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Retrotransposon is an important component of the mammalian genome. Previous studies have shown that the expression of protein-coding genes was affected by the insertion of retrotransposon into the proximal genes, and the phenotype variations would be related to the retrotransposon insertion polymorphisms (RIPs). In this study, leptin (LEP), leptin receptor (LEPR), and leptin receptor overlapping transcript (LEPROT), which play important roles in the regulation of fat synthesis and body weight, were screened to search for the RIPs and their effect on phenotype and gene expression, as well as to further study the function of the insertion. The results showed that three RIPs located in intron 1 of LEPROT and intron 2 and 21 of LEPR were identified, and they were all SINEA1, which was one type of retrotransposon. The SINE insertion at the LEPROT was the dominant allele in native pig breeds. The age of 100 kg body weight of SINE+/+ Large White individuals was significantly higher than those of SINE+/− and SINE−/− individuals (p < 0.05). The LEPROT gene expression in the liver and suet of 30-day-old SINE−/− Sujiang piglets were significantly higher than those of SINE+/+ and SINE+/− piglets (p < 0.01). The dual-luciferase reporter gene assay showed that SINE insertion in PK15 and 3T3-L1 cells significantly reduced the promoter activity of the LEPROT gene (p < 0.01). Therefore, SINE insertion can be a repressor to reduce the expression of LEPROT and could be a useful molecular marker for assisted selection of growth traits in pig breeding.

Controversy over the identification of the figures on the Belvedere altar has long hindered consensus about the meaning of this important Augustan monument. Attention has focused on the chariot-riding figure previously identified as Julius Caesar, Augustus, Romulus-Quirinus, Aeneas, or even Agrippa. I argue that references in Ovid'sFastiand theConsolatio ad Liviam, as well as the dedicatory inscription of the altar, suggest this figure depicts Nero Claudius Drusus at his funeral in 9 B.C.E., which was observed by Livia and Gaius and Lucius Caesar. The Belvedere altar advertises Augustus' dynastic ambitions during the early years of his pontificate, revealing the importance of the Claudii Nerones in Augustus' plans to secure his family's place as the preeminent military guardians of Rome. By implicitly associating Drusus' triumphant career with the promise of empire evoked by the appearance of Vesta and the ancient Trojan \"pledges of empire\" within the domus Augusta, the Belvedere altar represents an early articulation of the divine claims of Augustus' household to monopolize Rome's military responsibilities. The assimilation of divine and human households on the Belvedere altar also parallels the increasing identification of young Augustan princes as living pledges of empire and as new Dioscuri.

Birds that are active in the winter must continually meet their metabolic needs to survive many months of cold temperatures. Overwintering insects inhabiting trees provide an important food source for these birds. The objective of this study was to test whether or not winter birds present in the deciduous forest surrounding the Saint Francis University campus would forage more on tree-dwelling insects if there was a supplemental food source provided in the area. We used frozen mealworms placed in trees as surrogate overwintering insects and measured the foraging success of birds on these insects during a three-week period in the winter of 2014. Mealworm predation was compared across three sites differing in supplemented food sources: sunflower seeds, suet, and no provided food (control). Each site had four mealworms placed in holes drilled in 16 surrounding trees for a total of 64 mealworms per site. The consumption of these mealworms was measured during the experiment to analyze whether provided food sources influence the foraging behavior of birds in the winter. Observations after three weeks indicated that the predation rates were 78%, 72% and 69% at the seed, control and suet sites, respectively. The bird counts reveal a greater number of birds visiting the suet site compared to the control and the seed site. Birds appear to prey on insects inhabiting trees independently of foraging on supplemental food sources, or perhaps different species of birds forage on tree insects compared to those that visit feeders.

