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Abstract Intensification of northern hemisphere glaciation (iNHG), ~2.7 million years ago (Ma), led to establishment of the Pleistocene to present-day bipolar icehouse state. Here we document evolution of orbital- and millennial-scale Asian winter monsoon (AWM) variability across the iNHG using a palaeomagnetically dated centennial-resolution grain size record between 3.6 and 1.9 Ma from a previously undescribed loess-palaeosol/red clay section on the central Chinese Loess Plateau. We find that the late Pliocene–early Pleistocene AWM was characterized by combined 41-kyr and ~100-kyr cycles, in response to ice volume and atmospheric CO2 forcing. Northern hemisphere ice sheet expansion, which was accompanied by an atmospheric CO2 concentration decline, substantially increased glacial AWM intensity and its orbitally oscillating amplitudes across the iNHG. Superposed on orbital variability, we find that millennial AWM intensity fluctuations persisted during both the warmer (higher-CO2) late Pliocene and colder (lower-CO2) early Pleistocene, in response to both external astronomical forcing and internal climate dynamics.

The dry and windy Asian glacials during the mid-Pleistocene transition were probably due to the Northern Hemisphere ice sheet expansion, suggest records of grain size and magnetic susceptibility from the Chinese Loess Plateau and model simulations.

Global warming drove ‘wet gets wetter and dry gets drier’ climate shifts in Asia ~5.3 million years ago with monsoon pacing by ~400,000 and ~ 100,000 year cycles. This could be a template for future Asian climate response to anthropogenic warming.

Marine records indicate a greenhouse to icehouse climate transition at ~34 million years ago, but how the climate changed within continental interiors at this time is less well known. Here, the authors show an orbital climate response shift with aridification on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau during this time.

Preadipocyte differentiation plays an important role in lipid deposition and affects fattening efficiency in pigs. In the present study, preadipocytes isolated from the subcutaneous adipose tissue of three Landrace piglets were induced into mature adipocytes in vitro. Gene clusters associated with fat deposition were investigated using RNA sequencing data at four time points during preadipocyte differentiation. Twenty-seven co-expression modules were subsequently constructed using weighted gene co-expression network analysis. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses revealed three modules (blue, magenta, and brown) as being the most critical during preadipocyte differentiation. Based on these data and our previous differentially expressed gene analysis, angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) was identified as a key regulator of preadipocyte differentiation and lipid metabolism. After inhibition of ANGPTL4, the expression of adipogenesis-related genes was reduced, except for that of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which was negatively regulated by ANGPTL4 during preadipocyte differentiation. Our findings provide a new perspective to understand the mechanism of fat deposition.

To enhance pig production, feed efficiency (FE) should be improved; however, the mechanisms by which gut microbes affect FE in pigs have not been fully elucidated. To investigate the differences between the composition and functionality of the gut microbiota associated with low and high FE, microbial compositions were characterized using 16S rRNA sequencing, functional annotations were performed by shotgun metagenomics, and metabolomic profiles were created by GC-TOF-MS from female Landrace finishing pigs with low and high feed conversion ratios (FCRs). Lactobacillus was enriched in the gut microbiota of individuals with low FCRs (and thus high FE), while Prevotella abundance was significantly higher in individuals with high FCRs (and thus low FE). This may be linked to carbohydrate consumption and incomplete digestion. The activity of pathways involved in the metabolism of cofactors and vitamins was greater in pigs with lower FE. We also identified differences in pyruvate-related metabolism, including phenylalanine and lysine metabolism. This suggests that pyruvate metabolism is closely related to microbial fermentation in the colon, which in turn affects glycolysis. This study deepens our understanding of how gut microbiota are related to pig growth traits, and how regulating microbial composition could aid in improving porcine FE. However, these results need to be validated using a larger pig cohort in the future.

Postnatal development and maturation of pineal gland is a highly dynamic period of tissue remodeling and phenotype maintenance, which is genetically controlled by programmed gene expression regulations. However, limited molecular characterization, particularly regarding long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA), is available for postnatal pineal at a whole transcriptome level. The present study first characterized the comprehensive pineal transcriptome profiles using strand-specific RNA-seq to illustrate the dynamic mRNA/lncRNA expression at three developmental stages (infancy, puberty, and adulthood). The results showed that 21,448 mRNAs and 8,166 novel lncRNAs were expressed in pig postnatal pineal gland. Among these genes, 3,573 mRNAs and 851 lncRNAs, including the 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors, exhibited significant dynamic regulation along maturation process, while the expression of homeobox genes didn’t show significant differences. Gene Ontology analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in ion transport and synaptic transmission, highlighting the critical role of calcium signaling in postnatal pineal development. Additionally, co-expression analysis revealed the DEGs could be grouped into 12 clusters with distinct expression patterns. Many differential lncRNAs were functionally enriched in co-expressed clusters of genes related to ion transport, transcription regulation, DNA binding, and visual perception. Our study first provided an overview of postnatal pineal transcriptome dynamics in pig and demonstrated that dynamic lncRNA regulation of developmental transitions impact pineal physiology.

