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Abstract Background South China carp (Cyprinus carpio rubrofuscus), which is an economically important species, is traditionally cocultured with rice. Our previous study indicated that approximately 10–30% of these fish experienced growth arrest, severely impacting production. However, the molecular mechanism underlying growth inhibition in south China carp is currently unknown. Results In this study, we compared the transcriptomes of the livers, muscles and intestines of carp in the fast-growing and slow-growing groups. We identified 2182, 2355 and 916 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively. In the slow-growing group, the oxidative phosphorylation pathway was significantly upregulated in the liver. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed mitochondrial damage in the liver, which was characterized by broken cristae and heterogeneous matrix. Additionally, analysis of antioxidant enzyme and transaminase activity also revealed that the livers in slow-growing individuals were unhealthy. In muscle tissue, the mitophagy and autophagy pathways were significantly dysregulated. Consequently, manifestations of mitochondrial damage and sparse myofilaments were clearly observed in slow-growing south China carp via TEM. Furthermore, pathways that regulate cell proliferation and migration, including the ECM receptor and focal adhesion, were significantly enriched in the intestine. Morphological examination revealed that the villus height and muscular layer height in the slow-growing group were significantly shorter than those in the fast-growing group, suggesting decreased intestinal cell motility. Overall, our study elucidated mitochondrial damage in the liver and muscle and detected morphological changes in intestinal villi. Conclusions In summary, our results help elucidate the genetic architecture related to growth arrest in south China carp and provide a basis for further research on the growth of teleosts.

To explore the molecular mechanism of dwarf fish formation in the cultured population of Cyprinus carpio rubrofuscus and the functions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in fish growth, the features of growth trait, feed intake, and feed utilization of dwarf fish were detected and analyzed. Vegf121 cDNA was amplified and sequenced in this study. The expression levels of vegf121 were analyzed by quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) in 11 tissues of normal fish, and in the heart, pituitary, brain, muscle, and hypothalamus of dwarf fish. The results showed that under the culture condition in ponds, the body length distribution of the typical five-month-old C. carpio rubrofuscus population with dwarf individuals showed two obvious independent normal distribution curves. Furthermore, the dwarf individuals formed a small population that distinguished it from the normal and fast-growing fish in terms of body size. The results of the feeding experiment showed that the daily feed intake (DFI) and the weight gain rate (WGR) of fish in the dwarf group were significantly lower than those in the normal group, whereas the feed conversion rate (FCR) showed no significant difference between the two groups. Meanwhile, vegf121 was found to be differentially expressed in C. carpio rubrofuscus. The partial cDNA sequence of vegf121 gene was 1, 235 bp with an open reading frame of 432 bp encoding 144 amino acids. According to the predicted amino acid sequence, the protein belongs to the VEGF121 isoform and has a relatively high sequence identity to the VEGF121 proteins of 11 known fish with the lowest identity of 79.86% aligned to Denticeps clupeoides. However, the identities to VEGF121 isoforms to those of Homo sapiens and Mus musculus were lower, at only 51.02% and 52.74%, respectively. The low homology and different spatial and temporal distribution of VEGF121 isoforms between animals and fishes may be related to breathing regulators and the differences in vascularization patterns in the respiratory system. The qRT-PCR results of the expression levels of vegf121 mRNA detected in the tissues of the normal growth fish showed that the relative expression levels were the highest in the muscle, followed by those in the heart, gill, brain, stomach, pituitary, eye, liver, kidney and spleen, and the lowest in the hypothalamus. This suggested that vegf121 has different regulatory functions in the development of blood vessels in different tissues of C. carpio rubrofuscus. Comparing the expression of vegf121 in the five tissues between the dwarf and normal-growth fish group revealed that the expression levels of vegf121 mRNA in the hypothalamus of the dwarf fish group were significantly higher than those of the normal fish group. The hypothalamus, as a high-level nerve center regulating endocrine and metabolic activities in humans and fish, may undergo some pathological changes under the action of certain environmental or genetic factors. The higher expression of vegf121 in the hypothalamus may have disrupted hormone secretion in C. carpio rubrofuscus and subsequently destroyed the metabolic balance in the body, resulting in a decrease in the appetite and feeding ability of fish. However, there was no significant change in the expression of vegf121 mRNA in two other neural tissues, the brain and pituitary, between the two groups. While the expression levels of vegf121 in the both muscle and heart were slightly lower than those in the normal-growth group. The abnormally higher expression of vegf121 in the hypothalamus indicated angiogenesis or lesions in the hypothalamus, which may have affected the feed intake regulation pathway signals in the fish body. This study provides a scientific basis to further explore the mechanism leading to dwarfism in C. carpio rubrofuscus. Genetic studies on the reasons leading to dwarf individuals in cultured economic fish populations can help increase the yield and productivity in aquaculture.

