Search

Over extended periods of natural and artificial selection, China has developed numerous exceptional pig breeds. Deciphering the germplasm characteristics of these breeds is crucial for their preservation and utilization. While many studies have employed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis to investigate the local pig germplasm characteristics, copy number variation (CNV), another significant type of genetic variation, has been less explored in understanding pig resources. In this study, we examined the CNVs of 18 Wanbei pigs (WBP) using whole genome resequencing data with an average depth of 12.61. We identified a total of 8,783 CNVs (~30.07 Mb, 1.20% of the pig genome) in WBP, including 8,427 deletions and 356 duplications. Utilizing fixation index (Fst), we determined that 164 CNVs were within the top 1% of the Fst value and defined as under selection. Functional enrichment analyses of the genes associated with these selected CNVs revealed genes linked to reproduction (SPATA6, CFAP43, CFTR, BPTF), growth and development (NR6A1, SMYD3, VIPR2), and immunity (PARD3, FYB2). This study enhances our understanding of the genomic characteristics of the Wanbei pig and offers a theoretical foundation for the future breeding of this breed.

Abstract The Russia-Ukraine conflict has severely impacted global food security. This may increase the risk of supply chain disruption in low-income countries that rely heavily on grain imports. This study used production and trade data for wheat, barley and maize from 1995 to 2021 to construct longitudinal trade networks. On this basis, a cascading failure network model of shock propagation was used to identify the direct or indirect dependence of other countries on grain exported from Russia and Ukraine and the impact caused by trade shocks. The results revealed that the interruption of grain exports from Russia and Ukraine has resulted in an increasing impact on the global grain trade year by year and that the wheat trade is the most vulnerable to shock propagation, but it is also the most resilient. Russia and Ukraine interrupt exports of grain, causing more than 50% reduction in direct imports to 30 countries, including Eritrea, Seychelles, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. A shock propagation model that considers indirect dependence yields divergent results, with lower middle income (LM) countries in North Africa, Southeast Asia and West Asia facing supply shocks from reduced imports because they are unable to fully exploit the trade channels to balance grain supply and demand. Under the COVID-19 pandemic, this indirect dependence on imports is more prominent. It is worth noting that Eastern and Southern European countries often act as intermediaries to spread shocks during cascading failures. In the process of shock propagation, the main suppliers of grain include the United States, Canada, France, Argentina and Brazil. After the outbreak of COVID-19, the import demand faced by Australia increased significantly. We also examined how nodal characteristics relate to shock propagation dynamics and country vulnerability, finding that high import diversity, low import dependence and regional characteristics are effective in buffering countries from supply shocks. This study contributes to our understanding of the external supply risks for grain arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict in a pandemic context, highlights the issue of accessibility in food security and provides trade policy recommendations to mitigate national vulnerability to food insecurity, thereby creating a resilient food trade system.

Copy number variation (CNV) is an important structural variation used to elucidate complex economic traits. In this study, we sequenced 25 Wannan spotted pigs (WSPs) to detect their CNVs and identify their selection signatures compared with those of 10 Asian wild boars. A total of 14,161 CNVs were detected in the WSPs, accounting for 0.72% of the porcine genome. The fixation index (Fst) was used to identify the selection signatures, and 195 CNVs with the top 1% of the Fst value were selected. Eighty genes were identified in the selected CNV regions. Functional GO and KEGG analyses revealed that the genes within these selected CNVs are associated with key traits such as reproduction (GAL3ST1 and SETD2), fatty acid composition (PRKG1, ACACA, ACSL3, UGT8), immune system (LYZ), ear size (WIF1), and feed efficiency (VIPR2). The findings of this study contribute novel insights into the genetic CNVs underlying WSP characteristics and provide essential information for the protection and utilization of WSP populations.

