The importance of sheep's wool in making textiles has inspired extensive research into its structure and the underlying genetics since the 1960s. Wool keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) are a key ...structural component of the wool fibre. The characterisation of the genes encoding these proteins has progressed rapidly with advances in the nucleotide and protein sequencing. This review describes our knowledge of ovine KAPs, their categorisation into families, polymorphism in the proteins and genes, the clustering and chromosomal location of the genes, some characteristics of gene expression and some potential effects of the KAPs on wool traits. The extent and nature of genetic variation in wool KAP genes and its association with fibre characteristics, provides an opportunity for the development of gene-markers for selective breeding of sheep to produce better wool with properties highly matched to specific end-uses.
Abstract
In this study, we report on a detailed single-pulse analysis of the radio emission from a rotating radio transient (RRAT) J1918−0449, which is discovered with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture ...Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). The sensitive observations were carried out on 2021 April 30 using the FAST with a central frequency of 1250 MHz and a short time resolution of 49.152
μ
s, which forms a reliable basis to probe single-pulse emission properties in detail. The source was successively observed for around 2 hr. A total of 83 dispersed bursts with significance above 6
σ
are detected over 1.8 hr. The source’s dispersion measure (DM) and rotational period are determined to be 116.1 ± 0.4 pc cm
−3
and 2479.21 ± 0.03 ms, respectively. The share of registered pulses from the total number of observed periods is 3.12%. No underlying emission is detected in the averaged off-pulse profile. For bursts with fluence larger than 10 Jy ms, the pulse energy follows a power-law distribution with an index of −3.1 ± 0.4, suggesting the existence of bright pulse emission. We find that the distribution of time between subsequent pulses is consistent with a stationary Poisson process and find no evidence of clustering over the 1.8 hr observations, giving a mean burst rate of one burst every 66 s. Close inspection of the detected bright pulses reveals that 21 pulses exhibit well-defined quasiperiodicities. The subpulse drifting is present in nonsuccessive rotations with periodicity of 2.51 ± 0.06 periods. Finally, possible physical mechanisms are discussed.
MicroRNA (miRNA) are a class of small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA that regulate mRNA expression at the post-transcriptional level and play important roles in many fundamental biological ...processes. There is emerging evidence that miRNA are critical regulators of widespread cellular functions, such as differentiation, proliferation, and migration. At present, little is known about miRNA expression profiles related to skeletal muscle growth in aquatic organisms. This study aimed to investigate the phenotypic variation in the body growth of the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and to identify and quantify the differential expression levels of selected growth-related transcriptomic miRNA in the skeletal muscle of this fish. To this end, we performed next-generation sequencing to define the full miRNA transcriptome in muscle tissue from Nile tilapia and to detect differentially expressed miRNA between 2 strains of Nile tilapia. These tilapia strains exhibited significant (P < 0.05) phenotypic variation with respect to growth-related traits (body length and BW), mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotype diversity, and the differential expression of selected growth-related genes. The results obtained from the transcriptome analysis and real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) revealed significant differences in miRNA expression between fast-growing and control strains of tilapia. Digital gene expression (DGE) profiling was performed based on the obtained read abundance, and we identified down-regulated miRNA, including let-7j, miR-140, miR-192, miR-204, miR-218a, miR-218b, miR-301c, and miR-460, and up-regulated miRNA, including let-7b, let-7c, miR-133, miR-152, miR-15a, miR-193a, miR-30b, and miR-34, associated with body growth in tilapia. These results were further validated using real-time qRT-PCR and microarray profiling. In summary, the up- and down-regulation of miRNA involved in the GH/IGF-1 axis signaling pathway suggests that the differential expression levels of growth-related miRNA may serve as molecular markers that are predictive of specific functional and diagnostic implications. The obtained data on genetic polymorphisms in miRNA-target interactions are particularly useful for Nile tilapia breeding programs.