Oxyeleotris lineolata is a valuable economic fish cultured in Australia and countries of Southern Asia. It exhibits sex-related growth dimorphism; the males grow faster and have larger body size than females. Therefore, the efficient development of sex control breeding will be helpful to increase the yield and output value. However, the molecular mechanism regarding sex determination and gonadal differentiation of O. lineolata is poorly understood. Doublesex and mab-3 related transcription (DMRT) factors are known for their contributions in sex determination and differentiation. In this study, the Oxldmrt1 and Oxldmrt3 cDNA sequence was obtained from gonad transcriptome of O. lineolata, identified using PCR. The open reading frame (ORF) of Oxldmrt1 and Oxldmrt3 were 903 bp and 1 363 bp, encoding 300 and 453 amino acids, respectively. OxlDMRT1 belongs to basic proteins, whereas OxlDMRT3 belongs to acidic proteins. The two genes contain a highly conserved DM domain, and OxlDMRT3 also has a DMA domain. Phylogenetic analysis showed that OxlDMRT1 belonged to the DMRT1 family and OxlDMRT3 belonged to the DMRT3 family. The different DMRT families in vertebrates were clustered independently, with the DMRT1 family clustering first followed by the DMRT3 family. The expression levels of two genes in eight tissues of male and female fish were analyzed using RT-qPCR. The results showed that the expression levels of two dmrt genes were most highly expressed in the testis. The expression profiles of two dmrt genes at different developmental stages were analyzed using RT-qPCR. The results showed that the expression levels of two genes were highest in fertilized eggs, the expression level of Oxldmrt1 was the lowest in the optic capsule stage, and Oxldmrt3 was the lowest in the seven days post hatching. The expression and localize of the two genes in the testis were analyzed using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The results showed that the expression location of the two genes in the testis were identical, and both had strong expression signals in the spermatogonia. In conclusion, Oxldmrt1 and Oxldmrt3 are important in the early embryonic stage and testis development. Oxldmrt1 may also participate in regulating sex determination and differentiation in the late embryonic stage. Oxldmrt3 may also be involved in nervous system development. This study lays a foundation for the molecular mechanism of sex determination and sex differentiation in O. lineolata.

Abstract Uncontrollable zinc (Zn) plating and hydrogen evolution greatly undermine Zn anode reversibility. Previous electrolyte designs focus on suppressing H2O reactivity, however, the accumulation of alkaline byproducts during battery calendar aging and cycling still deteriorates the battery performance. Here, we present a direct strategy to tackle such problems using a strong Brønsted acid, bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (HTFSI), as the electrolyte additive. This approach reformulates battery interfacial chemistry on both electrodes, suppresses continuous corrosion reactions and promotes uniform Zn deposition. The enrichment of hydrophobic TFSI– anions at the Zn|electrolyte interface creates an H2O-deficient micro-environment, thus inhibiting Zn corrosion reactions and inducing a ZnS-rich interphase. This highly acidic electrolyte demonstrates high Zn plating/stripping Coulombic efficiency up to 99.7% at 1 mA cm–2 ( > 99.8% under higher current density and areal capacity). Additionally, Zn | |ZnV6O9 full cells exhibit a high capacity retention of 76.8% after 2000 cycles.