In order to manufacture non-ferromagnetic heterogeneous material by Selective Laser Melting (SLM), it is necessary to solve the separation problem of non-ferromagnetic mixed powders after SLM forming. This research presents how to resolve this problem using TiNi/Ta mixed powders by ultrasonic vibration screening method and the analysis of SLM manufacturing experiment for non-ferromagnetic heterogeneous material. The purity of TiNi and Ta powders after separation could reach 99.7087%wt% and 98.8501wt% respectively, which both reached a relatively high purity. A TiNi alloy sample with Ta coating and TiNi/Ta gradient transition was manufactured successfully by SLM. The material interface of the sample achieves metallurgical bonding, and the color of the sample profile shows a gradient transition. The EDS analysis shows that the material composition changes from Ta ->Ta/TiNi gradient ->TiNi from surface to inside of the sample. The Ta coating contains over 92.5wt% Ta, and the TiNi matrix contains over 98.69wt% TiNi. Along the powder laying direction, it is difficult to clean the small powder near the solid-powder or solid-solid interfaces made of two different materials, which causes micro polluted areas near the interfaces. This study also provides a new method for integrated manufacturing of TiNi alloy part with Ta coating.

In the domain of using DL-based methods in medical and healthcare prediction systems, the utilization of state-of-the-art deep learning (DL) methodologies assumes paramount significance. DL has attained remarkable achievements across diverse domains, rendering its efficacy particularly noteworthy in this context. The integration of DL with health and medical prediction systems enables real-time analysis of vast and intricate datasets, yielding insights that significantly enhance healthcare outcomes and operational efficiency in the industry. This comprehensive literature review systematically investigates the latest DL solutions for the challenges encountered in medical healthcare, with a specific emphasis on DL applications in the medical domain. By categorizing cutting-edge DL approaches into distinct categories, including convolutional neural networks (CNNs), recurrent neural networks (RNNs), generative adversarial networks (GANs), long short-term memory (LSTM) models, support vector machine (SVM), and hybrid models, this study delves into their underlying principles, merits, limitations, methodologies, simulation environments, and datasets. Notably, the majority of the scrutinized articles were published in 2022, underscoring the contemporaneous nature of the research. Moreover, this review accentuates the forefront advancements in DL techniques and their practical applications within the realm of medical prediction systems, while simultaneously addressing the challenges that hinder the widespread implementation of DL in image segmentation within the medical healthcare domains. These discerned insights serve as compelling impetuses for future studies aimed at the progressive advancement of using DL-based methods in medical and health prediction systems. The evaluation metrics employed across the reviewed articles encompass a broad spectrum of features, encompassing accuracy, precision, specificity, F-score, adoptability, adaptability, and scalability.

It has always been challenging work to reconcile the contradiction between the strength and plasticity of titanium materials. Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a convenient method to fabricate innovative composites including those inspired by gradient layered materials. In this work, we used LPBF to selectively prepare TiN/Ti gradient layered structure (GLSTi) composites by using different N _2 –Ar ratios during the LPBF process. We systematically investigated the mechanisms of in-situ synthesis TiN, high strength and ductility of GLSTi composites using microscopic analysis, TEM characterization, and tensile testing with digital image correlation. Besides, a digital correspondence was established between the N _2 concentration and the volume fraction of LPBF in-situ synthesized TiN. Our results show that the GLSTi composites exhibit superior mechanical properties compared to pure titanium fabricated by LPBF under pure Ar. Specifically, the tensile strength of GLSTi was more than 1.5 times higher than that of LPBF-formed pure titanium, reaching up to 1100 MPa, while maintaining a high elongation at fracture of 17%. GLSTi breaks the bottleneck of high strength but low ductility exhibited by conventional nanoceramic particle-strengthened titanium matrix composites, and the hetero-deformation induced strengthening effect formed by the TiN/Ti layered structure explained its strength-plasticity balanced principle. The microhardness exhibits a jagged variation of the relatively low hardness of 245 HV0.2 for the pure titanium layer and a high hardness of 408 HV0.2 for the N _2 in-situ synthesis layer. Our study provides a new concept for the structure-performance digital customization of 3D-printed Ti-based composites.

