Identification of Susceptibility Genes Underlying Bovine Respiratory Disease in Xinjiang Brown Cattle Based on DNA Methylation.

DNA methylation is a form of epigenetic regulation, having pivotal parts in controlling cellular expansion and expression levels within genes. Although blood DNA methylation has been studied in humans and other species, its prominence in cattle is largely unknown. This study aimed to methodically probe the genomic methylation map of Xinjiang brown (XJB) cattle suffering from bovine respiratory disease (BRD), consequently widening cattle blood methylome ranges.

Engineering of Local Coordination Microenvironment in Single-Atom Catalysts Enabling Sustainable Conversion of Biomass into a Broad Range of Amines.

Utilizing renewable biomass as a substitute for fossil resources to produce high-value chemicals with a low carbon footprint is an effective strategy for achieving a carbon-neutral society. Production of chemicals via single-atom catalysis is an attractive proposition due to its remarkable selectivity and high atomic efficiency. In this work, a supramolecular-controlled pyrolysis strategy is employed to fabricate a palladium single-atom (Pd/BNC) catalyst with B-doped Pd-N atomic configuration.

A Genome-Wide Association Study of the Chest Circumference Trait in Xinjiang Donkeys Based on Whole-Genome Sequencing Technology.

Animal genotyping by means of genome-wide association studies is important for connecting phenotypes of interest with their underlying genetics in livestock. However, the use of whole genome sequencing to investigate chest circumference (CC) in donkeys has rarely been reported. We aimed to use the genome-wide association study approach to detect significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and key genes associated with chest circumference traits in Xinjiang donkeys.

Transcript Characteristics on the Susceptibility Difference of Bovine Respiratory Disease.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is one of the major health issues in the cattle industry, resulting in significant financial crises globally. There is currently no good treatment, and cattle are made resistant to pneumonia through disease-resistant breeding. The serial blood samples from six Xinjiang brown (XJB) calves were collected for the RNA sequencing (RNA-seq).

Sustainable Conversion of Harmful Algae Biomass into a CO Reduction Electrocatalyst for Two-Fold Carbon Utilization.

Harmful algae blooms (HABs) frequently occur all over the world and cause great harm to the environment, human health, and aquatic ecosystems. However, owing to their great growth rate and large nutrient intake capacity, algae can enrich a large amount of carbon (CO) and nutritional elements (N and P) in their biomass. Thus, this could be applied as a robust approach to battle global warming and water eutrophication if the harmful algae biomass was effectively harvested and utilized.

Candidate genes for litter size in Xinjiang sheep identified by Specific Locus Amplified Fragment (SLAF) sequencing.

The aim of this study was to investigate the selection signatures at a genome-wide level in 'Pishan' sheep using Specific Locus Amplified Fragment (SLAF)-seq. Blood samples from 126 ewes were sequenced using SLAF tags, and the ovarian tissues from 8 ewes (Bashbay sheep, a single litter size group (SG group); 'Pishan' sheep, double litter size group (DG group)) were collected to detect expression levels by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Selection signature analysis was performed using global fixation index (Fst) and nucleotide diversity (π) ratio.

Study on lactation performance and development of KASP marker for milk traits in Xinjiang donkey ().

Donkey milk has high nutritional and medicinal value, but there are few researches in donkey milk traits, especially on genome. The whole lactation of 89 donkeys was recorded and it was found that Xinjiang donkey had good lactation performance while great differences among individuals. In our previous study, four genes including , , and were identified as milk-associated with Chinese Kazakh house, based on Equine 670k Chip genomic analysis.

Exosomal RNAs: Novel Potential Biomarkers for Diseases-A Review.

Exosomes are a subset of nano-sized extracellular vesicles originating from endosomes. Exosomes mediate cell-to-cell communication with their cargos, which includes mRNAs, miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs. Exosomal RNAs have cell specificity and reflect the conditions of their donor cells.

Transcriptome profiling of LncRNAs in sheep tail fat deposition.

LncRNAs have recently received special attention due to their critical role in many important biological processes. There are few reports on its regulatory function in sheep fat deposition. In this study, two sheep populations with different tail types in Xinjiang, Bashibai sheep (fat-tailed) and the hybrid population of Bashibai sheep and wild argali (small-tailed) were selected for whole transcriptome sequencing from their tail tissues.

Thermochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass into Mass-Producible Fuels: Emerging Technology Progress and Environmental Sustainability Evaluation.

Lignocellulosic biomass is increasingly recognized as a carbon-neutral resource rather than an organic solid waste nowadays. It can be used for the production of various value-added chemicals and biofuels like bio-oil. However, the undesirable properties of bio-oil such as chemical instability, low heating value, high corrosivity, and high viscosity are greatly restricting the utilization of bio-oil as a drop-in fuel.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of boulardii yeast cell wall polysaccharides: Characterization and its biological functions on early-weaned lambs.

Firstly, this study was designed to determine the optimal ultrasound-assisted extraction parameters of yeast wall polysaccharides (BYWP). Besides, the molecular weight and the ratio of mannose to glucose in compositions of BYWP were determined. Also, the effects of BYWP on the gain feed ratio, diarrhea frequency, intestinal morphology, intestinal immunity, and intestinal microbial flora of early-weaned lambs were investigated.

Review on upgrading organic waste to value-added carbon materials for energy and environmental applications.

Value-added materials such as biochar and activated carbon that are produced using thermo-chemical conversion of organic waste have gained an emerging interest for the application in the fields of energy and environment because of their low cost and unique physico-chemical properties. Organic waste-derived materials have multifunctional abilities in the field of environment for capturing greenhouse gases and remediation of contaminated soil and water as well as in the field of energy storage and conversion. This review critically evaluates and discusses the current thermo-chemical approaches for upgrading organic waste to value-added carbon materials, performance enhancement of these materials via activation and/or surface modification, and recent research findings related to energy and environmental applications.

Constructing N, P-dually doped biochar materials from biomass wastes for high-performance bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts.

The large scale lignocellulosic biomass wastes could also be regarded as abundantly-available renewable resources, and how to convert them into value-added products via sustainable approaches is still a big challenge. In this work, we demonstrated a facile pyrolysis method to construct N, P-dually doped biochar materials from the lignocellulosic biomass wastes. The as-synthesized N, P-dually doped biochar samples could act as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER), showing excellent catalytic performance and long-term durability, as well as robust tolerance to CO and methanol.

Evaluation of key miRNAs during early pregnancy in Kazakh horse using RNA sequencing.

Background: miRNA has an important role in cell differentiation, biological development, and physiology. Milk production is an important quantitative trait in livestock and miRNA plays a role in the amount of milk produced.

Methods: The role of regulatory miRNAs involved in equine milk production is not fully understood.

Emission characteristics of nitrogen and sulfur containing pollutants during the pyrolysis of oily sludge with and without catalysis.

The oily sludge is a category of hazardous solid waste generated in petrochemical industries. Pyrolysis is an efficient approach for sustainable treating the oily sludge with limited environmental impacts, but the pollutant emission during the pyrolysis process is still a big challenge. Herein, the emission characteristics of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) containing pollutants during the oily sludge pyrolysis with and without catalysis was illuminated via a TG-FTIR-MS system (ThermoGravimetric-Fourier Transform InfaRed-Mass Spectroscopy).

Efficient electrochemical production of glucaric acid and H via glucose electrolysis.

Glucose electrolysis offers a prospect of value-added glucaric acid synthesis and energy-saving hydrogen production from the biomass-based platform molecules. Here we report that nanostructured NiFe oxide (NiFeO) and nitride (NiFeN) catalysts, synthesized from NiFe layered double hydroxide nanosheet arrays on three-dimensional Ni foams, demonstrate a high activity and selectivity towards anodic glucose oxidation. The electrolytic cell assembled with these two catalysts can deliver 100 mA cm at 1.

Carbon-Based Catalyst Synthesized and Immobilized under Calcium Salt Assistance To Boost Singlet Oxygen Evolution for Pollutant Degradation.

Carbon-based materials are recognized as promising candidates for pollutant degradation because of their environmental benignity. Massive and cost-effective production and efficient recovery of carbon-based catalysts are crucial to apply this technology. However, various nanostructured carbons with different dimensions are usually utilized as precursors while not considering their complex preparation procedures and the high costs of ingredients.

Identification on novel locus of dairy traits of Kazakh horse in Xinjiang.