Abstract Constraining the electrochemical reactivity of free solvent molecules is pivotal for developing high-voltage lithium metal batteries, especially for ether solvents with high Li metal compatibility but low oxidation stability ( 4.4 V) and extensive exothermic reactions between Li metal and reactive anions. Herein, we propose a molecular anchoring approach to restrict the interfacial reactivity of free ether solvents in diluted electrolytes. The hydrogen-bonding interactions from the anchoring solvent effectively suppress excessive ether side reactions and enhances the stability of nickel rich cathodes at 4.7 V, despite the extremely low Li+/ether molar ratio (1:9) and the absence of typical anion-derived interphase. Furthermore, the exothermic processes under thermal abuse conditions are mitigated due to the reduced reactivity of anions, which effectively postpones the battery thermal runaway.

With the gradually upgrade of formulated feeds, the largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides has been domesticated to adapt to formulated diets to reduce the use of bait fish and cut cost. However, whether the formulated diets influence the nutritional content and muscle quality of largemouth bass and related mechanisms remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the effects of forage fish and formulated diets on growth performance, proximate compositions, muscle histology and fiber character. Largemouth bass with initial weights of 39.37 ± 1.37g and 39.45 ± 1.40g were fed with formulated diets and forage fish for 8 months, respectively. The results showed that formulated diets group (FDG) exhibited higher levels of protein content and free amino acids compared with forage fish group (FFG). Interestingly, the diameter of muscle fiber was larger in FDG than in FFG through microsection observation. A comparative analysis of transcriptome was constructed for muscle tissues of FDG and FFG, respectively. Compared with FFG, 2186 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in FDG, including 1915 upregulated genes and 271 downregulated genes. Gene ontology (GO) analyses revealed that DEGs were significantly enriched in GO terms regarding mitochondrial metabolism, muscle growth and development. KEGG enrichment indicated that DEGs were involved in the amino acid metabolism. Our results indicated that replacing forage fish with formulated diets affected the muscle quality and fiber character of largemouth bass, which could provide a basis for the regulation of nutrition and accurate selection for meat traits in largemouth bass.

In the era of continuous development in Internet of Things (IoT) technology, smart services are penetrating various facets of societal life, leading to a growing demand for interconnected devices. Many contemporary devices are no longer mere data producers but also consumers of data. As a result, massive amounts of data are transmitted to the cloud, but the latency generated in edge-to-cloud communication is unacceptable for many tasks. In response to this, this paper introduces a novel contribution—a layered computing network built on the principles of fog computing, accompanied by a newly devised algorithm designed to optimize user tasks and allocate computing resources within rechargeable networks. The proposed algorithm, a synergy of Lyapunov-based, dynamic Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), allows for predictive task allocation. The fog servers dynamically train LSTM networks to effectively forecast the data features of user tasks, facilitating proper unload decisions based on task priorities. In response to the challenge of slower hardware upgrades in edge devices compared to user demands, the algorithm optimizes the utilization of low-power devices and addresses performance limitations. Additionally, this paper considers the unique characteristics of rechargeable networks, where computing nodes acquire energy through charging. Utilizing Lyapunov functions for dynamic resource control enables nodes with abundant resources to maximize their potential, significantly reducing energy consumption and enhancing overall performance. The simulation results demonstrate that our algorithm surpasses traditional methods in terms of energy efficiency and resource allocation optimization. Despite the limitations of prediction accuracy in Fog Servers (FS), the proposed results significantly promote overall performance. The proposed approach improves the efficiency and the user experience of Internet of Things systems in terms of latency and energy consumption.

Abstract Microplastics are ubiquitous in the freshwater environment, while its abundance in the sediment profiles has received little attention. The vertical microplastic distribution in the sediment of the North (NTH) and Southwest (SWTH) of Lake Taihu was identified and characterized in this study. Microplastics could be detected at all depths (0–50 cm) at the two sites, with the total abundance of 8100 and 5300 particles kg−1 dry weight sediment at NTH and SWTH, respectively. This indicates that the microplastic storage in the sediment of the Lake Taihu may be underestimated, if only the surface sediment is considered. Microplastics composed of various polymer types were identified in the sediment of the two sites, including polyamide (PA), acrylic acid, polyethylene terephthalate and cellulose acetate, while high density polyethylene and polypropylene were only detected at NTH. The main type of polymers detected at NTH (42%) and SWTH (43%) were PA. The major shape of microplastics was fibers, with a ratio of 76% and 78%, respectively at the site NTH and SWTH. The colors of microplastics were mainly white (accounted for 42 and 43% at NTH and SWTH, respectively), which may be caused by the long-term decomposition of dyestuff in the syngenesis of sediment and/or probably the degradation during sample treatments. The textile industry and fishery activities may provide the source. In summary, our findings in the Lake Taihu provide better understanding of the microplastic pollution and tackle microplastics challenges.