Type A spermatogonial stem cells are the only immortal diploid cells in the postnatal animal that undergo self-renewal through the lifetime of an animal and transmit genes to subsequent generations. In this paper, the generation and characterization of double-transgenic mice co-expressing the Escherichia coli appA gene and human MxA gene generated via the in vivo transfection of type A spermatogonial cells were reported for the first time. The dicistronic expression vector pcDNA-appA-MxA(AMP) and ExGen500 transfection reagent were injected into the testicular tissue of 7-d-old male ICR mice. The mice that underwent testis-mediated gene transfer were mated with wild-type female mice, and the integration and expression of the foreign genes in the offspring were evaluated. Transgenic mice that co-expressed appA and MxA showed a gene integration rate of 8.89% (16/180). The transgenic mice were environmentally friendly, as the amount of phosphorous remaining in the manure was reduced by as much as 11.1% by the appA gene (P

Feed efficiency (FE) appears to vary even within closely related pigs, and may be partly affected by the diversity in the composition and function of gut microbes. To investigate the components and functional differences of gut microbiota of low and high FE pigs, high throughput sequencing and de novo metagenomics were performed on pig cecal contents. Pigs were selected in pairs with low and high feed conversion ratio. The microorganisms of individuals with different FE were clustered according to diversity. The genus Prevotella was the most enriched in both groups, and the abundance of species Prevotella sp. CAG:604 was significantly increased in low efficiency individuals compared to that in animals showing high efficiency. In contrast, other differential species, including lactic acid bacteria, were all enriched in the group with good feeding characteristics. Functional analysis based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases demonstrated that differential genes for the metabolism of carbohydrates were most abundant in both groups, but pathways of pyruvate-related metabolism were more intense in pigs with higher FE. All these data indicated that the microbial environment was closely related to the growth traits of pigs, and regulating microbial composition could aid developing strategies to improve FE for pigs.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), evolutionarily conserved non-coding RNAs in length 21-24 bp, play a critical role in skeletal muscle development. In this study, to explore the function of mircoRNA-127 in porcine skeletal muscle development, eight tissue samples from adult pigs and longissimus muscle samples at 26 developmental stages were collected from Tongcheng and Landrace pigs. The spatial-temporal expression profiles of miRNA-127 were carried out using step-loop quantitative real-time PCR (stem-loop RT-PCR). To explore the molecular functions of miRNA-127, we predicted its target genes and performed functional annotation using bioinformatics methods. Results suggested that miRNA-127 was abundantly expressed in heart, ovary, uterus and spleen tissues and was weakly expressed in liver, lung, kidney and small intestine in both Tongcheng and Landrace pigs. And miRNA-127 showed significant expression differences in heart, ovary, spleen and uterus tissues between these two breeds. miRNA-127 basically kept at a relatively stable high level in middle and later embryonic stages and a low expression level in early embryonic stages and postnatal stages, but the expression levels of miRNA-127 were higher in Tongcheng pigs than in Landrace at most developmental stages. miRNA-127 potentially regulated 240 candidate genes. Results of Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway analysis indicated that these genes could be involved in many molecular functions and mechanisms, such as regulation of the force of heart contraction, regulation of transcription, regulation of T cell differentiation, MAPK signaling pathway and GnRH signaling pathway. Many significantly enriched GO terms and KEGG pathways were related to skeletal muscle development. This study will be helpful to understand the biological function for miRNA-127 and identify candidate gene associated with meat production traits in pigs.

With the increasing demands for better transmission speed and robust quality of service (QoS), the capacity constrained backhaul gradually becomes a bottleneck in cooperative wireless networks, e.g., in the Internet of Things (IoT) scenario in joint processing mode of LTE-Advanced Pro. This paper focuses on resource allocation within capacity constrained backhaul in uplink cooperative wireless networks, where two base stations (BSs) equipped with single antennae serve multiple single-antennae users via multi-carrier transmission mode. In this work, we propose a novel cooperative transmission scheme based on compress-and-forward with user pairing to solve the joint mixed integer programming problem. To maximize the system capacity under the limited backhaul, we formulate the joint optimization problem of user sorting, subcarrier mapping and backhaul resource sharing among different pairs (subcarriers for users). A novel robust and efficient centralized algorithm based on alternating optimization strategy and perfect mapping is proposed. Simulations show that our novel method can improve the system capacity significantly under the constraint of the backhaul resource compared with the blind alternatives.