In recent years, the reduction of high carbon emissions has become a paramount objective for industries worldwide. In response, enterprises and industries are actively pursuing low-carbon transformations. Within this context, power systems have a pivotal role, as they are the primary drivers of national development. Efficient energy scheduling and utilization have therefore become critical concerns. The convergence of smart grid technology and artificial intelligence has propelled transformer load forecasting to the forefront of enterprise power demand management. Traditional forecasting methods relying on regression analysis and support vector machines are ill-equipped to handle the growing complexity and diversity of load forecasting requirements. This paper presents a BERT-based power load forecasting method that leverages natural language processing and image processing techniques to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of transformer load forecasting in smart grids. The proposed approach involves using BERT for data preprocessing, analysis, and feature extraction on long-term historical load data from power grid transformers. Multiple rounds of training and fine-tuning are then conducted on the BERT architecture using the preprocessed training datasets. Finally, the trained BERT model is used to predict the transformer load, and the predicted results are compared with those obtained based on long short-term memory (LSTM) and actual composite values. The experimental results show that compared with LSTM method, the BERT-based model has higher short-term power load prediction accuracy and feature extraction capability. Moreover, the proposed scheme enables high levels of accuracy, thereby providing valuable support for resource management in power dispatching departments and offering theoretical guidance for carbon reduction initiatives.

Abstract Background Runs of homozygosity (ROH) are continuous homozygous regions typically located in the DNA sequence of diploid organisms. Identifications of ROH that lead to reduced performance can provide valuable insight into the genetic architecture of complex traits. Here, we systematically investigated the population genetic structure of five Anhui indigenous pig breeds (AHIPs), and compared them to those of five Western commercial pig breeds (WECPs). Furthermore, we examined the occurrence and distribution of ROHs in the five AHIPs and estimated the inbreeding coefficients based on the ROHs (FROH) and homozygosity (FHOM). Finally, we identified genomic regions with high frequencies of ROHs and annotated candidate genes contained therein. Results The WECPs and AHIPs were clearly differentiated into two separate clades consistent with their geographical origins, as revealed by the population structure and principal component analysis. We identified 13,530 ROHs across all individuals, of which 4,555 and 8,975 ROHs were unique to AHIPs and WECPs, respectively. Most ROHs identified in our study were short (

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing has been advancing in the fabrication of metallic multi-material structures with intricate structures and refined material layouts. Herein, a comprehensive review of the recent achievements of multi-material structures via LPBF is provided in terms of interface characteristics and strengthening methods, critical technical issues and potential applications. It begins with the introduction of multi-material structures and the scope of the review. The interface characteristics (including representative multi-material types printed by LPBF, interfacial microstructure, defects, etc.) and strengthening methods of multi-material structures are then presented. Thereafter, the critical technical issues in LPBF for multi-material structures are discussed with regard to equipment development, data preparation, thermodynamic calculation and process simulation, and powder cross-contamination and recycling. Moreover, the potential applications (particularly in biomedical, electronic, aerospace) are illustrated and discussed. Finally, the outlook is outlined to provide guidance for future research.

The droplet spatters generated by the laser induction directly affect the processing quality of the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process, gas parameters are a key factor in this process. In this work, the formation characteristics and dynamic behavior of process-by-products under different gas flow parameters were presented through high-speed imaging. A novel image processing method and spatters feature extraction algorithm were used to obtain the spatter number, the total spatter area, the spattering angle and the spattering velocity of 8 scenarios. With the comparative analysis, scan direction against the gas flow (SD-A) is proved to produce fewer droplet spatters than scan direction with the gas flow (SD-W), and the quantitative relationship between the gas flow parameters and the droplet spatter behavior is established for the first time. The maximum spattering velocity increases to 12.8 m/s as the gas flow velocity rise to 2.5 m/s. Finally, the mechanisms of the droplet spatter behavior influenced by gas flow parameters are discussed. The work provides a theoretically reference for the design and control of gas flow parameters during the large-scale LPBF.

Macroalgae provide food for microbial, meio- and macro-faunal communities in coastal ecosystems, thus mediating nutrient dynamics and functions in these ecosystems. Because of this vital role, it is important to clarify physiological information about macroalgae as it reflects their growth potential in the field. In this study, we examined the biomass, pigment content, and photosynthetic O2 evolution rate versus irradiance curves of 18 macroalgal species from the intertidal zone of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, China, and investigated their photosynthetic patterns in relation to phyla characteristics, morphology, and growth locations. The results showed that green algae had the highest maximum photosynthetic O2 evolution rate (Pmax), light utilization efficiency (α), and dark respiration (Rd) among the three macroalgal phyla; the sheet-like macroalgal species had the highest Pmax, α, and Rd among the four morphological categories. The macroalgal species in the upper intertidal zone showed higher Pmax and α and lower saturation irradiance (EK) and compensation irradiance (EC) than those species in the lower intertidal location. The PCA results showed that the biomass of sheet-like macroalgal species was positively correlated with factor PC1 (50.34%), and that of finely branched species was negatively correlated with factor PC2 (25.17%). In addition, our results indicate that the light absorption and utilization capabilities of macroalgae could determine whether they could dominate the intertidal zone and that their photosynthetic characteristics could be used as a potential indicator of their biomass distribution in the Greater Bay Area.

