementation and enforcement of forest protection policy and law. However, few studies have paid attention to local dynamics to provide a contextualized understanding of how forest transition has taken place at the local level and the significance of local factors in this change. This paper examines forest transition pathways in two villages in China. We consider the historical perspective and compare their local dynamics and variations to reach an understanding of the process of forest recovery at the local level. The results show that state forestry policies, including afforestation policy and tenure reform, arguably contribute to forest increase, while local processes including livelihood change and institutional factors play a key role in driving and shaping forest transition. We argue that there is a need for local-level studies and recommend including local institutions in forest transition analysis, contextualizing the socio-ecological interactions within the broader concept of political economy.

Oncolytic virotherapy (OVT) is a promising approach in cancer immunotherapy. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) could be applied in cancer immunotherapy without in-depth knowledge of tumor antigens. The capability of genetic modification makes OVs exciting therapeutic tools with a high potential for manipulation. Improving efficacy, employing immunostimulatory elements, changing the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) to inflammatory TME, optimizing their delivery system, and increasing the safety are the main areas of OVs manipulations. Recently, the reciprocal interaction of OVs and TME has become a hot topic for investigators to enhance the efficacy of OVT with less off-target adverse events. Current investigations suggest that the main application of OVT is to provoke the antitumor immune response in the TME, which synergize the effects of other immunotherapies such as immune-checkpoint blockers and adoptive cell therapy. In this review, we focused on the effects of OVs on the TME and antitumor immune responses. Furthermore, OVT challenges, including its moderate efficiency, safety concerns, and delivery strategies, along with recent achievements to overcome challenges, are thoroughly discussed.

When studying the altered expression of genes associated with cartilage regeneration by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR), reference genes with highly stable expression during different stages of chondrocyte developmental are necessary to normalize gene expression accurately. Until now, no reports evaluating expression changes of commonly used reference genes in rabbit articular cartilage have been published. In this study, defects were made in rabbit articular cartilage, with or without insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) treatment, to create different chondrocyte living environments. The stability and intensity of the expressions of the candidate reference genes glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), 18S Ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA), cyclophilin (CYP), hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT1), and β-2-microglobulin (B2M) were evaluated. The data were analyzed by geNorm and NormFinder. B2M and 18S rRNA were identified to be suitable reference genes for rabbit cartilage tissues.