Objective: To monitor the evolving epidemic of mortality from tobacco in China following the large increase in male cigarette use in recent decades. Design: Prospective study of smoking and mortality ...starting with 224 500 interviewees who should eventually be followed for some decades. Setting: 45 nationally representative small urban or rural areas distributed across China. Subjects: Male population aged 40 or over in 1991, of whom about 80% were interviewed about smoking, drinking, and medical history. Main outcome measure: Cause specific mortality, initially to 1995 but later to continue, with smoker versus non-smoker risk ratios standardised for area, age, and use of alcohol. Results: 74% were smokers (73% current, only 1% former), but few of this generation would have smoked substantial numbers of cigarettes since early adult life. Overall mortality is increased among smokers (risk ratio 1.19; 95% confidence interval 1.13 to 1.25, P<0.0001). Almost all the increased mortality involved neoplastic, respiratory, or vascular disease. The overall risk ratios currently associated with smoking are less extreme in rural areas (1.26, 1.12, or 1.02 respectively for smokers who started before age 20, at 20-24, or at older ages) than in urban areas (1.73, 1.40, or 1.16 respectively). Conclusion: This prospective study and the accompanying retrospective study show that by 1990 smoking was already causing about 12% of Chinese male mortality in middle age. This proportion is predicted to rise to about 33% by 2030. Long term continuation of the prospective study (with periodic resurveys) can monitor the evolution of this epidemic.
Correct transcription is crucial for life. However, DNA damage severely impedes elongating RNA polymerase II, causing transcription inhibition and transcription-replication conflicts. Cells are ...equipped with intricate mechanisms to counteract the severe consequence of these transcription-blocking lesions. However, the exact mechanism and factors involved remain largely unknown. Here, using a genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screen, we identified the elongation factor ELOF1 as an important factor in the transcription stress response following DNA damage. We show that ELOF1 has an evolutionarily conserved role in transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER), where it promotes recruitment of the TC-NER factors UVSSA and TFIIH to efficiently repair transcription-blocking lesions and resume transcription. Additionally, ELOF1 modulates transcription to protect cells against transcription-mediated replication stress, thereby preserving genome stability. Thus, ELOF1 protects the transcription machinery from DNA damage via two distinct mechanisms.
Anesthesia with opioids negatively affects patients' quality of recovery. Opioid-free anesthesia attempts to avoid these effects. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of opioid-free anesthesia on ...the quality of recovery, using lidocaine on patients undergoing hysteroscopy.
A parallel-group, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial was conducted in Yichang Central Peoples' Hospital, Hubei Province, China, from January to April, 2022. We included 90 female patients (age: 18-65 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status Class I-II) scheduled for elective hysteroscopy, 45 of whom received lidocaine (Group L), and 45 received sufentanil (Group S). Patients were randomly allocated to receive either lidocaine or sufentanil perioperatively. The primary outcome was the quality of postoperative recovery, which was assessed using the QoR-40 questionnaire (a patient-reported outcome questionnaire measuring the quality of recovery after surgery).
The two groups were similar in age, American Society of Anesthesiology physical status, height, weight, body mass index, and surgical duration. The QoR scores were significantly higher in Group L than Group S. The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting, as well as the time to extubation were significantly lower in Group L than Group S.
Opioid-free anesthesia with lidocaine achieves a better quality of recovery, faster recovery, and a shorter time to extubation than general anesthesia with sufentanil.
The trial was registered on January 15, 2022 in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( http://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojen.aspx?proj=149386 ), registration number ChiCTR2200055623.(15/01/2022).
The Protein Network of HIV Budding von Schwedler, Uta K.; Stuchell, Melissa; Müller, Barbara ...
Cell,
09/2003, Volume:
114, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
HIV release requires TSG101, a cellular factor that sorts proteins into vesicles that bud into multivesicular bodies (MVB). To test whether other proteins involved in MVB biogenesis (the class E ...proteins) also participate in HIV release, we identified 22 candidate human class E proteins. These proteins were connected into a coherent network by 43 different protein-protein interactions, with AIP1 playing a key role in linking complexes that act early (TSG101/ESCRT-I) and late (CHMP4/ESCRT-III) in the pathway. AIP1 also binds the HIV-1 p6
Gag and EIAV p9
Gag proteins, indicating that it can function directly in virus budding. Human class E proteins were found in HIV-1 particles, and dominant-negative mutants of late-acting human class E proteins arrested HIV-1 budding through plasmal and endosomal membranes. These studies define a protein network required for human MVB biogenesis and indicate that the entire network participates in the release of HIV and probably many other viruses.
Using the first-principles method within the generalized gradient approximation, we have performed a systematic study on the structural and electronic properties of cubic HfO2 surfaces. We find that ...the most energetically favorable surfaces are (110) and (111) terminated with single oxygen layer, both of which are stoichiometric. The atomic relaxation in top layers of surface (111)-O and (110) exhibits very similar behavior, i.e. cations relax inward while anions outward. This could be well understood by the ionic feature of the Hf–O bond. Both of the two surfaces studied are insulating without any surface state in the energy gap.
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