Air pollution and the mystery of high household savings in China.

Despite consumption being a key measure of residential welfare, the relationship of the residential savings rates, an inverse proxy for household consumption, with air pollution is unclear. This study empirically examines the impact of air pollution on household savings rates, and the underlying mechanism. The results reveal that worsening air pollution significantly increases household savings rates; this finding holds under alternative variable specifications and employing instrumental variables to address endogeneity issues.

Comparative transcriptomics analysis of testicular miRNA from indicine and taurine cattle.

Numerous studies have shown that several microRNAs (miRNAs) are specifically expressed in testis, play an essential role in regulating testicular spermatogenesis. Hainan and Mongolian cattle are two representative Chinese native cattle breeds representing (indicine cattle) and (taurine cattle), respectively, which are distributed in hot Hainan and cold Inner Mongolia province. To study the functional differences of miRNA in spermatogenesis between indicine and taurine cattle, six mature testes samples from indicine cattle ( = 3) and taurine cattle ( = 3) were collected, respectively.

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Genomic Loci Associated With Neurotransmitter Concentration in Cattle.

Abnormal neurotransmitter concentration is one of the factors that affect the health status, behavioral personality, and welfare level of animals, but the genetic basis of the abnormality is still largely unknown. The objective of this study is to identify putative genomic loci associated with neurotransmitter concentration in cattle. We measured serotonin (5HT), dopamine (DA), cortisol, glutamate (Glu), and ACTH concentrations in blood serum using double-antibody sandwich ELISA in 30 Brahman cattle and 127 Yunling cattle.

Whole-genome analyses identify loci and selective signals associated with body size in cattle.

Body size plays a key role in production, health, selection, and environmental adaptation of animals, but the genetic basis of body size variation is not clearly understood. Here, we conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of 15 body size traits using autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived from whole-genome sequences of 31 Brahman cattle and 131 Yunling cattle and identified 20 significant loci, which implicated 18 candidate genes. For ischium width, the most significant SNP was assigned to LCORL, a famous gene controlling body size.

Genome-wide association study identifies genomic loci associated with flight reaction in cattle.

Lower flight reaction is closely related to higher production in cattle, but the genetic basis of lower flight reaction is not clearly understood. Here, we sampled a total of 45 Brahman cattles and 166 Yunling cattles with flight distance (FD), and 73 Brahman cattles and 288 Yunling cattles with crush score (CS) and flight speed (FS), whereas there were 45 Brahman cattles and 161 Yunling cattles with all three traits. The FD, CS and FS in Brahman cattle were significantly lower than those in Yunling cattle.

Variation Related to Heat Resistance of Chinese Cattle.

With the inexorable rise of global temperature, heat stress deserves more and more attention in livestock agriculture. Previous studies have shown that the mechanistic target of rapamycin () (NC_037343.1:c.

A Novel SNP in Gene Is Associated with Thermal Tolerance Traits in Chinese Cattle.

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2-alpha kinase 4 (, also known as ), which pertains to the family of serine-threonine kinase, is involved in oxidative stress and DNA damage repair. A missense single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (NC_037337.1 g.