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The BIG Data Center at Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences provides a suite of database resources in support of worldwide research activities in both academia and industry. With the vast amounts of multi-omics data generated at unprecedented scales and rates, the BIG Data Center is continually expanding, updating and enriching its core database resources through big data integration and value-added curation. Resources with significant updates in the past year include BioProject (a biological project library), BioSample (a biological sample library), Genome Sequence Archive (GSA, a data repository for archiving raw sequence reads), Genome Warehouse (GWH, a centralized resource housing genome-scale data), Genome Variation Map (GVM, a public repository of genome variations), Science Wikis (a catalog of biological knowledge wikis for community annotations) and IC4R (Information Commons for Rice). Newly released resources include EWAS Atlas (a knowledgebase of epigenome-wide association studies), iDog (an integrated omics data resource for dog) and RNA editing resources (for editome-disease associations and plant RNA editosome, respectively). To promote biodiversity and health big data sharing around the world, the Open Biodiversity and Health Big Data (BHBD) initiative is introduced. All of these resources are publicly accessible at http://bigd.big.ac.cn.

In medical image retrieval, accurately retrieving relevant images significantly impacts clinical decision making and diagnostics. Traditional image-retrieval systems primarily rely on single-dimensional image data, while current deep-hashing methods are capable of learning complex feature representations. However, retrieval accuracy and efficiency are hindered by diverse modalities and limited sample sizes. Objective: To address this, we propose a novel deep learning-based hashing model, the Deep Attention Fusion Hashing (DAFH) model, which integrates advanced attention mechanisms with medical imaging data. Methods: The DAFH model enhances retrieval performance by integrating multi-modality medical imaging data and employing attention mechanisms to optimize the feature extraction process. Utilizing multimodal medical image data from the Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA), this study constructed and trained a deep hashing network that achieves high-precision classification of various cancer types. Results: At hash code lengths of 16, 32, and 48 bits, the model respectively attained Mean Average Precision (MAP@10) values of 0.711, 0.754, and 0.762, highlighting the potential and advantage of the DAFH model in medical image retrieval. Conclusions: The DAFH model demonstrates significant improvements in the efficiency and accuracy of medical image retrieval, proving to be a valuable tool in clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The diversity and specificity of the genetic structures of rare and endemic endangered goose (Anser cygnoides) breeds continue to be significant focal points of global concern. In this study, the mitochondrial genome was sequenced from six endemic endangered goose breeds to compare and assess the genetic structures of the rare bird breeds (♂:♀ = 1:1). The research results show that there are 81 haplotypes among the six endemic endangered goose breeds in China. At the same time, a historical dynamic analysis of the migration of endemic endangered goose breeds was conducted. The Wright's fixation index of endemic endangered goose breeds in China is significantly lower than that of European goose breeds. This indicates that the adaptability of endangered breeds in China is relatively low, which can easily affect the long-term survival and reproductive ability of the population. The conservation and exploitation of waterfowl genetic resources leverage the intra- and inter-population variations to enhance the traits relevant to human interests. Hence, there is an urgent need to strategically plan and safeguard the genetic resources of Chinese goose breeds while also devising suitable protection strategies. The analysis of the genetic diversity and historical dynamics of endemic endangered goose breeds structure has attracted great interest. Although various aspects of the goose breed structure have been elucidated, there is still insufficient research on the genetic basis of endemic endangered Chinese goose breeds. In this study, we collected blood samples from Lingxiang White (LX), Yan (YE), Yangjiang (YJ), Wuzong (WZ), Xupu (XP), and Baizi (BZ) geese (Anser cygnoides) and used Sanger sequencing to determine the partial sequence of the cytochrome b (CYTB) gene in a total of 180 geese. A total of 117 polymorphic sites were detected in the 707 bp sequence of the mtDNA CYTB gene after shearing and correction, accounting for approximately 16.55% of the entire sequence. The AT content (51.03%) of the processed sequence was slightly higher than the GC content (48.97%), indicating a preference for purine bases. The YJ, YE, and WZ breeds had the highest population genetic diversity, with a haplotype diversity greater than 0.9 (Hd > 0.9) and average population nucleotide difference of 8.01 (K > 8.01). A total of 81 haplotypes were detected and divided into six major branches. Among the six goose breeds, there were frequent genetic exchanges among LX, YJ, YE, and WZ geese (Nm > 15.00). We analyzed the distribution of base-mismatch differences in goose breeds and tested their historical dynamics for neutrality in Tajima's D and Fu's Fs. For YJ and WZ geese, Tajima's D > 0, but the difference was not significant (p > 0.05). The actual values for the two breeds exhibited multimodal Poisson distributions. The population patterns of the WZ and YJ geese are purportedly relatively stable, and the breeds have not experienced population expansions or bottleneck effects, which is consistent with the neutrality test results. This study provides new insights into the diverse genetic origins and historical dynamics that sustain endemic endangered goose breeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retroviral reverse transcription starts within the capsid and uncoating and reverse transcription