The genetic resources among pigs in Anhui Province are diverse, but their value and potential have yet to be discovered. To illustrate the genetic diversity and population structure of the Anhui pigs population, we resequenced the genome of 150 pigs from six representative Anhui pigs populations and analyzed this data together with the sequencing data from 40 Asian wild boars and commercial pigs. Our results showed that Anhui pigs were divided into two distinct types based on ancestral descent: Wannan Spotted pig (WSP) and Wannan Black pig (WBP) origins from the same ancestor and the other four populations origins from another ancestor. We also identified several potential selective sweep regions associated with domestication characteristics among Anhui pigs, including reproduction-associated genes (CABS1, INSL6, MAP3K12, IGF1R, INSR, LIMK2, PATZ1, MAPK1), lipid- and meat-related genes (SNX19, MSTN, MC5R, PRKG1, CREBBP, ADCY9), and ear size genes (MSRB3 and SOX5). Therefore, these findings expand the catalogue and how these genetic differences among pigs and this newly generated data will be a valuable resource for future genetic studies and for improving genome-assisted breeding of pigs and other domesticated animals.

Abstract Failing to consider the strong correlations between weights and topological properties in capacity-weighted networks renders test results on the scale-free property unreliable. According to the preferential attachment mechanism, existing high-degree nodes normally attract new nodes. However, in capacity-weighted networks, the weights of existing edges increase as the network grows. We propose an optimized simplification method and apply it to international trade networks. Our study covers more than 1200 product categories annually from 1995 to 2018. We find that, on average, 38%, 38% and 69% of product networks in export, import and total trade are scale-free. Furthermore, the scale-free characteristics differ depending on the technology. Counter to expectations, the exports of high-technology products are distributed worldwide rather than concentrated in a few developed countries. Our research extends the scale-free exploration of capacity-weighted networks and demonstrates that choosing appropriate filtering methods can clarify the properties of complex networks.

AbstractOpen-domain Question Answering models that directly leverage question-answer (QA) pairs, such as closed-book QA (CBQA) models and QA-pair retrievers, show promise in terms of speed and memory compared with conventional models which retrieve and read from text corpora. QA-pair retrievers also offer interpretable answers, a high degree of control, and are trivial to update at test time with new knowledge. However, these models fall short of the accuracy of retrieve-and-read systems, as substantially less knowledge is covered by the available QA-pairs relative to text corpora like Wikipedia. To facilitate improved QA-pair models, we introduce Probably Asked Questions (PAQ), a very large resource of 65M automatically generated QA-pairs. We introduce a new QA-pair retriever, RePAQ, to complement PAQ. We find that PAQ preempts and caches test questions, enabling RePAQ to match the accuracy of recent retrieve-and-read models, whilst being significantly faster. Using PAQ, we train CBQA models which outperform comparable baselines by 5%, but trail RePAQ by over 15%, indicating the effectiveness of explicit retrieval. RePAQ can be configured for size (under 500MB) or speed (over 1K questions per second) while retaining high accuracy. Lastly, we demonstrate RePAQ’s strength at selective QA, abstaining from answering when it is likely to be incorrect. This enables RePAQ to “back-off” to a more expensive state-of-the-art model, leading to a combined system which is both more accurate and 2x faster than the state-of-the-art model alone.