Lattice dynamics (LD) enables the calculation of mode-resolved transmittance of phonons passing through an interface, which is essential for understanding and controlling the thermal boundary conductance (TBC). However, the original LD method may yield unphysical transmittance over 100% due to the absence of the constraint of energy conservation. Here, we present a robust LD algorithm that utilizes linear algebra transformations and projection gradient descent iterations to ensure energy conservation. Our approach demonstrates consistency with the original LD method on the atomically smooth Si/Ge interface and exhibits robustness on rough Si/Ge interfaces. The evanescent modes and localized effects at the interface are revealed. In addition, bottom-up analysis of the phonon transmittance shows that the anisotropy in the azimuth angle can be ignored, while the dependency on the frequency and polar angle can be decoupled. The decoupled expression reproduces the TBC precisely. This work provides comprehensive insights into the mode-resolved phonon transmittance across interfaces and paves the way for further research into the mechanism of TBC and its relation to atomic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophage-myofibroblast transformation (MMT) has emerged as a discovery in the field of fibrotic disease research. MMT is the process by which macrophages differentiate into myofibroblasts, leading to organ fibrosis following organ damage and playing an important role in fibrosis formation and progression. Recently, many new advances have been made in studying the mechanisms of MMT occurrence in fibrotic diseases. This article reviews some critical recent findings on MMT, including the origin of MMT in myofibroblasts, the specific mechanisms by which MMT develops, and the mechanisms and effects of MMT in the kidneys, lungs, heart, retina, and other fibrosis. By summarizing the latest research related to MMT, this paper provides a theoretical basis for elucidating the mechanisms of fibrosis in various organs and developing effective therapeutic targets for fibrotic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although travelers are frequently accompanied by abdominal discomfort and even diarrhea, not every trip can cause this issue. Many studies have reported that intestinal microbes play an important role in it. However, little is known about the reason for the dynamics of these intestinal microbes. Here, we delved into the effects of short-term travel on the gut microbiota of 12 healthy individuals. A total of 72 fecal samples collected before and after one-week travel, alongside non-traveling controls, underwent amplicon sequencing and a series of bioinformatic analyses. We found that travel significantly increased intra-individual gut microbiota fluctuations without diarrhea symptoms. In addition, the initial composition of the gut microbiota before travel emerged as a crucial factor in understanding these fluctuations. Travelers with stable microbiota exhibited an enrichment of specific probiotic bacteria (Agathobaculum, Faecalibacterium, Bifidobacterium, Roseburia, Lactobacillus) before travel. Another batch of data validated their predictive role in distinguishing travelers with and without the gut microbial disorder. This work provided valuable insights into understanding the relationship between gut microbiota and travel. It offered a microbiota-centric perspective and a potential avenue for interventions to preserve gut health during travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between initial Homo sapiens dispersal from Africa to East Asia and the orbitally paced evolution of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM)--currently the largest monsoon system--remains underexplored due to lack of coordinated synthesis of both Asian paleoanthropological and paleoclimatic data. Here, we investigate orbital-scale ASM dynamics during the last 280 thousand years (kyr) and their likely influences on early H. sapiens dispersal to East Asia, through a unique integration of i) new centennial-resolution ASM records from the Chinese Loess Plateau, ii) model-based East Asian hydroclimatic reconstructions, iii) paleoanthropological data compilations, and iv) global H. sapiens habitat suitability simulations. Our combined proxy-and model-based reconstructions suggest that ASM precipitation responded to a combination of Northern Hemisphere ice volume, greenhouse gas, and regional summer insolation forcing, with cooccurring primary orbital cycles of ~100-kyr, 41-kyr, and ~20-kyr. Between ~125 and 70 kyr ago, summer monsoon rains and temperatures increased in vast areas across Asia. This episode coincides with the earliest H. sapiens fossil occurrence at multiple localities in East Asia. Following the transcontinental increase in simulated habitat suitability, we suggest that ASM strengthening together with Southeast African climate deterioration may have promoted the initial H. sapiens dispersal from their African homeland to remote East Asia during the last interglacial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]