Objective: To explore the effects of the extract of Sanchen powder (ESCP) combined with vancomycin on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) planktonic cells, biofilms, and virulence factors. Methods: The herbs in Sanchen powder (SCP) were extracted separately with 50% ethanol. Then, the content of hydroxysafflower yellow A (HSYA) and cholic acid in the extract of artificial cattle bezoar (artificial Calculus bovis) and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) was measured by ultraviolet visible-vis spectrophotometry and high-performance liquid chromatography. The effects of ESCP combined with vancomycin on MRSA by observing its biofilm viability were assessed using a 2,3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium5-carboxanilide reduction assay and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, enzyme activity was measured by plasma coagulase test and DNase test. Results: The cholic acid content of the artificial C. bovis extract was 7.34 (0.81) mg/g, and the HSYA content of the C. tinctorius extract was 9.18 (0.09) mg/g. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of ESCP and vancomycin were 25.6 mg/mL and 2 μg/mL. The minimum bactericidal concentration of ESCP was 51.2 mg/mL. ESCP combined with vancomycin could inhibit the expression of coagulase and bacteria in mature biofilms. Neither ESCP nor vancomycin had a significant effect on DNase. Conclusion: This study is the first to show that ESCP combined with vancomycin inhibits coagulase and MRSA embedded in mature biofilms and that it represents a promising treatment for MRSA infection.

Saline-alkalinity is one of the important ecological parameter that has an impact function on the physiological metabolism, osmoregulation, survival, growth, development and distribution of teleost fish. Oreochromis mossambicus, a species of euryhaline that can withstand a wide variety of salinities, may be used as a research model animal in environmental studies. In order to detect the metabolism responses and mechanisms of different osmotic stresses tolerance in the gills of O. mossambicus, in present study, the metabolic responses of O. mossambicus subjected to salinity (25 g/L, S_S), alkalinity (4 g/L, A_S) and saline-alkalinity stress (salinity: 25 g/L, alkalinity: 4 g/L; SA_S) with the control environment (freshwater, C_S) were investigated by LC-MS/MS-based metabolomics. The metabolism results indicated that numerous metabolites were identified between the stress groups and the control group. In addition, under three osmotic stresses, the amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism, levels of amino acids, osmolytes and energy substances, such as L-lysine, arachidonic acid, docosahexaenoic acids, creatine and taurine, were significantly affected and changed in the metabolism of the gills of O. mossambicus. The metabolism data indicated that signal transduction and regulation pathways, including FoxO signaling pathway, mTOR signaling pathway and prolactin signaling pathway, were enriched in the gill during adaptation to high salinity, alkalinity and saline-alkalinity stress. The results of this study provide more comprehensive and reliable data for the osmotic pressure regulation mechanism and biological response of euryhaline teleost, and provide reliable scientific basis for the breeding and research of high salinity tolerance population, and further promote the development and utilization of saline-alkalinity water resources.