Copy number variation (CNV) is an important class of genetic variations widely associated with the porcine genome, but little is known about the characteristics of CNVs in foreign and indigenous pig breeds. We performed a genome-wide comparison of CNVs between Anhui indigenous pig (AHIP) and Western commercial pig (WECP) breeds based on data from the Porcine 80K SNP BeadChip. After analysis using the PennCNV software, we detected 3863 and 7546 CNVs in the AHIP and WECP populations, respectively. We obtained 225 (loss: 178, gain: 47) and 379 (loss: 293, gain: 86) copy number variation regions (CNVRs) randomly distributed across the autosomes of the AHIP and WECP populations, accounting for 10.90% and 22.57% of the porcine autosomal genome, respectively. Functional enrichment analysis of genes in the CNVRs identified genes related to immunity (FOXJ1, FOXK2, MBL2, TNFRSF4, SIRT1, NCF1) and meat quality (DGAT1, NT5E) in the WECP population; these genes were a loss event in the WECP population. This study provides important information on CNV differences between foreign and indigenous pig breeds, making it possible to provide a reference for future improvement of these breeds and their production performance.

In the preparation of ready-mixed concrete, it is inevitable to produce waste fresh concrete (WFC). An efficient, low-cost and environmentally friendly recycling scheme is the key to WFC recycling. In this work, we directly added some unhardened WFC to fresh concrete to prepare recycled fresh concrete (RFC); on this basis, fly ash (FA) and nano-silica (NS) were added as supplementary cementitious material (SCM) to obtain modified recycled fresh concrete (RFC-SF). Then, the mechanical properties, slump, freeze–thaw resistance, phase structure of the hydration products and hydration process in RFC were studied. The results show that the addition of FA and NS significantly improved the comprehensive performance of RFC. Compared with RFC, the compressive strength of RFC-SF with 15% FA and 3% NS increased by 15.2% and 50.3% at 7 d and 90 d, respectively, and the splitting tensile strength increased by 20.5% and 76.4%, respectively. The slump remained above 155 mm, and the mass loss rate decreased by 42.6% after freeze–thaw cycles. XRD and FTIR analysis showed that the addition of FA and NS accelerated the hydration reaction process of RFC-SF, reduced the content of calcium hydroxide (CH) and refined the grain size of CH. RFC-SF had a denser microstructure and a lower calcium-silicon ratio in SEM and EDS tests.

ObjectiveAlthough the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unclear, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is considered a common cause of HCC. It has been reported that DDX60L can inhibit HCV replication, but its role in HCC is still poorly understood.MethodsThe expression levels of DDX60L in HCC tissues and in tissues adjacent to the tumor and their correlation with the clinicopathological features of patients were analyzed. We also used Kaplan–Meier curves of overall survival (OS) with Cox regression analysis and log-rank test to investigate the prognostic value of DDX60L in HCC. We further performed cell proliferation, Transwell, and wound healing assays to elucidate the role of DDX60L in HCC using the siRNA-DDX60L Hep3B or HCCLM3 cell line.ResultsUnivariate analysis showed that sex, Edmondson grade, microvascular invasion, tumor stage (III–IV/I–II), AFP, and DDX60L expression were strongly associated with the prognosis of HCC patients. The results of multivariate analysis further suggested that DDX60L might be an independent prognostic factor for OS in patients with HCC (Pmoderate/low = 0.015, Phigh/low = 0.011). The low DDX60L expression in HCC patients with no-metastasis, age ≥55 years, tumor size 20 μg/L, and multiple tumor was associated with poorer prognosis (P

SC9-2 is a recombinant Marek's disease virus (MDV) strain lacking the meq oncogene. Previous study demonstrated that SC9-2 virus provides good protection against challenge with a very virulent MDV rMd5, but it induces immunosuppressive effects in specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens. In the present study, SC9-2 was serially passaged on chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cell cultures. The pathogenicity and immune efficacy of SC9-2/10th and SC9-2/40th against rMd5 were evaluated. Animal experimental results showed that SC9-2/10th and SC9-2/40th showed no lethality or tumorigenicity in SPF chickens. Body weight of chickens inoculated with SC9-2/40th were significantly higher than that of the chickens inoculated with SC9-2/10th but lower than that of the uninoculated controls. The severity of bursa and thymus atrophy (BTA) and spleen enlargement in SC9-2/40th-inoculated chickens were also weaker than the SC9-2/10th-inoculated ones but stronger than the uninoculated controls. Chickens inoculated with SC9-2/40th and SC9-2/10th showed similar antibody levels induced by H9N2 subtype avian influenza virus/Newcastle disease virus inactivated vaccines, both of which were lower than the uninoculated controls. Replication of SC9-2/40th was significantly lower than SC9-2/10th in feather follicle epithelium (FFE) of infected chickens. The immune protection index of SC9-2/40th was also lower than that of SC9-2/10th, but the difference was not significantly, and both of which were significant higher than that of the commercial MDV vaccine CVI988/Rispens. The results of our studies demonstrated that SC9-2/40th showed weaker severity of BTA, spleen enlargement, and body weight loss and lower replication level in FFE than SC9-2/10th in SPF chickens. However, SC9-2/40th was able to confer better immune protection as compared with CVI988/Rispens vaccination in SPF chickens. In conclusion, serially attenuation of SC9-2 in CEFs reduced the lymphoid organ atrophy and replication in SPF chickens, and the immune protective efficacy of attenuated viruses was still superior than CVI988/Rispens.