Decimatio, or executing a portion, usually a tenth, of a Roman legionary unit, is regarded as a quintessential example of old-fashioned military discipline. It is nonetheless poorly attested in the earlier Republic, though in the first century we find more instances. This paper examines its literary manifestations and scrutinizes its historicity. By considering soldiers' access toprovocatio, cultural and legal prescripts on subjecting citizens to corporal punishment, military demography, and civil war crises, it argues thatdecimatiowent into disuse in the wake of legislationde provocationeby the 130s BCE, and was used again in the Late Republic.

I observed Black-billed Magpies (Pica hudsonia) in a residential backyard in Montana during November-December 2019 and February 2020, as they cached food 10 times in a snow cover 10- to 12-cm deep and recovered 3 caches from the snow. The magpies carried food items up to 7 m from a food source before caching them, and tended to cache more closely to the food source when alone rather than in the presence of other magpies. Most of the snow caches were on the ground, but 1 cache was made 1.5 m above ground in a snow-covered vine thicket, and a 2nd cache at the same height in snow accumulated on the roof of a parked trailer. Cached foods included chicken scratch (grains and cracked corn), sunflower seeds, crab apples, dried mealworms, and commercial suet. These observations appear to constitute the 1st report of Black-billed Magpies caching food in snow.

Suet oil (SO) has been used commonly for food and medicine preparation. The determination of its elemental composition has became an important challenge for human safety and health owing to its possible contents of heavy metals or other elements. In this study, ultrawave single reaction chamber microwave digestion (Ultrawave) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis was performed to determine 14 elements (Pb, As, Hg, Cd, Fe, Cu, Mn, Ti, Ni, V, Sr, Na, Ka and Ca) in SO samples. Furthermore, the multielemental content of 18 SO samples, which represented three different sources in China: Qinghai, Anhui and Jiangsu, were evaluated and compared. The optimal ultrawave digestion conditions, namely, the optimal time (35 min), temperature (210 °C) and pressure (90 bar), were screened by Box-Behnken design (BBD). Eighteen samples were successfully classified into three groups by principal component analysis (PCA) according to the contents of 14 elements. The results showed that all SO samples were rich in elements, but with significant differences corresponding to different origins. The outliers and majority of SO could be discriminated by PCA according to the multielemental content profile. The results highlighted that the element distribution was associated with the origins of SO samples. The proposed ultrawave digestion system was quite efficient and convenient, which could be mainly attributed to its high pressure and special high-throughput for the sample digestion procedure. Our established method could be useful for the quality control and standardization of elements in SO samples and products.

The purpose of this work was to research the enhancement of Epimedium fried with suet oil based on the in vivo formation self-assembled flavonoid nanomicelles. Taking icariin as the representative, under the action of suet oil, self-assembled nanomicelles were prepared under simulated gastrointestinal tract conditions and were characterized by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The experiments with icariin self-assembled nanomicelles without suet oil were done according to the above. The influence of suet oil on the transportation of icariin across Caco-2 cell monolayers and the absorption in rat intestine of self-assembled nanomicelles were evaluated. The particle size of icariin self-assembled nanomicelles with suet oil was smaller than without suet oil. The nanomicelles seemed to be monodisperse spherical particle with smooth surfaces. The icariin entrapment efficiency of self-assembled nanomicelles with suet oil was increased from 43.1% to 89.7%. In Caco-2 cell monolayers, the absorptive permeability, secretory permeability and efflux ratio of icariin self-assembled nanomicelles with suet oil was 1.26 × 10−6 cm/s, 5.91 × 10−6 cm/s and 4.69, respectively, while that of icariin self-assembled nanomicelles without suet oil was 0.62 × 10−6 cm/s, 3.00 × 10−6 cm/s, and 4.84, respectively. In rat intestinal perfusion experiments, the permeability coefficient of icariin self-assembled nanomicelles with suet oil in duodenum was higher than the value of icariin self-assembled nanomicelles without suet oil (p < 0.05). With the action of suet oil, icariin self-assembled nanomicelles were more stable and the entrapment efficiency was higher than that without suet oil, which could increase the solubility of icariin and improve its intestinal absorption. Therefore, suet oil plays a role in its enhancement.