Search

The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in carcase traits, meat quality and muscle characteristics (mean fibre diameter and MyHCs levels of expression) between Mashen and Large White pigs. A total of 60 pigs (30 Mashen pigs and 30 Large White pigs, half male and half female in each breed) were used in this experiment. Results showed that Mashen pigs exhibited lower slaughter weight, reduced back-fat thickness, reduced loin eye area and lower lean meat ratio than Large White pigs (p

The aim of this research was to screen candidate genes affecting growth traits in pigs by studying the difference expression genes (DEGs) between the longissimus dorsi of Large White (LW) and Mashen (MS) pigs. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) technology was applied to analyse the transcriptomes from six longissimus dorsi in two pig breeds (LW and MS). Based on sequencing, the DEGs were screened, and functional annotation and enrichment analysis were performed. The results showed that 697 different significant genes were obtained (p

Ridge tillage at two fertilizer depths is a new type of conservation tillage method that was previously shown to substantially improve rice yield. This study aimed to compare the effects of continuous ridge tillage at two fertilizer depths (L treatment) with those of conventional cultivation (P treatment) on bacterial and fungal diversity in the rice root zone and study the correlation between microorganisms and yield components. At the mature stage, the yield and yield components of rice plants were compared. Test soil (0–20 cm) with continuous tillage for 3 years was used for high-throughput sequencing to analyze the microbial community structure in the root–soil of the two treatments. We found that the L treatment increased soil nutrient content and improved soil physical properties, which altered the composition of the microbial community. The bacterial ACE and Chao indices in the L treatment increased by 1.46% and 1.83%, respectively, and the fungal ACE and Chao indices increased by 5.25% and 5.49%, compared with the P treatment, respectively. The average theoretical yield under the L treatment was 9781.51 kg/ha, which was 19.23% higher than that under the P treatment. Continuous ridge tillage at two fertilizer depths can provide a better soil environment for rice growth and increase the yield.

Direct seeding of rice has emerged as a strategy for sustainable rice (Oryza sativa L.) production because of advantages, such as fewer production links, labor and farmland water-saving, easy mechanization, and high economic benefits. However, few studies have investigated the effects of different organic fertilizers on soil fungal community and rice yield in dry direct-seeded paddy fields. In order to select the best combination of organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer, field experiments were used to evaluate the role of no fertilizer (F0); CF, conventional NPK fertilizer, OF1, biochar + conventional NPK fertilizer; OF2, seaweed bioorganic fertilizer + conventional NPK fertilizer; OF3, Jishiwang bioorganic fertilizer + conventional NPK fertilizer; and OF4, attapulgite organic fertilizer + conventional NPK fertilizer on microbial structure and diversity and rice yield. Under Jishiwang bioorganic fertilizer + conventional NPK fertilization, the number of fungal OTUs was 365 and ranged from 1 to 9. The Ascomycota relative abundance was increased by 28.25% under Jishiwang bioorganic fertilizer application compared with CF, but the Basidiomycota decreased. Sordariomycetes and Leotiomycetes relative abundances were increased under organic fertilization. The relative abundance of dung saprotrophs, fungal parasites, and leaf saprotrophs was increased under organic fertilizer compared to CF, and animal pathogens decreased, but organic fertilizers also increased plant pathogens. Rice yield was increased under Jishiwang bioorganic fertilizer + conventional NPK fertilizer and was positively correlated with Ascomycota and Sordariomycetes relative abundances. The use of Jishiwang bioorganic fertilizer + conventional NPK fertilizer improves fungal community diversity and rice yield.

Objective The aim of this study was to clone alternative splicing isoforms of pig myoneurin (MYNN), predict the structure and function of coding protein, and study temporal and spatial expression characteristics of each transcript. Methods Alternative splice isoforms of MYNN were identified using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and cloning techniques. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was employed to detect expression patterns in 11 tissues of Large White (LW) and Mashen (MS) pigs, and to study developmental expression patterns in cerebellum (CE), stomach (ST), and longissimus dorsi (LD). Results The results showed that MYNN had two alternatively spliced isoforms, MYNN-1 (GenBank accession number: KY470829) and MYNN-2 (GenBank accession number: KY670835). MYNN-1 coding sequence (CDS) is composed of 1,830 bp encoding 609 AA, whereas MYNN-2 CDS is composed of 1,746 bp encoding 581 AA. MYNN-2 was 84 bp less than MYNN-1 and lacked the sixth exon. MYNN-2 was found to have one C2H2 type zinc finger protein domain less than MYNN-1. Two variants were ubiquitously expressed in all pig tissues, and there were significant differences in expression of different tissues (p

