Embryonic and Larval Development of Reciprocal Crosses between Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) and Clarias jaensis (Boulenger, 1909) in West Cameroon

Establishing intraspecific breeding and hybridization programs and determining genetic variability are two important issues for aquaculture. However, interspecific hybridization to improve growth and feeding efficiency is limited. For this purpose, the embryonic and larval development of reciprocal crosses of Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) and Clarias jaensis (Boulenger, 1909) were studied under laboratory conditions. The fertilization rate varied from 63.33% to 92%, while the hatching rate ranged from 55.68% to 76% with the highest value in hybrids ♀Cg × ♂Cj. Crosses between ♀Cj × ♂Cj, ♀Cg × ♂Cj and ♀Cj × ♂Cg had embryonic stages similar to those of the pure sib ♀Cg x ♂Cg. All crosses, however, had different timing for the various embryological stages. Hatching occurred at 32 h 15 min and 38 h for ♀Cj × ♂Cj and ♀Cj × ♂Cg, and 23 h and 23 h 30 min, respectively, for ♀Cg × ♂Cg and ♀Cg × ♂Cj. However, both crosses produced viable larvae until the first external feeding. The external morphological features of the larvae were completely formed by the 10th day after hatching. The body forms of the crosses at this time were indistinguishable from the pure sib. This study thus laid the groundwork for further comparative studies on hybrid performance and characterization.

Identification and Expression Profile of a Neuropeptide LFRFamide-Like Gene During Different Stages of Gonadal Development in the Cephalopod Sepia pharaonis

Neuropeptides are widely distributed in vertebrates and invertebrates,regulating a variety of physiological activities in the organisms,such as metabolism,feeding and reproduction.In this study,to explore the function of neuropeptide LFRFamide in Sepia pharaonis,the full-length cDNA of LFRFamide-like gene(named SpLFRFL,MG869822.1)was identified with rapid amplification of cDNA ends(RACE)method.The sequence of SpLFRFL was 860 bp in length and encoded 188 amino acids containing 4 different mature peptides:1 copy of PHTPFRFamide,NSLFRFamide,TIFRFamide,and 3 copies of GNLFRFamide.Multiple alignment and phylogenetic analysis results showed that SpLFRFL shared high identity with LFRFamides of Sepia officinalis and Sepiella japonica and had the closest relationship with them.Through quantitative Real-time PCR(qRT-PCR),it was found that the SpLFRFL gene was highly expressed in the optic lobe and brain at three different stages during gonad development in both genders.Moreover,the four mature peptides at a concentration of 0.01μmol L^(−1) could inhibit the protein synthesis in the Chinese hamster ovary cell strain-K1(CHOK1)induced by SpGnRH.These data suggest that SpLFRFL might be involved in the development and reproduction of S.pharaonis.The results can contribute to future studies on neuropeptide evolution and function and benefit the cuttlefish farming.

Development of a Functional Food Snack Product Utilizing Underexplored and Underutilized Ingredients: Spirulina Microalgae and Bilberry

Spirulina, a protein-rich cyanobacterium, and Bilberry, a dark berry, have the potential to be used as functional food ingredients in the food industry. These two underexplored and underutilized ingredients were used to develop an adolescent-friendly functional snack food product in the light of food industry trends. Stages of product development, shelf life/physiochemical analysis (texture, pH, color, and water activity) and sensory evaluation were utilized in developing a functional snack mini muffin containing Spirulina and Bilberry. Aqueous (AQ) and 80% ethanol (ET) extracts of mini muffin formulations (chocolate, 1% Spirulina (S) + 4% Bilberry (B), 2% Spirulina (S) + 8% Bilberry (B)) were prepared using a standard protocol. Antioxidant potential was determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Potential (FRAP) assays. Utilizing a 5-point hedonic scale (1—Dislike very much, 2—Dislike a little, 3—Neither like nor dislike, 4—Like a little, 5—Like very much), 3 mini muffin formulations (chocolate, 1% S + 4% B, 2% S +8% B), were tested among consumer panelists, with 1% S + 4% B being the most acceptable based on taste, texture, color, aroma, appearance, etc. Texture (post-peak (N) of the mini muffin did not vary between chocolate and 1 S% + 4% B formulations;however, 2% S + 8% B was 1.09 times higher compared to its counterparts. pH, color, and water activity remained constant over the 9-day shelf-life period. The Spirulina and Bilberry muffins developed exhibited antioxidant activities (highest in 2% S + 8% B), and were accepted by the sensory panelists for color, taste, mouthfeel, and aroma (panelists preferred 1% S + 4% B).