Abstract Background The biological network is highly dynamic. Functional relations between genes can be activated or deactivated depending on the biological conditions. On the genome-scale network, subnetworks that gain or lose local expression consistency may shed light on the regulatory mechanisms related to the changing biological conditions, such as disease status or tissue developmental stages. Results In this study, we develop a new method to select genes and modules on the existing biological network, in which local expression consistency changes significantly between clinical conditions. The method is called DNLC: Differential Network Local Consistency. In simulations, our algorithm detected artificially created local consistency changes effectively. We applied the method on two publicly available datasets, and the method detected novel genes and network modules that were biologically plausible. Conclusions The new method is effective in finding modules in which the gene expression consistency change between clinical conditions. It is a useful tool that complements traditional differential expression analyses to make discoveries from gene expression data. The R package is available at https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/DNLC.

Wanbei pig (WBP) is one of the indigenous pig resources in China and has many germplasm characteristics. However, research on its genome is lacking. To assess the genomic variation, population structure, and selection signatures, we resequenced 18 WBP for the first time and performed a comprehensive analysis with resequenced data of 10 Asian wild boars. In total, 590.03 Gb of data and approximately 41 million variants were obtained. Polymorphism level (θπ) ratio and genetic differentiation (fixation index)-based cross approaches were applied, and 539 regions, which harbored 176 genes, were selected. Functional analysis of the selected genes revealed that they were associated with lipid metabolism (SCP2, APOA1, APOA4, APOC3, CD36, BCL6, ADCY8), backfat thickness (PLAG1, CACNA2D1), muscle (MYOG), and reproduction (CABS1). Overall, our results provide a valuable resource for characterizing the uniqueness of WBP and a basis for future breeding.

Single nucleotide polymorphism was widely used to perform genetic and evolution research in pigs. However, little is known about the effect of copy number variation (CNV) on characteristics in pigs. This study performed a genome-wide comparison of CNVs between Wannan black pigs (WBP) and Asian wild boars (AWB), using whole genome resequencing data. By using Manta, we detected in total 28,720 CNVs that covered approximately 1.98% of the pig genome length. We identified 288 selected CNVs (top 1%) by performing Fst statistics. Functional enrichment analyses for genes located in selected CNVs were found to be muscle related (NDN, TMOD4, SFRP1, and SMYD3), reproduction related (GJA1, CYP26B1, WNT5A, SRD5A2, PTPN11, SPEF2, and CCNB1), residual feed intake (RFI) related (MAP3K5), and ear size related (WIF1). This study provides essential information on selected CNVs in Wannan black pigs for further research on the genetic basis of the complex phenotypic and provides essential information for direction in the protection and utilization of Wannan black pig.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) deposition is an important determinant of pork quality and a complex process facilitated by non-coding ceRNAs. In this study, 52 Berkshire × Anqing Sixwhite crossbred pigs were slaughtered to measure eight carcass and pork quality traits. Whole-transcriptome sequencing analysis was performed using longissimus dorsi samples of six low- and high-IMF samples; 34 ceRNA networks, based on 881, 394, 158 differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs, were constructed. Following weighted gene co-expression network analysis between the low and high IMF, only one ceRNA, lncRNA4789/miR-381-3p/FABP3, that showed similar DE trend in longissimus dorsi tissue was retained. Dual-luciferase reporter assays further indicated that FABP3 was a direct, functional target of miR-381-3p, where miR-381-3p overexpression inhibited the mRNA and protein expression of FABP3. In addition, overexpressed lncRNA4789 attenuated the effect of miR-381-3p on FABP3 by sponging miR-381-3p. Cell function verification experiment demonstrated that miR-381-3p suppressed IMF deposition by inhibiting preadipocyte cell differentiation and lipid droplet deposition via the suppression of FABP3 expression in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signalling pathway, whereas lncRNA4789 rescued FABP3 expression by sponging miR-381-3p. Our study may aid in identifying novel molecular markers for its optimization in IMF which is of importance in breeding for improving pork quality.