The utility of high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data help to accurately identify genomic regions that have undergone positive selection. In this study, the Affymetrix Equine 670 K high-density SNP array was used to genotype Kazakh and Yili horse population. After quality control, 370,227 autosomal SNPs were used to detect selection signatures by using global fixation index (F) and cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity (XP-EHH).

Pseudocapacitive Ni-Co-Fe Hydroxides/N-Doped Carbon Nanoplates-Based Electrocatalyst for Efficient Oxygen Evolution.

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalytic activity of a transition metal oxides/hydroxides based electrocatalyst is related to its pseudocapacitance at potentials lower than the OER standard potential. Thus, a well-defined pseudocapacitance could be a great supplement to boost OER. Herein, a highly pseudocapacitive Ni-Fe-Co hydroxides/N-doped carbon nanoplates (NiCoFe-NC)-based electrocatalyst is synthesized using a facile one-pot solvothermal approach.

Magnesium Oxide Embedded Nitrogen Self-Doped Biochar Composites: Fast and High-Efficiency Adsorption of Heavy Metals in an Aqueous Solution.

Lead (Pb) pollution in natural water bodies is an environmental concern due to toxic effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health, while adsorption is an effective approach to remove Pb from the water. Surface interactions between adsorbents and adsorbates play a dominant role in the adsorption process, and properly engineering a material's surface property is critical to the improvement of adsorption performance. In this study, the magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles stabilized on the N-doped biochar (MgO@N-biochar) were synthesized by one-pot fast pyrolysis of an MgCl-loaded N-enriched hydrophyte biomass as a way to increase the exchangeable ions and N-containing functional groups and facilitate the adsorption of Pb.

Fates of Chemical Elements in Biomass during Its Pyrolysis.

Biomass is increasingly perceived as a renewable resource rather than as an organic solid waste today, as it can be converted to various chemicals, biofuels, and solid biochar using modern processes. In the past few years, pyrolysis has attracted growing interest as a promising versatile platform to convert biomass into valuable resources. However, an efficient and selective conversion process is still difficult to be realized due to the complex nature of biomass, which usually makes the products complicated.

Association of low race performance with mtDNA haplogroup L3b of Australian thoroughbred horses.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) encodes the genes for respiratory chain sub-units that determine the efficiency of oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria. The aim of this study was to determine if there were any haplogroups and variants in mtDNA that could be associated with athletic performance of Thoroughbred horses. The whole mitochondrial genomes of 53 maternally unrelated Australian Thoroughbred horses were sequenced and an association study was performed with the competition histories of 1123 horses within their maternal lineages.

Use of Nutrient Rich Hydrophytes to Create N,P-Dually Doped Porous Carbon with Robust Energy Storage Performance.

The optimal strategy for the safe disposal of large amounts of hydrophyte biomass with enriched levels of N and P is challenging. In this study, we proposed and illustrated a facile pyrolysis approach to prepare an N, P-dually doped porous carbon (NPC) material with robust energy storage performance using a thermochemical self-doping process and a widely distributed hydrophyte biomass (Typha angustifolia). As a supercapacitor electrode material for electrochemical energy storage, the NPC shows a maximum capacitance of 257 F g and energy density of 19.

Lab-scale thermal analysis of electronic waste plastics.

In this work, we experimentally revealed the thermochemical decomposition pathway of Decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) containing electronic waste plastics using an online thermogravimetric-fourier transform infrared-mass spectroscopy (TG-FTIR-MS) system, a high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass (HRGC-MS) spectroscopy, and a fixed-bed reactor. We found the distribution and species of produced bromides can be easily controlled by adjusting pyrolytic temperature, which is particularly crucial to their recycle. From the analysis of the liquid and solid phase obtained from the fixed-bed reactor, we proposed that the Br radicals formed during the pyrolysis process may be captured by organic species derived from the depolymerization of plastics to form brominated compounds or by the inorganic species in the plastics, and that these species remained in the char residue after pyrolysis.

Pyrolytic Temperature Dependent and Ash Catalyzed Formation of Sludge Char with Ultra-High Adsorption to 1-Naphthol.

Massively produced sewage sludge brings a serious problem to environment. Pyrolysis is a promising and bifunctional technology to dispose the sewage sludge and recover energy, in which a large amount of pyrolytic sludge char is also produced. In this study, we proposed a value-added utilization of sludge char.