A Golden2-like transcription factor, BnGLK1a, improves chloroplast development, photosynthesis, and seed weight in rapeseed

Enhancing photosynthetic efficiency is a major goal for improving crop yields under agricultural field conditions and is associated with chloroplast biosynthesis and development.In this study,we demonstrate that Golden2-like 1a(BnGLK1a)plays an important role in regulating chloroplast development and photosynthetic efficiency.Overexpressing BnGLK1a resulted in significant increases in chlorophyll content,the number of thylakoid membrane layers and photosynthetic efficiency in Brassica napus,while knocking down BnGLK1a transcript levels through RNA interference(RNAi)had the opposite effects.A yeast two-hybrid screen revealed that BnGLK1a interacts with the abscisic acid receptor PYRABACTIN RESISTANCE 1-LIKE 1-2(BnPYL1-2)and CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 9 SIGNALOSOME 5A subunit(BnCSN5A),which play essential roles in regulating chloroplast development and photosynthesis.Consistent with this,BnGLK1a-RNAi lines of B.napus display hypersensitivity to the abscisic acid(ABA)response.Importantly,overexpression of BnGLK1a resulted in a 10%increase in thousand-seed weight,whereas seeds from BnGLK1a-RNAi lines were 16%lighter than wild type.We propose that BnGLK1a could be a potential target in breeding for improving rapeseed productivity.Our results not only provide insights into the mechanisms of BnGLK1a function,but also offer a potential approach for improving the productivity of Brassica species.

A cell transcriptomic profile p ovides insights into adipocytes of porcine mammary gland across development

Background Studying the composition and developmental mechanisms in mammary gland is crucial for healthy growth of newborns. The mammary gland is inherently heterogeneous, and its physiological function dependents on the gene expression of multiple cell types. Most studies focused on epithelial cells, disregarding the role of neighboring adipocytes.Results Here, we constructed the largest transcriptomic dataset of porcine mammary gland cells thus far. The dataset captured 126,829 high-quality nuclei from physiological mammary glands across five developmental stages(d 90 of gestation, G90;d 0 after lactation, L0;d 20 after lactation, L20;2 d post natural involution, PI2;7 d post natural involution, PI7). Seven cell types were identified, including epithelial cells, adipocytes, endothelial cells, fibroblasts cells, immune cells, myoepithelial cells and precursor cells. Our data indicate that mammary glands at different developmental stages have distinct phenotypic and transcriptional signatures. During late gestation(G90), the differentiation and proliferation of adipocytes were inhibited. Meanwhile, partly epithelial cells were completely differentiated. Pseudo-time analysis showed that epithelial cells undergo three stages to achieve lactation, including cellular differentiation, hormone sensing, and metabolic activation. During lactation(L0 and L20), adipocytes area accounts for less than 0.5% of mammary glands. To maintain their own survival, the adipocyte exhibited a poorly differentiated state and a proliferative capacity. Epithelial cells initiate lactation upon hormonal stimulation. After fulfilling lactation mission, their undergo physiological death under high intensity lactation. Interestingly, the physiological dead cells seem to be actively cleared by immune cells via CCL21-ACKR4 pathway. This biological process may be an important mechanism for maintaining homeostasis of the mammary gland. During natural involution(PI2 and PI7), epithelial cell populations dedifferentiate into mesenchymal stem cells to maintain the lactation potential of mammary glands for the next lactation cycle.Conclusion The molecular mechanisms of dedifferentiation, proliferation and redifferentiation of adipocytes and epithelial cells were revealed from late pregnancy to natural involution. This cell transcriptomic profile constitutes an essential reference for future studies in the development and remodeling of the mammary gland at different stages.