Purpose. To analysis the multimodal imaging of a group of patients diagnosed clinically with atypical juvenile ocular toxocariasis (OT). Methods. In this case series study, we examined 9 young patients diagnosed with atypical OT. Routine ophthalmological examinations, fundus photography, optical-coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescein angiography (FFA), and B-mode ultrasound were performed. A questionnaire was used to record whether the patients were newly diagnosed and whether they had a history of exposure to a cat and dog. Aqueous humor and serum samples were taken for serological tests. Results. In all the patients, yellow-and-white dot-shaped lesions and perivascular white sheath were seen in the fundus. Heterogeneous changes including hyper-reflection in the disrupted neuroretina, hyper-reflection in the outer retinal layer, high-reflection mass on the surface of the neuroretina accompanied with reflective attenuation, and high-reflection mass involving the entire neuroretina or high-reflection mass in the vitreous body were noticed in OCT images. On FFA, seven of these patients (77.8%) showed leakage of fluorescein in the small- and medium-branch veins of the retina, and a “bristle-like” change indicated increased permeability of the vessels. B-mode ultrasound showed proliferative membranes and proliferative bands (33.3%), as well as spotted opacity in the vitreous (66.7%). The antibodies to Toxocara canis in the aqueous humor and serum were positive, and the Goldmann–Witmer coefficient was significantly increased in 6 out of 7 patients. Conclusions. Multimodality images are useful in the diagnosis of atypical juvenile OT, which could be easily overlooked and misdiagnosed.

To develop a disease model for the human Alström Syndrome (AS), we used the episomal reprogramming system and CRISPR/Cas9 technology to generate an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line with the compound heterozygous patient mutation (ALMS1 c.3902C > A, c.6436C > T) along with an isogenic gene-corrected control iPSC line. Both iPSC lines showed normal karyotype, expressed pluripotent markers, and differentiated into cells of three embryonic germ layer. These AS mutant and isogenic iPSC control line will be of great use in investigating the disease mechanisms, drug screening and treatment in patients.

The two breeds, Mashen (MS; a northern China breed) and Large White (LW; a western lean breed) pigs, show important phenotypic differences in growth, adaptability, intramuscular fat (IMF) content, and energy metabolism since early developmental stage. The main aim of this study was the evaluation of longissimus thoracis muscle transcriptome profile of both genetic types to identify genes, pathways responsible for their differentiated phenotype. Longissimus thoracis of MS and LW pigs were sampled at 0 day (early stage), 90 days (middle stage), and 180 days (later stage) after birth. A total of 3,487 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at the three time points. Sample clustering analysis revealed the slower growth rate of MS than LW pigs. Gene expression pattern analysis revealed that multicellular organism growth genes (GHSR, EZR, FOXS1, DRD2, SH3PXD2B, CSF1, and TSHR) were involved in the fast growth rate of LW pigs at early stage. Furthermore, DEGs (ACACA, ACSF3, OXSM, CBR4, and HSD17B8) functionally related to fatty acid synthesis revealed that IMF accumulation occurred around 90 and up to 180 days. These DEGs provided valuable resource to study the phenotypic difference in longissimus thoracis muscle between MS and LW pigs.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of biochar on the diversity of bacteria and fungi in the rice root zone and to reveal the changes in soil microbial community structure in the root zone after biochar application to provide a scientific basis for the improvement of albic soil. Rice and corn stalk biochar were mixed with albic soil in a pot experiment. Soil samples were collected at the rice maturity stage, soil nutrients were determined, and genomic DNA was extracted. The library was established using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. The abundance, diversity index, and community structure of the soil bacterial 16SrRNA gene V3 + V4 region and the fungal internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS1) region were analyzed using Illumina second-generation high-throughput sequencing technology on the MiSeq platform with related bioinformatics. The results revealed that the biochar increased the soil nutrient content of albic soil. The bacteria ACE indexes of treatments of rice straw biochar (SD) and corn straw biochar (SY) were increased by 3.10% and 2.06%, respectively, and the fungi ACE and Chao indices of SD were increased by 7.86% and 14.16%, respectively, compared to conventional control treatment with no biochar (SBCK). The numbers of bacterial and fungal operational taxonomic units (OUT) in SD and SY were increased, respectively, compared to that of SBCK. The relationship between soil bacteria and fungi in the biochar-treated groups was stronger than that in the SBCK. The bacterial and fungal populations were correlated with soil nutrients, which suggested that the impacts of biochar on the soil bacteria and fungi community were indirectly driven by alternation of soil nutrient characteristics. The addition of two types of biochar altered the soil microbial community structure and the effect of rice straw biochar treatment on SD was more pronounced. This study aimed to provide a reference and basic understanding for albic soil improvement by biochar, with good application prospects.

In the present study we investigated the developmental expression patterns of Lbx1 gene in skeletal muscle of different genetic profile pigs after birth. A total of 28 Mashen pigs and 28 Large White pigs from seven development stages of 1, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180 d were used and the expression patterns in longissimus dorsi were studied by quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction and western blot in this study. The results showed that the breed, age, and the interaction of breed and age significantly affected the Lbx1 mRNA and protein expressions in longissimus dorsi (P

Purpose. To evaluate 2-year visual acuities and questionnaire after bilateral implantation of SN6AD1 multifocal intraocular lens (MIOL) or SN60WF IOL. Methods. Patients randomly scheduled for bilateral implantation of SN6AD1 MIOL and SN60WF IOL with 2-year follow-up were enrolled. Uncorrected/corrected distance and near visual acuity, uncorrected intermediate visual acuity at 63 cm under high and low contrast, reading activity, the defocus curve, and a quality-of-life questionnaire were evaluated. Results. Each group comprised 20 patients. Uncorrected intermediate visual acuities and uncorrected near visual acuity were better in SN6AD1 group than in SN60WF group (P=0.005, P=0.011, and P