BackgroundProtein glycosylation has been confirmed to be involved in the pathological mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD); however, there is still a lack of systematic analysis of the immune processes mediated by protein glycosylation-related genes (PGRGs) in AD.Materials and methodsTranscriptomic data of AD patients were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database and divided into training and verification datasets. The core PGRGs of the training set were identified by weighted gene co-expression network analysis, and protein glycosylation-related subtypes in AD were identified based on k-means unsupervised clustering. Protein glycosylation scores and neuroinflammatory levels of different subtypes were compared, and functional enrichment analysis and drug prediction were performed based on the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the subtypes. A random forest model was used to select important DEGs as diagnostic markers between subtypes, and a line chart model was constructed and verified in other datasets. We evaluated the differences in immune cell infiltration between the subtypes through the single-sample gene set enrichment analysis, analyzed the correlation between core diagnostic markers and immune cells, and explored the expression regulation network of the core diagnostic markers.ResultsEight core PGRGs were differentially expressed between the training set and control samples. AD was divided into two subtypes with significantly different biological processes, such as vesicle-mediated transport in synapses and neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions. The high protein glycosylation subtype had a higher level of neuroinflammation. Riluzole and sulfasalazine were found to have potential clinical value in this subtype. A reliable construction line chart model was constructed based on nine diagnostic markers, and SERPINA3 was identified as the core diagnostic marker. There were significant differences in immune cell infiltration between the two subtypes. SERPINA3 was found to be closely related to immune cells, and the expression of SERPINA3 in AD was found to be regulated by a competing endogenous RNA network that involves eight long non-coding RNAs and seven microRNAs.ConclusionProtein glycosylation and its corresponding immune process play an important role in the occurrence and development of AD. Understanding the role of PGRGs in AD may provide a new potential therapeutic target for AD.

For multimodal multi-objective optimization problems (MMOPs), there are multiple equivalent Pareto optimal solutions in the decision space that are corresponding to the same objective value. Therefore, the main tasks of multimodal multi-objective optimization (MMO) are to find a high-quality PF approximation in the objective space and maintain the population diversity in the decision space. To achieve the above objectives, this article proposes a zoning search-based multimodal multi-objective brain storm optimization algorithm (ZS-MMBSO). At first, the search space segmentation method is employed to divide the search space into some sub-regions. Moreover, a novel individual generation strategy is incorporated into the multimodal multi-objective brain storm optimization algorithm, which can improve the search performance of the search engineering. The proposed algorithm is compared with five famous multimodal multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MMOEAs) on IEEE CEC2019 MMOPs benchmark test suite. Experimental results indicate that the overall performance of the ZS-MMBSO is the best among all competitors.

Paddy field carp (PF-carp) is an economically important fish cocultured with rice in traditional agricultural systems. Several distinctive strains of PF-carp have been formed through years of artificial and cross breeding. There is a concern about the status of germplasm resources among PF-carp, since little is known about the genetic sources, diversity, or differentiation. In this study we collected 17 PF-carp populations covering Daotian carp (DTL), Ru Yuan No. 1 (RY), Jinbian carp (JBL), Shaijiang carp (SJL), and Wu carp (WL) along the Pearl River basin to explore their genetic sources and diversity using concatenated sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and the D-Loop region. According to the haplotype network analyses, 1, 9, and 57 haplotypes originated from Cyprinus carpio carpio, Cyprinus carpio haematopterus and Cyprinus carpio rubrofuscus, respectively, confirming that genetic introgression has occurred in Pearl River PF-carp populations and Cyprinus carpio carpio was the most common species for genetic origin. The results showed that RY exhibited the lowest level of nucleotide diversity (π = 0.0011) due to high-intensity breeding and was significantly differentiated from the other four strains. PF-carp strains in these remote traditional systems tended to experience artificial selection and a lack of farmer connection that gradually increased genetic differentiation among strains. Notably, three populations of JBL exhibited significant high-level differentiation, since they originated from mountainous areas hindering farmers from fry exchange. In contrast, no significant differentiation was uncovered in the WL populations, since this strain is the most popular cultured strain and has undergone artificial exchange of parents and fry in many cultured regions. This study helps us to understand the status of germplasm resources among PF-carp and to trace their genetic origin before being introduced for local cultivation.

The Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) is a commercially important species in East Asia, the abundance of which has rapidly decreased in recent decades. The fishery resource in the Pearl River basin has mainly deteriorated due to overexploitation and habitat degradation. Knowledge on its genetic status is indispensable for resource management. In this study, we explored the temporal genetic structure of A. japonica on the basis of the concatenated sequences of two mitochondrial fragments (mtDNA) and eight microsatellite markers. A total of nine temporal samples (N = 127) were collected during 2019 and 2021 from Jiangmen City, China, which is located in the Pearl River estuary. mtDNA sequence analysis showed a high level of haplotype diversity, and yielded 124 haplotypes with ranging from 9 to 19 in temporal samples. All microsatellite loci were polymorphic among each of the nine temporal samples, with 150 alleles identified across all samples. Pairwise FST values were low and nonsignificant according to both mtDNA and microsatellite markers. STRUCTURE analysis showed that all temporal samples were not clearly differentiated from each other. The yielded outcomes supported a panmictic pattern in different temporal A. japonica samples. Therefore, our results call for the management of A. japonica as a single unit and joint conservation strategy of the species, since overexploitation in any region will decrease its global resource.