Analyzing topics in social media for improving digital twinning based product development

Digital twinning enables manufacturers to create digital representations of physical entities,thus implementing virtual simulations for product development.Previous efforts of digital twinning neglect the decisive consumer feedback in product development stages,failing to cover the gap between physical and digital spaces.This work mines real-world consumer feedbacks through social media topics,which is significant to product development.We specifically analyze the prevalent time of a product topic,giving an insight into both consumer attention and the widely-discussed time of a product.The primary body of current studies regards the prevalent time prediction as an accompanying task or assumes the existence of a preset distribution.Therefore,these proposed solutions are either biased in focused objectives and underlying patterns or weak in the capability of generalization towards diverse topics.To this end,this work combines deep learning and survival analysis to predict the prevalent time of topics.We propose a specialized deep survival model which consists of two modules.The first module enriches input covariates by incorporating latent features of the time-varying text,and the second module fully captures the temporal pattern of a rumor by a recurrent network structure.Moreover,a specific loss function different from regular survival models is proposed to achieve a more reasonable prediction.Extensive experiments on real-world datasets demonstrate that our model significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.

Overexpression of the peroxidase gene ZmPRX1 increases maize seedling drought tolerance by promoting root development and lignification

Drought is a main abiotic stress factor hindering plant growth,development,and crop productivity.Therefore,it is crucial to understand the mechanisms by which plants cope with drought stress.Here,the function of the maize peroxidase gene ZmPRX1 in drought stress tolerance was investigated by measurement of its expression in response to drought treatment both in a ZmPRX1 overexpression line and a mutant line.The higher root lignin accumulation and seedling survival rate of the overexpression line than that of the wild type or mutant support a role for ZmPRX1 in maize drought tolerance by regulating root development and lignification.Additionally,yeast one-hybrid,Dule luciferase and ChIP-qPCR assays showed that ZmPRX1 is negatively regulated by a nuclear-localized ZmWRKY86 transcription factor.The gene could potentially be used for breeding of drought-tolerant cultivars.

Comparative analysis of SIMILAR to RCD ONE(SRO)family from tetraploid cotton species and their diploid progenitors depict their significance in cotton growth and development

Background SRO(Similar to RCD1)genes family is largely recognized for their importance in the growth,develop-ment,and in responding to environmental stresses.However,genome-wide identification and functional characteri-zation of SRO genes from cotton species have not been reported so far.Results A total of 36 SRO genes were identified from four cotton species.Phylogenetic analysis divided these genes into three groups with distinct structure.Syntenic and chromosomal distribution analysis indicated uneven distribu-tion of GaSRO,GrSRO,GhSRO,and GbSRO genes on A2,D5 genomes,Gh-At,Gh-Dt,Gb-At,and Gb-Dt subgenomes,respectively.Gene duplication analysis revealed the presence of six duplicated gene pairs among GhSRO genes.In promoter analysis,several elements responsive to the growth,development and hormones were found in GhSRO genes,implying gene induction during cotton growth and development.Several miRNAs responsive to plant growth and abiotic stress were predicted to target 12 GhSRO genes.Organ-specific expression profiling demonstrated the roles of GhSRO genes in one or more tissues.In addition,specific expression pattern of some GhSRO genes dur-ing ovule development depicted their involvement in these developmental processes.Conclusion The data presented in this report laid a foundation for understanding the classification and functions of SRO genes in cotton.

Comparative proteomics analysis reveals the domesticated Lepista sordida primordium differentiation regulation mechanism and the subsequent different development patterns in the pileus and stipe