are mutually dependent. There is still debate regarding the timing and cellular location of HIV's uncoating and reverse transcription and whether it occurs solely in the cytoplasm, nucleus or both. HIV can infect non-dividing cells because there is active transport of the preintegration complex (PIC) across the nuclear membrane, but Murine Leukemia Virus (MLV) is thought to depend on cell division for replication and whether MLV uncoating and reverse transcription is solely cytoplasmic has not been studied. Here, we used NIH3T3 and primary mouse dendritic cells to determine where the different stages of reverse transcription occur and whether cell division is needed for nuclear entry. Our data strongly suggest that in both NIH3T3 cells and dendritic cells (DCs), the initial step of reverse transcription occurs in the cytoplasm. However, we detected MLV RNA/DNA hybrid intermediates in the nucleus of dividing NIH3T3 cells and non-dividing DCs, suggesting that reverse transcription can continue after nuclear entry. We also confirmed that the MLV PIC requires cell division to enter the nucleus of NIH3T3 cells. In contrast, we show that MLV can infect non-dividing primary DCs, although integration of MLV DNA in DCs still required the viral p12 protein. Knockdown of several nuclear pore proteins dramatically reduced the appearance of integrated MLV DNA in DCs but not NIH3T3 cells. Additionally, MLV capsid associated with the nuclear pore proteins NUP358 and NUP62 during infection. These findings suggest that simple retroviruses, like the complex retrovirus HIV, gain nuclear entry by traversing the nuclear pore complex in non-mitotic cells. Author summary: Retrovirus replication requires nuclear entry of reverse-transcribed double-stranded viral DNA and integration into the host cell chromosomes. It is widely believed that unlike lentiviruses, simple retroviruses like MLV require nuclear membrane breakdown during cell division to achieve nuclear entry of viral reverse transcription products to complete their replication. We show here that while this is true for rapidly dividing tissue culture cells, in quiescent primary cells like dendritic cells, the likely initial targets of in vivo MLV infection, the virus establishes infection without cell division. MLV accomplishes this because the viral capsid protein interacts with proteins in the nuclear membrane in DCs. In contrast, while this interaction occurs in dividing tissue culture cells, it is not sufficient for nuclear entry of viral DNA. These studies show that the requirements for retrovirus infection depend on the cell type and moreover, partially overturn the dogma that simple retroviruses need cell division to complete replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In recent decades, the correlation between gut microbiota and the performance of animals has been widely examined. However, there is still a lack of research about the influence of different host breeds. We used five local Chinese chicken breeds as experiment materials to establish the relationship between the characteristics of hosts and the composition of microorganisms. In this study, metagenomic sequencing was used to explore the differences in the intestinal microbial composition of different breeds. Then, the functions of differentially expressed microorganisms were analyzed. Combined with previous research, we discussed the links between microorganisms and different breeds. Our study explains the relationship between the gut microbiome and the host breeds of local chickens, and reveals the specific flora in the gut of each breed of local chicken, which lays a foundation for the exploration of high-quality traits and the improvement of feeding conditions in the future. Intestinal microorganisms are closely related to the health, development, and production performance of animals and can also provide basic information for us to fully understand and explore the germplasm characteristics and traits of local chicken breeds. In this experiment, we used five local Chinese chicken breeds as research materials; metagenomic sequencing technology was used to explore the differences in the composition of intestinal microorganisms in different breeds, and it was found that each local chicken breed had unique unigenes, of which Silkies had the most, with a total of 12,948. GO and KEGG analyses found that the biological processes most enriched by differential functional genes include genetic coding, macromolecular transport, protein synthesis, and molecular functions such as glycoprotein binding, protein hydrolysis, etc. Each breed is enriched with specific pathways, such as Anyi tile-like gray chickens, which are enriched with pathways related to disease resistance, while Gamecocks' enrichment is related to amino acid metabolism. Random Forest and LEfSe analyses revealed specific species of intestinal microorganisms in the cecum of different breeds, such as Exiguobacterium, which is associated with melanin deposition in Silkies. Therefore, we infer that gut microorganisms are closely related to the formation of chicken breed characteristics, and the results of this experiment can provide a theoretical basis for the discovery of high-quality traits and the improvement of feeding conditions in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The icing of helicopter rotor blades will lead to the destruction of its aerodynamic shape and seriously affect the flight quality. In order to improve the flexibility and fatigue resistance of helicopter rotor anti-icing system, the metal mesh braided with nickel alloy filaments is used as heating element, and the heating element is arranged in the blade in an extended way. Through the design, the diameter of wire and the size of mesh are determined. Combining with the existing composite material forming process, the electrical heating test pieces are prepared. The electrothermal performance test, mechanical property test and laboratory simulated deicing test of the prepared heating pad are carried out. The results show that the temperature rising speed of the heating pad is 2.5 ℃/s, the temperature uniformity in the plane is less than 2 ℃, and the simulated deicing effect in the laboratory is good.