Researchers have increasingly suggested that microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression and protein translation in organs and respond to abiotic and biotic stressors. To understand the function of miRNAs in osmotic stress regulation of the gills of hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus ♀ × Oreochromis urolepis hornorum ♂), high-throughput Illumina deep sequencing technology was used to investigate the expression profiles of miRNAs under salinity stress (S, 25‰), alkalinity stress (A, 4‰) and salinity–alkalinity stress (SA, S: 15‰, A: 4‰) challenges. The results showed that 31, 41, and 27 upregulated and 33, 42, and 40 downregulated miRNAs (P < 0.05) were identified in the salt stress, alkali stress, and saline–alkali stress group, respectively, which were compared with those in the control group (C). Fourteen significantly differently expressed miRNAs were selected randomly and then validated by a quantitative polymerase chain reaction. On the basis of Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis, genes related to osmoregulation and biosynthesis were enriched in the three types of osmotic stress. In addition, three miRNAs and three predicted target genes were chosen to conduct a quantitative polymerase chain reaction in the hybrid tilapia and its parents during 96-h osmotic stress. Differential expression patterns of miRNAs provided the basis for research data to further investigate the miRNA-modulating networks in osmoregulation of teleost.

Based on model-free adaptive control (MFAC) theory, this paper presents a variable output constraint MFAC (VOC-MFAC) algorithm to enhance the robustness of an unmanned surface vehicle's (USV's) heading subsystem. The contributions of this paper are as follows. First, a controller output constraint function is proposed to solve the system's control performance sensitivity to the redefined output gain when the redefined compact format model free adaptive control (RO-CFDL-MFAC) method is used to control an unmanned surface vehicle's heading. Second, the compact format dynamic linearization data models for a USV's angular velocity subsystem and heading subsystem are established, and the convergence of the closed-loop system under environmental disturbances is proven through rigorous theoretical analysis. Finally, the control algorithm proposed in this paper is simulated and tested in the field using the “Dolphin IB” unmanned surface vehicle platform developed by our research group, and the effectiveness of the VOC-MFAC algorithm is verified by the experimental results.

This paper presents an adaptive null-space-based behavioral (NSB) method to deal with the problems of saturation planning and lack of adaptability when the traditional NSB method is applied to the formation control of multiple unmanned surface vehicles (MUSVs). First, the NSB method is analyzed, and the matrix theory is introduced to propose a behavior priority theory determination method based on a vector graph. Second, consider the maneuverability of the unmanned surface vehicle (USV), variable coefficients with physical significances are introduced to redefine the behavioral motion model, making the speed limit solved in each working condition within the maneuvering range of the USV and effectively improving the formation ability of MUSVs. Third, a logical priority collision avoidance strategy between the MUSVs is proposed, aiming at the problem that when the USVs judge each other as obstacles, both of them adopt the obstacle avoidance behavior resulting in two vehicles' courses deviating from the direction of the target point. Finally, a simulation platform for the formation control of MUSVs was established by taking the Dolphin-I prototype USV as the experimental object, and the feasibility of the proposed method was verified by a simulation test.