The wild Lepista sordida is a kind of precious and rare edible fungus.An excellent strain of it by artificial domestication was obtained,which was high-yield and high in iron content.In this study,high-throughput comparative proteomics was used to reveal the regulatory mechanism of its primordium differentiation in the early fruiting body formation.The mycelium before the primordium differentiation mainly expressed high levels of mitochondrial functional proteins and carbon dioxide concentration regulatory proteins.In young mushrooms,the highly expressed proteins were mainly involved in cell component generation,cell proliferation,nitrogen compound metabolism,nucleotide metabolism,glutathione metabolism,and purine metabolism.The differential regulation patterns of pileus and stipe growth to maturity were also revealed.The highly expressed proteins related to transcription,RNA splicing,the production of various organelles,DNA conformational change,nucleosome organization,protein processing,maturation and transport,and cell detoxification regulated the pileus development and maturity.The proteins related to carbohydrate and energy metabolism,large amounts of obsolete cytoplasmic parts,nutrient deprivation,and external stimuli regulated the stipe development and maturity.Multiple CAZymes regulated nutrient absorption,morphogenesis,spore production,stress response,and other life activities at different growth and development stages.

Improved observation of colonized roots reveals the regulation of arbuscule development and senescence by drought stress in the arbuscular mycorrhizae of citrus

Citrus is the typical mycorrhizal fruit tree species establishing symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. However, arbuscule development and senescence in colonized citrus roots, especially in response to drought stress, remain unclear, which is mainly due to the difficulty in clearing and staining lignified roots with the conventional method. Here, we improved the observation of colonized roots of citrus plants with the sectioning method, which enabled the clear observation of AM fungal structures. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of one week of drought stress on arbuscule development and senescence with the sectioning method. Microscopy observations indicated that drought stress significantly decreased mycorrhizal colonization (F%and M%) although it did not affect plant growth performance. Fluorescence probes (WGA 488 and/or Nile red) revealed that drought stress inhibited arbuscule development by increasing the percentage of arbuscules at the early stage and decreasing the percentages of arbuscules at the midterm and mature stages. Meanwhile, drought stress accelerated arbuscule senescence, which was characterized by the increased accumulation of neutral lipids. Overall, the sectioning method developed in this study enables the in-depth investigation of arbuscule status, and drought stress can inhibit arbuscule development but accelerate arbuscule senescence in the colonized roots of citrus plants. This study paves the way to elaborately dissecting the arbuscule dynamics in the roots of fruit tree species in response to diverse abiotic stresses.

Exploring Paths for the High-Quality Development of Forest-Based Wel ness Industry:A Case Study of Sichuan Province

The forest-based wellness industry,as a rapidly growing sector that integrates various business forms with extensive coverage and an extended industrial chain,is undergoing rapid development due to the increasing aging population and people's suboptimal health conditions.As a forerunner in developing the forest-based wellness industry,Sichuan province is known for its early development,proactive efforts,diverse models,and significant impact in this industry.It has achieved certain milestones in terms of top-level design,pilot demonstration,standardized guidance,and public awareness campaigns to promote the development of this industry.Therefore,this paper utilizes Sichuan as a case study to systematically summarize and analyze the key practices made by the province in promoting the rapid development of the industry by investigating the development trajectory of the forest-based wellness industry.Additionally,it examines the development trends of this industry from the perspectives of supply,demand,and consumption.Finally,this paper proposes several measures to facilitate the high-quality development of the forest-based wellness industry.These measures encompass nurturing specialized talent in forest-based wellness,enhancing market players'capabilities in this domain,conducting extensive research on technologies that promote this industry,actively seeking support from relevant policies,and promoting integrated development across diverse sectors.

Food Security Problems and Solutions in China Based on the Strategy of Sustainable Agricultural Development

China attaches great importance to food security.With the strong promotion of the government,Chinas grain output has achieved a great feat from"shortage"to"surplus in bumper years"and then to"rising steadily",achieving a record"increase for the tenth consecutive year".From the current balance of food supply and demand in China,the food security situation can be guaranteed on the whole.However,if we analyze the food security in China from the perspective of agricultural sustainable development strategy,there are some difficulties,such as the reduction of cultivated land area,the decline of cultivated land quality,the fragility of agricultural ecological environment,and the transformation of residentsconsumption structure.This paper analyzes the difficulties faced by the development of food security in China under the strategy of sustainable agricultural development,and puts forward that to implement the strategy of sustainable agricultural development,it is necessary to realize the coordinated development of food security,science and technology,ecological environment,resources and society.

