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Two-dimensional heterostructures have attracted considerable attention in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution due to their pronounced interfacial effects, tunable electronic properties, and large specific surface areas. In this work, two representative oxygen-terminated transition metal carbides (MXenes) and three typical transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) were selected to construct six heterostructures. Using first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, their binding energies, structural stability, electronic structures, and HER catalytic performance were systematically investigated. The results showed that all heterostructures possessed good thermodynamic stability and favorable electronic properties. In particular, SnS /Ti CO , SnSe /Ti CO , SnTe /Ti CO , and SnTe /Zr CO exhibited near-optimal hydrogen adsorption Gibbs free energy, indicating excellent HER activity. Moreover, the variation in Gibbs free energy of hydrogen adsorption from isolated monolayers to heterostructures could be effectively correlated with the work function difference. The predicted trends provided a useful descriptor for catalytic performance. Overall, this study provides theoretical insights into the rational design of efficient, advanced HER catalysts and contributes to the advancement of sustainable energy conversion technologies. As this work is based solely on first-principles calculations, the predicted catalytic activity of the heterostructure should be regarded as a theoretical prediction and awaits experimental confirmation.

The contractile activity, high oxygen consumption and metabolic rate of skeletal muscle cause it to continuously produce moderate levels of oxidant species, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). Under normal physiological conditions, there is a dynamic balance between the production and elimination of ROS/RNS. However, when the oxidation products exceed the antioxidant defense capacity, the body enters a state of oxidative stress. Myogenesis is an important process to maintain muscle homeostasis and the physiological function of skeletal muscle. Accumulating evidence suggests that oxidative stress plays a key role in myogenesis and skeletal muscle physiology and pathology. In this review, we summarize the sources of reactive oxygen species in skeletal muscle and the causes of oxidative stress and analyze the key role of oxidative stress in myogenesis. Then, we discuss the relationship between oxidative stress and muscle homeostasis and physiopathology. This work systematically summarizes the role of oxidative stress in myogenesis and muscle diseases and provides targets for subsequent antioxidant therapy and repair of inflammatory damage in noninflammatory muscle diseases.

Chicken growth traits are economically important, but the relevant genetic mechanisms have not yet been elucidated. Herein, we performed a genome-wide association study to identify the variants associated with growth traits. In total, 860 chickens from a Gushi-Anka F2 resource population were phenotyped for 68 growth and carcass traits, and 768 samples were genotyped based on the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) method. Finally, 734 chickens and 321,314 SNPs remained after quality control and removal of the sex chromosomes, and these data were used to carry out a GWAS analysis. A total of 470 significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for 43 of the 68 traits were detected and mapped on chromosomes (Chr) 1–6, -9, -10, -16, -18, -23, and -27. Of these, the significant SNPs in Chr1, -4, and -27 were found to be associated with more than 10 traits. Multiple traits shared significant SNPs, indicating that the same mutation in the region might have a large effect on multiple growth or carcass traits. Haplotype analysis revealed that SNPs within the candidate region of Chr1 presented a mosaic pattern. The significant SNPs and pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the MLNR, MED4, CAB39L, LDB2, and IGF2BP1 genes could be putative candidate genes for growth and carcass traits. The findings of this study improve our understanding of the genetic mechanisms regulating chicken growth and carcass traits and provide a theoretical basis for chicken breeding programs.

Background Mammary gland development is a critical process in mammals, crucial for their reproductive success and offspring nourishment. However, the functional roles of key candidate genes associated with teat number, including ABCD4 , VRTN , PROX2 , and DLST , in this developmental process remain elusive. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted an in-depth investigation into the dynamic expression patterns, functional implications, and regulatory networks of these candidate genes during mouse mammary gland development. Results In this study, the spatial and temporal patterns of key genes were characterized in mammary gland development. Using time-series single-cell data, we uncovered differences in the expression of A bcd4 , Vrtn , Prox2 , and Dlst in cell population of the mammary gland during embryonic and adult stages, while Vrtn was not detected in any cells. We found that only overexpression and knockdown of Abcd4 could inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of HC11 mammary epithelial cells, whereas Prox2 and Dlst had no significant effect on these cells. Using RNA-seq and qPCR, further analysis revealed that Abcd4 can induce widespread changes in the expression levels of genes involved in mammary gland development, such as Igfbp3 , Ccl5 , Tlr2 , and Prlr , which were primarily associated with the MAPK, JAK-STAT, and PI3K-AKT pathways by functional enrichment. Conclusions These findings revealed ABCD4 as a candidate gene pivotal for regulating mammary gland development and lactation during pregnancy by influencing PRLR expression.