The largemouth bass is an important species, and its culture has risen sharply with the surge in fish aquaculture in China. Due to the lack of selective breeding technology for the largemouth bass, the growth rate and disease resistance are low, its sexual maturation is slow, and other serious problems are contributing to a sharp decline in the safety and quality of largemouth bass products in recent decades. Therefore, comprehensive breeding programs to improve the economic performance and promote the modern industrial development of largemouth bass must be considered a priority. Here, a total of 152 adult largemouth bass, including two parents and 150 progenies, were selected to produce the genetic mapping family. Then, a high-density linkage map was constructed based on restriction site–associated DNA sequencing using 6,917 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in 24 linkage groups (LGs). The total genetic length of the linkage map was 1,261.96 cM, and the length of each LG varied from 24.72 cM for LG02 to 117.53 cM for LG16, with an average length of 52.58 cM and an average SNP number of 286. Thirteen significant quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for sex determination were located on LG04, LG05, LG08, LG12, LG15, LG21, and LG23. An informative QTL cluster that included six QTLs was detected on LG12. However, one notable QTL, which accounted for 71.48% of the total phenotypic variation, was located in the region of 1.85 cM on LG05. In addition, 32 identified QTLs were related to growth, including body weight, body length, body height, and head length. The QTLs for these growth-related traits are located in 13 LG regions and have little effect on phenotypic variation. This high-density genetic linkage map will enable the fine-mapping of economic traits and support the future genome assembly of the largemouth bass. Additionally, our study will be useful for future selective culture of largemouth bass and could potentially be used in molecular-assisted breeding of largemouth bass for aquaculture.

The giant freshwater prawn (GFP) is one of the most critical crustacean species cultured in Southeast Asia. Investigation of the genetic structure of current commercial stocks allows GFP breeding programs to better manage crosses and germplasm banks as well as to promote the rational use of GFP. The objective of the study was to characterize genetic diversity in diverse prawn populations with emphasis on those cultured in China. Seventeen microsatellite loci, including 12 novel loci derived from GFP transcriptome data, were screened to assess genetic diversity in one wild (Myanmar) and six cultured populations (i.e., four Chinese (Zhejiang, Guangxi, and Guangdong A and B), one Malaysian, and one Thai population). The results showed that the number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 18. The mean observed heterozygosity (0.363 ± 0.048) was less than the expected heterozygosity (0.637 ± 0.048). The mean values of polymorphism information content among the seven populations were >0.5 (ranging from 0.110 to 0.915). These cultured populations exhibited reduced genetic diversity when compared with that of the wild population. Pair-wise genetic differentiation ranged from 0.006 to 0.131 within the seven populations. The dendrogram of the genetic distance shows that the six cultured populations were distributed on the same major branch, suggesting that they have are genetically close, whereas the wild population was distributed on an independent branch. The results provide a basic assessment of genetic diversity in some available stocks and lay a foundation for future research efforts toward genetic monitoring and selective breeding.

Borophene, a new two-dimensional material, was recently synthesized. The unique anisotropic structure and excellent properties of borophene have attracted considerable research interest. This paper presents a first-principles study of the adsorption of gas molecules (CO, CO2, NH3, NO, NO2 and CH4) on borophene. The adsorption configurations, adsorption energies and electronic properties of the gas molecules absorpted on borophene are determined, and the mechanisms of the interactions between the gas molecules and borophene are evaluated. We find that CO, CO2, NH3, NO and NO2 are chemisorbed on borophene, while CH4 is physisorbed on borophene. Furthermore, our calculation also indicate that CO and CO2 are chemisorbed on borophene with moderate adsorption energy and NO, NO2 and NH3 are chemisorbed on borophene via strong covalent bonds. Moreover, CO is found as an electron donor, while CO2 an electron acceptor. The chemisorption of CO and CO2 on borophene increases the electrical conductivity, so It seems that borophene has the potential to be used in high-sensitivity CO and CO2 gas sensors.

When utilizing the traditional path planning method for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), ‘planning-failure’ is a common phenomenon caused by the inflection points of large curvatures in the planned path, which exceed the performances of USVs. This paper presents a second path planning method (SPP), which is an initial planning path optimization method based on the geometric relationship of the three-point path. First, to describe the motion performance of a USV in conjunction with the limited test data, a method of integral nonlinear least squares identification is proposed to rapidly obtain the motion constraint of the USV merely by employing a zig zag test. It is different from maneuverability identification, which is performed in combination with various tests. Second, the curvature of the planned path is limited according to the motion performance of the USV based on the traditional path planning, and SPP is proposed to make the maximum curvature radius of the optimized path smaller than the rotation curvature radius of the USV. Finally, based on the ‘Dolphin 1’ prototype USV, comparative simulation experiments were carried out. In the experiment, the path directly obtained by the initial path planning and the path optimized by the SPP method were considered as the tracking target path. The artificial potential field method was used as an example for the initial path planning. The experimental results demonstrate that the tracking accuracy of the USV significantly improved after the path optimization using the SPP method.