Sex Determination in Homo sapiens as a Multi-Step Process: Potential for Development of Variants and Sex Differences in Disease Risk

Reproduction via cis-binary mechanisms appears to have evolved fairly early in the evolution of complex organisms, and a system committed to prior to evolution of humans. While the evolution of a chromosomal-specific approach has been a successful strategy for survival of a large variety of species including humans, the fidelity of sex determination leading to 100% cis-binary outcomes is not achieved in many species, with evidence for homosexual or bisexual behaviour evident in more than 1500 species. Thus, such outcomes indicates that sex determination is a multi-step process and not a single event, and as such, could lead to the appearance of variants during the process which developed much earlier than humans. Variants could arise either due to intrinsic variation in the steps of determination, or also be influenced by environmental factors of a biological or psychological nature. In contrast to homosexual variants which do not require interventions such as hormone therapy or surgery, expression of gender dysphoria, is more based in psychology, but also has biological underpinnings and can be influenced by such hormonal interventions and surgery. While the numbers of those with gender dysphoria is small (~0.6% - 1.0% of population), the attention given to this issue raises the possibility of biological and psychological environmental factors impacting the emergence of some of those expressing gender dysphoria. Furthermore, transitioning from male-to-female or female-to-male can have consequences regarding disease risks latter in life, including the appearance of autoimmune diseases. This review will attempt to review some of the evidence regarding sex determination, discuss why the system has potentially not been improved upon during evolution, how a potential role for sex chromosome function on neurodevelopment may be central to variation in humans, and how commitment to the current strategy is likely integrated into other sex-related events such as puberty, pregnancy, and menopause to ensure species survival. It will also discuss how variants in sex determination could contribute to sex differences in disease risk and how epigenetic modifications could play a role in such risk. .

HV Process Model of Software Development

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is one of the major ingredients for the development of efficient software systems within a time frame and low-cost involvement. From the literature, it is evident that there are various kinds of process models that are used by the software industries for the development of small, medium and long-term software projects, but many of them do not cover risk management. It is quite obvious that the improper selection of the software development process model leads to failure of the software products as it is time bound activity. In the present work, a new software development process model is proposed which covers the risks at any stage of the development of the software product. The model is named a Hemant-Vipin (HV) process model and may be helpful for the software industries for development of the efficient software products and timely delivery at the end of the client. The efficiency of the HV process model is observed by considering various kinds of factors like requirement clarity, user feedback, change agility, predictability, risk identification, practical implementation, customer satisfaction, incremental development, use of ready-made components, quick design, resource organization and many more and found through a case study that the presented approach covers many of parameters in comparison of the existing process models. .

Pathway and Countermeasure of Farmers Livelihood Transformation in the Ecological Development Area of Northern Guangdong Province from the Perspective of Ecological Protection

[Objectives]To explore pathways and countermeasures for transforming farmers livelihoods in the way of reducing their dependence on land while promoting sustainable development and alleviating ecological degradation.[Methods]A combination of field research,literature review,and policy analysis was employed to identify key factors affecting farmers livelihoods and potential strategies for transformation.[Results]The study found that developing ecological agriculture and modern agriculture,promoting agricultural transformation and upgrading,cultivating alternative industries,strengthening ecological engineering construction,and establishing diversified ecological compensation methods and supporting policies are effective strategies for transforming farmers livelihoods.[Conclusions]Implementing these strategies can help alleviate the contradiction between ecological protection and farmers livelihood development,promoting coordinated development of both.This approach not only benefits farmers but also contributes to sustainable environmental management and biodiversity conservation.

The Implications of Urbanization Processes in Developed Countries for Africa

Urbanization is the inevitable path of national economic development,and the level of urbanization development in most African countries is still low.By analyzing five typical developed countries in the United States,Britain,France,Germany,and Japan,this paper discusses the promoting factors and problems of the rapid urbanization development in their specific years,as well as the experiences and lessons that Africa can learn,so as to prevent Africa from taking the detour in the urbanization process of Western developed countries and promote the balanced regional development of various African countries.