Background The Chinese native Diqing Tibetan pig has a long history of domestication and is distributed in the southernmost region of China compared to other Tibetan breeds. In this study, we performed whole-genome sequencing of the Diqing Tibetan pigs. By integrating previously published data, we explored the genetic structure, population diversity, and genetic introgression from commercial European pigs and Southern Chinese domestic pigs into Diqing Tibetan pigs. We further examined the potential genetic influences of European pig introgression and inferred the historical events of admixture with Southern Chinese breeds. Results Our analysis revealed various instances of population admixture between Diqing Tibetan pigs and European pigs, as well as redundant introgression from South Chinese pigs when compared to other Tibetan pig populations. The introgression from European pigs significantly increased the population diversity in Diqing Tibetan pigs, which may influence fertility. Additionally, the introgression from European pigs affected the proportion of introgression from Southern Chinese pigs, with the most pronounced effect near the PSCK2 gene, which is associated with body size. Regarding ancestral genetic components from Southern Chinese pigs, we discovered a significant level of redundant proportion in Diqing Tibetan pigs compared to other Tibetan breeds. This admixture may have occurred at multiple time points from different breeds, with the Diannan small ear breed in Yunnan Province of China potentially serving as a recent primary contributor to the introgression into Diqing Tibetan breed. Conclusion Our study reveals that the Diqing Tibetan breed has been shaped by admixture from European and multiple Southern Chinese sources, where European introgression increased diversity and reshaped Southern ancestry, while Southern introgression itself derives from distinct Southern Chinese pig breeds.

Abstract Univariate or bivariate animal models were used to estimate the variance components and co-variance components for eight reproductive traits: total number born (TNB), number born alive (NBA), total litter weight of piglets born alive (BALWT), number of healthy births (NHB), number of weak births (NWB), number of deformed fetuses (NDF), number of stillborn (NSB), and number of mummified pigs (MUMM). In addition, the phenotypic and genetic correlations between traits at different parities were also estimated. The results showed that the heritabilities of the eight reproductive traits were lower than 0.10. Genetic correlations between NHB and TNB, NBA, or BALWT were 0.68, 0.84 and 0.89 respectively; whereas genetic correlations between NHB and NWB, NDF, NSB or MUMM were negative or close to 0, ranging from −0.28 to 0.13. NHB was relatively identified as an ideal informative trait for selection for improved reproduction. Furthermore, genetic correlations between different parities for all traits, except for NDF were strongly positive, showing that it was reasonable to consider different parities as the same trait. For NDF, genetic correlations between the first and the other parities were low, indicating that it was probably unreasonable to cull pigs according to the NDF at first parity. Optimum reproductive traits were observed at the third parity, and reinforcing the management of sows in the first and > 4 parities can be a practical method for improving reproductive traits.

Abstract The gene numbers and evolutionary rates of birds were assumed to be much lower than those of mammals, which is in sharp contrast to the huge species number and morphological diversity of birds. It is, therefore, necessary to construct a complete avian genome and analyze its evolution. We constructed a chicken pan-genome from 20 de novo assembled genomes with high sequencing depth, and identified 1,335 protein-coding genes and 3,011 long noncoding RNAs not found in GRCg6a. The majority of these novel genes were detected across most individuals of the examined transcriptomes but were seldomly measured in each of the DNA sequencing data regardless of Illumina or PacBio technology. Furthermore, different from previous pan-genome models, most of these novel genes were overrepresented on chromosomal subtelomeric regions and microchromosomes, surrounded by extremely high proportions of tandem repeats, which strongly blocks DNA sequencing. These hidden genes were proved to be shared by all chicken genomes, included many housekeeping genes, and enriched in immune pathways. Comparative genomics revealed the novel genes had 3-fold elevated substitution rates than known ones, updating the knowledge about evolutionary rates in birds. Our study provides a framework for constructing a better chicken genome, which will contribute toward the understanding of avian evolution and the improvement of poultry breeding.