BackgroundBerberine (BBR) has therapeutic effect on diabetic nephropathy (DN), but its molecular mechanism is not completely clear.MethodsThe DN model was established to observe the therapeutic effect of BBR. The expression levels of lncRNA Gas5 were detected by PCR. The transcriptional regulation of CCAAT enhancer binding protein beta (C/EBPβ) on Gas5 was analyzed by chromatin immunoprecipitation quantitative PCR (ChIP-qPCR) and luciferase reporter gene assay. The targeted regulation between Gas5 and miR-18a-5p and between miR-18a-5p and C/EBPβ 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) was also analyzed.ResultsIn HG environment, BBR decreased the mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and activated the C/EBPβ expression in HK-2 cells; C/EBPβ could combine with the reaction element on the promoter of Gas5 to promote its expression. Gas5 also inhibited the miR-18a-5p expression as competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) and reduce the negative regulatory effect of miR-18a-5p on C/EBPβ. BBR could activate C/EBPβ/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α) signal pathway, regulate mitochondrial energy metabolism, and inhibit ROS production and apoptosis by activating C/EBPβ/Gas5/miR-18a-5p positive feedback loop in HG environment. It also showed that BBR alleviated streptozotocin (STZ) induced renal injury in DN rats in vivo.ConclusionsThis study suggested that BBR could regulate the mitochondrial ROS generation by activating the positive feedback loop of C/EBPβ/Gas5/miR-18a-5p.

During the development of complex gas reservoirs, the risk decision-making problem often emerges. Thus, the study on risk assessment is an important tool used to identify potential hazards and create appropriate avoidance measures accordingly. Based on the analysis of seven types of risk factors in gas reservoir development planning, this paper aims to clarify the logical relationship between the risk factors in the strategic planning of natural gas development. The comprehensive research on target risks in the gas reservoir development planning based on stochastic simulation was carried out. The “probability curve scanning method” was used to evaluate objective risk factors, while the decision-making risk factors were evaluated using the “probability curve displacement method.” According to the realization probability and dispersion degree of the planned target combined with the risk grade evaluation matrix, the planning target evaluation risk grade was implemented. Moreover, the planning unit risk grade evaluation was obtained at different stages. Regarding the specific production capacity conditions in gas wells (horizontal and vertical wells) and gas reservoir water invasion, the probability method with Monte Carlo stochastic simulation was used to calculate the production and water invasion volumes. The established decision-making risk technology for gas reservoir development, along with the associated supporting procedures, can be used to evaluate the risks of reservoir development planning, production, and water invasion.

After nearly 60 years of development, many old gas fields in the Sichuan Basin have come to middle–late development stages with low pressure and low yield, and some are even on the verge of abandonment, but there are plenty remaining gas resources still undeveloped. Analysis shows that gas fields which have the conditions for the secondary development are faced with many difficulties. For example, it is difficult to produce low permeable reserves and to unset the hydraulic seal which is formed by active formation water. In this paper, therefore, the technical route and selection conditions of old gas fields for the secondary development were comprehensively elaborated with its definition as the beginning. Firstly, geological model forward modeling and production performance inversion characteristic curve diagnosis are performed by using the pressure normalization curve and the identification and quantitative description method for multiple sets of storage–seepage body of complex karst fracture–cavity systems is put forward, after the multiple storage–seepage body mode of fracture–cavity systems is established. Combined with the new occurrence mode of gas and water in U-shape pipes, a new calculation technology for natural gas reserves of multiple fracture–cavity systems with strong water invasion is developed. Secondly, a numerical model of pore–cavity–fracture triple media is built, and simulation and result evaluation technology for the production pattern of “drainage by horizontal wells + gas production by vertical wells” in bottom-water fracture and cavity gas reservoirs with strong water invasion is developed. Thirdly, the geological model of gas reservoirs is reconstructed with the support of the integration technologies which are formed based on fine gas reservoir description. Low permeable reserves of gas reservoirs are evaluated based on each classification. The effective producing ratio is increased further by using the technologies of well pattern optimization, horizontal-well geosteering and staged acid fracturing. And fourthly, overall simulation, optimization and prediction technology for regional pipeline net-works is developed by building a multi-node multi-link gas transmission pipeline network model. Application shows that this technology plays an important role in productivity construction, recovery factor improvement, production decline delay and production stabilization of old gas fields.