Leveraging Robust Artificial Intelligence for Mechatronic Product Development—A Literature Review

Mechatronic product development is a complex and multidisciplinary field that encompasses various domains, including, among others, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, control theory and software engineering. The integration of artificial intelligence technologies is revolutionizing this domain, offering opportunities to enhance design processes, optimize performance, and leverage vast amounts of knowledge. However, human expertise remains essential in contextualizing information, considering trade-offs, and ensuring ethical and societal implications are taken into account. This paper therefore explores the existing literature regarding the application of artificial intelligence as a comprehensive database, decision support system, and modeling tool in mechatronic product development. It analyzes the benefits of artificial intelligence in enabling domain linking, replacing human expert knowledge, improving prediction quality, and enhancing intelligent control systems. For this purpose, a consideration of the V-cycle takes place, a standard in mechatronic product development. Along this, an initial assessment of the AI potential is shown and important categories of AI support are formed. This is followed by an examination of the literature with regard to these aspects. As a result, the integration of artificial intelligence in mechatronic product development opens new possibilities and transforms the way innovative mechatronic systems are conceived, designed, and deployed. However, the approaches are only taking place selectively, and a holistic view of the development processes and the potential for robust and context-sensitive artificial intelligence along them is still needed.

A new production component method for natural gas development planning

Based on an analysis of the limitations of conventional production component methods for natural gas development planning,this study proposes a new one that uses life cycle models for the trend fitting and prediction of production.In this new method,the annual production of old and new wells is predicted by year first and then is summed up to yield the production for the planning period.It shows that the changes in the production of old wells in old blocks can be fitted and predicted using the vapor pressure model(VPM),with precision of 80%e95%,which is 6.6%e13.2%higher than that of other life cycle models.Furthermore,a new production prediction process and method for new wells have been established based on this life cycle model to predict the production of medium-to-shallow gas reservoirs in western Sichuan Basin,with predication error of production rate in 2021 and 2022 being 6%and 3%respectively.The new method can be used to guide the medium-and long-term planning or annual scheme preparation for gas development.It is also applicable to planning for large single gas blocks that require continuous infill drilling and adjustment to improve gas recovery.

A Hybrid Model for Improving Software Cost Estimation in Global Software Development

Accurate software cost estimation in Global Software Development(GSD)remains challenging due to reliance on historical data and expert judgments.Traditional models,such as the Constructive Cost Model(COCOMO II),rely heavily on historical and accurate data.In addition,expert judgment is required to set many input parameters,which can introduce subjectivity and variability in the estimation process.Consequently,there is a need to improve the current GSD models to mitigate reliance on historical data,subjectivity in expert judgment,inadequate consideration of GSD-based cost drivers and limited integration of modern technologies with cost overruns.This study introduces a novel hybrid model that synergizes the COCOMO II with Artificial Neural Networks(ANN)to address these challenges.The proposed hybrid model integrates additional GSD-based cost drivers identified through a systematic literature review and further vetted by industry experts.This article compares the effectiveness of the proposedmodelwith state-of-the-artmachine learning-basedmodels for software cost estimation.Evaluating the NASA 93 dataset by adopting twenty-six GSD-based cost drivers reveals that our hybrid model achieves superior accuracy,outperforming existing state-of-the-artmodels.The findings indicate the potential of combining COCOMO II,ANN,and additional GSD-based cost drivers to transform cost estimation in GSD.

Development Status and Countermeasures of Farmers' Professional Cooperatives in Shangqiu City

Farmers' professional cooperatives develop in various forms,and with the continuous improvement of development level,social effects have gradually appear.Based on the specific situation of farmers' professional cooperatives in Shangqiu City,this paper expounded the development status of farmers' professional cooperatives in Shangqiu City,analyzed and discussed various problems encountered in the development process of farmers' professional cooperatives,and put forward some countermeasures and suggestions,such as establishing and perfecting cooperative rules and regulations,financing from multiple channels,introducing technical talents in various ways,breaking the information asymmetry restriction by various means,and giving full play to government functions,aiming to further promote standardized,large-scale,healthy and sustainable development of farmers' professional cooperatives.