Parameter estimation accuracy and average sample number (ASN) reduction are important to improving target detection performance in sequential hypothesis tests. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar can balance between parameter estimation accuracy and ASN reduction through waveform diversity. In this study, we propose a waveform design method based on a two-stage information criterion to improve multi-target detection performance. In the first stage, the waveform is designed to estimate the target parameters based on the criterion of single-hypothesis mutual information (MI) maximization under the constraint of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In the second stage, the objective function is designed based on the criterion of MI minimization and Kullback–Leibler divergence (KLD) maximization between multi-hypothesis posterior probabilities, and the waveform is chosen from the waveform library of the first-stage parameter estimation. Furthermore, an adaptive waveform design algorithm framework for multi-target detection is proposed. The simulation results reveal that the waveform design based on the two-stage information criterion can rapidly detect the target direction. In addition, the waveform design based on the criterion of dual-hypothesis MI minimization can improve the parameter estimation performance, whereas the design based on the criterion of dual-hypothesis KLD maximization can improve the target detection performance.

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been extensively employed to elucidate the genetic architecture of body weight (BW) traits in chickens, which represent key economic indicators in broiler production. With the growing availability of genomic data from diverse commercial and resource chicken populations, a critical challenge lies in how to effectively integrate these datasets to enhance sample size and thereby improve the statistical power for detecting genetic variants associated with complex traits. Methods: In this study, we performed a multi-population GWAS meta-analysis on BW traits across three genetically distinct chicken populations, focusing on BW at 56, 70, and 84 days of age: P1 (N301 Yellow Plumage Dwarf Chicken Line; n = 426), P2 (F2 reciprocal cross: High Quality Line A × Huiyang Bearded chicken; n = 494), and P3 (F2 cross: Black-bone chicken × White Plymouth Rock; n = 223). Results: Compared to single-population GWAS, our meta-analysis identified 77 novel independent variants significantly associated with BW traits, while gene-based association analysis implicated 59 relevant candidate genes. Functional annotation of BW56- and BW84-associated SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) 1_170526144G>T and 1_170642110A>G, integrated with tissue-specific regulatory annotations, revealed significant enrichment of enhancer and promoter elements for KPNA3 and CAB39L in muscle, adipose, and intestinal tissues. Through this meta-analysis and integrative genomics approach, we identified novel candidate genes associated with body weight traits in chickens. Conclusions: These findings provide valuable mechanistic insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying body weight regulation in poultry and offer important references for selective breeding strategies aimed at improving production efficiency in the poultry industry.

Egg-laying performance is of great economic importance in poultry, but the underlying genetic mechanisms are still elusive. In this work, we conduct a multi-omics and multi-tissue integrative study in hens with distinct egg production, to detect the hub candidate genes and construct hub molecular networks contributing to egg-laying phenotypic differences. We identifiy three hub candidate genes as egg-laying facilitators: TFPI2 , which promotes the GnRH secretion in hypothalamic neuron cells; CAMK2D , which promotes the FSHβ and LHβ secretion in pituitary cells; and OSTN , which promotes granulosa cell proliferation and the synthesis of sex steroid hormones. We reveal key endocrine factors involving egg production by inter-tissue crosstalk analysis, and demonstrate that both a hepatokine, APOA4, and an adipokine, ANGPTL2, could increase egg production by inter-tissue communication with hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. Together, These results reveal the molecular mechanisms of multi-tissue coordinative regulation of chicken egg-laying performance and provide key insights to avian reproductive regulation. Egg-laying performance is an important phenotype for breeding chicken. Here, the authors explore the regulatory networks driving phenotypic differences in egg-laying, and identify laying-related variants and endocrine factors.