BACKGROUND: The photopigment melanopsin has been suggested to act as a dominant photoreceptor in nonvisual photoreception including resetting of the circadian clock (entrainment), direct tuning or masking of vital status (activity, sleep/wake cycles, etc.), and the pupillary light reflex (PLR). Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is exclusively coexpressed with melanopsin in a small subset of retinal ganglion cells and is predicted to be involved extensively in these responses; however, there were inconsistencies in the previous reports, and its functional role has not been well understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we show that PACAP-deficient mice exhibited severe dysfunctions of entrainment in a time-dependent manner. The abnormalities in the mutant mice were intensity-dependent in phase delay and duration-dependent in phase advance. The knockout mice also displayed blunted masking, which was dependent on lighting conditions, but not completely lost. The dysfunctions of masking in the mutant mice were recovered by infusion of PACAP-38. By contrast, these mutant mice show a normal PLR. We examined the retinal morphology and innervations in the mutant mice, and no apparent changes were observed in melanopsin-immunoreactive cells. These data suggest that the dysfunctions of entrainment and masking were caused by the loss of PACAP, not by the loss of light input itself. Moreover, PACAP-deficient mice express an unusually early onset of activities, from approximately four hours before the dark period, without influencing the phase of the endogenous circadian clock. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although some groups including us reported the abnormalities in photic entrainments in PACAP- and PAC(1)-knockout mice, there were inconsistencies in their results. The time-dependent dysfunctions of photic entrainment in the PACAP-knockout mice described in this paper can integrate the incompatible data in previous reports. The recovery of impaired masking by infusion of PACAP-38 in the mutant mice is the first direct evidence of the relationship between PACAP and masking. These results indicate that PACAP regulates particular nonvisual light responses by conveying parametric light information--that is, intensity and duration. The "early-bird" phenotype in the mutant mice originally reported in this paper supposed that PACAP also has a critical role in daily behavioral patterns, especially during the light-to-dark transition period.

Catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 to value-added fuels and chemicals is of great importance to carbon neutrality but suffers from an activity-selectivity trade-off, leading to limited catalytic performance. Herein, the ZnFeAlO4 + SAPO-34 composite catalyst was designed, which can simultaneously achieve a CO2 conversion of 42%, a CO selectivity of 50%, and a C2-C4= selectivity of 83%, resulting in a C2-C4= yield of almost 18%. This superior catalytic performance was found to be from the presence of unconventional electron-deficient tetrahedral Fe sites and electron-enriched octahedral Zn sites in the ZnFeAlO4 spinel, which were active for the CO2 deoxygenation to CO via the reverse water gas shift reaction, and CO hydrogenation to CH3OH, respectively, leading to a route for CO2 hydrogenation to C2-C4=, where the kinetics of CO2 activation can be improved, the mass transfer of CO hydrogenation can be minimized, and the C2-C4= selectivity can be enhanced via modifying the acid density of SAPO-34. Moreover, the spinel structure of ZnFeAlO4 possessed a strong ability to stabilize the active Fe and Zn sites even at elevated temperatures, resulting in long-term stability of over 450 h for this process, exhibiting great potential for large-scale applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background •Intracranial Aneurysm (IA) is characterized by abnormal dilation of intracranial arterial walls, a tumor-like protrusion, often occurring in the anterior communicating artery. Intracranial Dissecting Aneurysm (IDA) refers to hemodynamic changes within intracranial arteries, leading to ruptures between blood vessel walls, disrupting normal arterial blood flow within the arterial lumen. IDA is relatively uncommon in the anterior circulation. To date, there have been no reported cases of dissecting aneurysms misdiagnosed as cerebral aneurysms before surgical intervention. This case report presents a patient’s detailed clinical diagnosis, treatment, and imaging data. Case Presentation • A 56-year-old female patient experienced post-work headaches. Cranial Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) examinations revealed a small hemorrhage following infarction and aneurysms in the initial part of the right A2 segment. Initially, the patient was diagnosed with a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, accompanied by hemorrhage and cerebral vasospasm (cerebral infarction in the right frontal lobe). Subsequently, cerebral aneurysm clipping was performed. During surgery, it was observed that the aneurysm originated from the ipsilateral A2 starting site and displayed dissecting-like changes extending towards the distal end. The final diagnosis confirmed an aneurysm evolving from intracranial artery dissection. Artificial meninges were employed to encase and clip the aneurysm. Post-surgery, the patient was transferred to a superior hospital for A3 bypass. Follow-up assessments indicated a successful recovery. Conclusion • Cerebral aneurysms typically involve larger arteries with rare possibilities of stenosis. Moreover, the cerebral artery is relatively small, making it challenging for Brain Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) to distinguish true and false lumen within blood vessels. The diagnosis of dissecting aneurysms is difficult and often susceptible to clinical misdiagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]