Selective laser melting (SLM) is a layer by layer process of melting and solidifying of metal powders. The surface quality of the previous layer directly affects the uniformity of the next layer. If the surface roughness value of the previous layer is large, there is the possibility of not being able to complete the layering process such that the entire process has to be abandoned. At least, it may result in long term durability problem and the inhomogeneity, may even make the processed structure not be able to be predicted. In the present study, the ability of a fiber laser to in-situ polish the rough surfaces of four typical additive-manufactured alloys, namely, Ti6Al4V, AlSi10Mg, 316L and IN718 was demonstrated. The results revealed that the surface roughness of the as-received alloys could be reduced to about 3 μm through the application of the laser-polishing process, and the initial surfaces had roughness values of 8.80−16.64 μm. Meanwhile, for a given energy density, a higher laser power produced a laser-polishing effect that was often more obvious, with the surface roughness decreasing with an increase in the laser power. Further, the polishing strategy will be optimized by simulation in our following study.

Solanesol, an aliphatic terpene alcohol composed of nine isoprene units, is mainly found in solanaceous plants. Particularly, tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), belonging to the Solanaceae family, is the richest plant source of solanesol, and its leaves have been regarded as the ideal material for solanesol extraction. Since the discovery of solanesol in tobacco, significant progress has been achieved in research on solanesol’s bioactivities, medicinal value, accumulation, extraction technology, and determination methods. Solanesol possesses strong free radical absorption ability and antioxidant activity owing to the presence of several non-conjugated double bonds. Notably, solanesol’s anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and antimicrobial activities have been previously demonstrated. Solanesol is a key intermediate in the synthesis of coenzyme Q10, vitamin K2, and the anticancer agent synergiser N-solanesyl-N,N′-bis(3,4-dimethoxybenzyl) ethylenediamine. Other applications of solanesol include solanesol derivative micelles for hydrophobic drug delivery, solanesol-derived scaffolds for bioactive peptide multimerization, and solanesol-anchored DNA for mediating vesicle fusion. Solanesol accumulation in plants is influenced by genetic and environmental factors, including biotic stresses caused by pathogen infections, temperature, illumination, and agronomic measures. Seven extraction technologies and seven determination methods of solanesol are also systematically summarized in the present review. This review can serve as a reference for solanesol’s comprehensive application.

To determine risk for avian influenza virus infection, we conducted serologic surveillance for H5 and H9 subtypes among poultry workers in Beijing, China, 2009–2010, and assessed workers’ understanding of avian influenza. We found that poultry workers had considerable risk for infection with H9 subtypes. Increasing their knowledge could prevent future infections.

BACKGROUND: The influenza viruses circulating in animals sporadically transmit to humans and pose pandemic threats. Animal models to evaluate the potential public health risk potential of these viruses are needed. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated the guinea pig as a mammalian model for the study of the replication and transmission characteristics of selected swine H1N1, H1N2, H3N2 and avian H9N2 influenza viruses, compared to those of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 and seasonal human H1N1, H3N2 influenza viruses. The swine and avian influenza viruses investigated were restricted to the respiratory system of guinea pigs and shed at high titers in nasal tracts without prior adaptation, similar to human strains. None of the swine and avian influenza viruses showed transmissibility among guinea pigs; in contrast, pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus transmitted from infected guinea pigs to all animals and seasonal human influenza viruses could also horizontally transmit in guinea pigs. The analysis of the receptor distribution in the guinea pig respiratory tissues by lectin histochemistry indicated that both SAα2,3-Gal and SAα2,6-Gal receptors widely presented in the nasal tract and the trachea, while SAα2,3-Gal receptor was the main receptor in the lung. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We propose that the guinea pig could serve as a useful mammalian model to evaluate the potential public health threat of swine and avian influenza viruses.