Physalis angulata L. is a medicinal plant of the Solanaceae family, which is used to produce a variety of steroids. The present study reports on the cytotoxic withanolides of this plant. The species of Physalis angulata L. was identified by DNA barcoding techniques. Two new withanolides (1–2), together with six known analogues (3–8), were isolated from the whole plant of Physalis angulata L. The structures of these new compounds were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic data analyses and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. The withanolides exhibited strong cytotoxic activities against A549, Hela and p388 cell lines. Furthermore, compounds 1 and 2 induced typical apoptotic cell death in A549 cell line according to the evaluation of the apoptosis-inducing activity by flow cytometric analysis.

Serine/threonine kinases are involved in gene regulation and signal transduction in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Here, we investigated the role of the serine/threonine kinase Stk in the opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus epidermidis.We constructed an isogenic stk mutant of a biofilm-forming clinical S. epidermidis isolate. Presence of stk was important for biofilm formation in vitro and virulence in a murine subcutaneous foreign body infection model. Furthermore, the stk mutant exhibited phenotypes indicating an impact of stk on metabolic pathways. Using different constructs for the genetic complementation of the stk mutant strain with full-length Stk or specific Stk domains, we determined that the Stk intracellular kinase domain is important for biofilm formation and regulation of purine metabolism. Site-specific inactivation of the Stk kinase domain led to defective biofilm formation, in further support of the notion that the kinase activity of Stk regulates biofilm formation of S. epidermidis. According to immunological detection of the biofilm exopolysaccharide PIA and real-time PCR of the PIA biosynthesis genes, the impact of stk on biofilm formation is mediated, at least in part, by a strong influence on PIA expression.Our study identifies Stk as an important regulator of biofilm formation and virulence of S. epidermidis, with additional involvement in purine metabolism and the bacterial stress response.

Objective: To explore the effect of Atorvastatin combined with Irbesartan in the treatment of early diabetic nephropathy (DN). Methods: Clinical data from 153 patients with early DN, admitted to Huzhou Central Hospital from January 2020 to December 2022, was retrospectively selected. Patients were divided into two groups based on the treatment they received: patients received Irbesartan treatment alone were assigned to Irbesartan group (n=74); patients received Irbesartan combined with Atorvastatin were assigned to combined group (n=79). Levels of renal function indicators, renal fibrosis indicators, micro inflammatory status indicators, and incidence of adverse reactions were compared between the two groups before and after the treatment. Results: After the treatment, indicators of renal function, renal fibrosis and micro-inflammation in both groups significantly decreased compared to pretreatment levels (P<0.05), and were significantly lower in the combined group compared to Irbesartan group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the groups (P>0.05). Conclusions: Compared with Irbesartan alone, Atorvastatin combined with Irbesartan is more effective in the treatment of early DN. Combined treatment regimen is able to effectively reduces the micro-inflammatory state, improve renal function and fibrosis, and is not associated with the increased risk of adverse reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Brain networks provided powerful tools for the analysis and diagnosis of epilepsy. This paper performed a pairwise comparative analysis on the brain networks of Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (BECTS): spike group (spike), non‐spike group (non‐spike), and control group (control). In this study, fragments with and without interictal spikes in electroencephalograms of 13 BECTS children during non‐rapid eye movement sleep stage I (NREMI) were selected to construct dynamic brain function networks to explore the functional connectivity (FC). Graph theory and statistical analysis were exploited to investigate changes in FC across different brain regions in different frequency bands. From this study, we can draw the following conclusions: (1) Both spike and non‐spike have lower energy in each brain region on the γ band. (2) With the increase of the frequency band, the FC strength of spike, non‐spike and control groups are all weakened. (3) Spikes are correlated with brain network efficiency and the small‐world property. (4) Spikes increase the FC of temporal, parietal and occipital regions except in the γ band and the absence of spikes weakens the FC of the entire brain region.