Alabio ducks, germplasms of South Kalimantan, as protein and income sources

Apart from providing food originating from meat and eggs, Alabio ducks have another important role for farmers in South Kalimantan, namely as an income source, employment source, and preservation of local genetic source. This paper aimed to study the economic profile of Alabio ducks in several types of businesses in Hulu Sungai Utara Regency, South Kalimantan. A survey method was carried out on several groups of duck farmers. In order to obtain more in-depth information, a focus group discussion (FGD) was held with key insiders in the duck industry. The results showed that the duck farming business has good prospects and can be a source of income and employment for farmers and young generations. The business of hatchery, slaughter-duck producers, hatching egg producers, and consumes-egg producers, is economically feasible. Improving bio-security and handling and managing environmental sanitation have to carry out, among others, through pens, equipment, and environmental disinfection, as well as routine vaccinations with the escort and support of local and central government. In addition, to increase the welfare and income of farmers need to introduce technological innovations that can increase farming efficiency.

Diverse northern Asian and Jomon-related genetic structure discovered among socially complex Three Kingdoms period Gaya region Koreans

The genetic history of prehistoric and protohistoric Korean populations is not well understood due to the lack of ancient Korean genomes. Here, we report the first paleogenomic data from Korea; eight shotgun-sequenced genomes (0.7X~6.1X coverage) from two archeological sites in Gimhae: Yuha-ri shell mound and Daesung-dong tumuli, the most important funerary complex of the Gaya confederacy. All eight individuals are from the Korean Three Kingdoms period (4th-7th century CE), during which there is archaeological evidence of extensive trade connections with both northern (modern-day China) and eastern (modern-day Japan) kingdoms. All genomes are best modeled as an admixture between a northern-Chinese Iron Age genetic source and a Japanese-Jomon-related ancestry. The proportion of Jomon-related ancestry suggests the presence of two genetic groups within the population. The observed substructure indicates diversity among the Gaya population that is not related to either social status or sex.

Una escena de traducción en América Latina: “Las dos orillas” de Carlos Fuentes

In his short story “The two shores” the Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes (The Orange Tree, 1993) fictionalizes language contact. In this apocryphal rewriting of the chronicle of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, the author puts translation on the centre stage by focusing on the ambiguous relations between the two top interpreters of Spanish con queror Hernán Cortés: Jerónimo de Aguilar and La Malinche. Besides, translation is also the genetic source of the story since it is itself an adaptation of an existing chronicle. In Fuentes’s version, Aguilar consciously distorts Cortés ’s words in order to reveal the con queror’s true intentions and to demonstrate his solidarity with the indigenous populations, the Aztecs and the Mayas. The story can be read as a reflection on the complex loyalties of translators and on lan guage ’s colonizing potential. It reconsiders the function of translation, which is presented as performative speech act rather than as a purely reproductive form of transfer. According to Fuentes, translation is an activity that is caught in a double bind as it harbors a potential for disruption and betrayal as well as for subversion.

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Sleep-Wake Behaviours in Adolescence

Study Objectives To investigate the influence of genetic and environmental factors on sleep-wake behaviours across adolescence. Methods Four hundred and ninety-five participants (aged 9 to 17; 55% females), including 93 monozygotic (MZ) and 117 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs, and 75 unmatched twins, wore an accelerometry device and completed a sleep diary for two weeks. Results Individual differences in sleep onset, wake time, and sleep midpoint were influenced by both additive genetic (44-50% of total variance) and shared environmental (31-42%) factors, with a predominant genetic influence for sleep duration (62%) and restorative sleep (43%). When stratified into younger (aged 9-14) and older (aged 16-17) subsamples, genetic sources were more prominent in older adolescents. The moderate correlation between sleep duration and midpoint (rP = -.43, rG = .54) was attributable to a common genetic source. Sleep-wake behaviours on school and non-school nights were correlated (rP = .44-.72) and influenced by the same genetic and shared environmental factors. Genetic sources specific to night-type were also identified, for all behaviours except restorative sleep. Conclusions There were strong genetic influences on sleep-wake phenotypes, particularly on sleep timing, in adolescence. Moreover, there may be common genetic influences underlying both sleep and circadian rhythms. The differences in sleep-wake behaviours on school and non-school nights could be attributable to genetic factors involved in reactivity to environmental context.

The genetic source tracking of human urinary exosomes

The genetic origins of nanoscale extracellular vesicles in our body fluids remains unclear. Here, we perform a tracking analysis of urinary exosomes via RNA sequencing, revealing that urine exosomes mostly express tissue-specific genes for the bladder and have close cell-genetic relationships to the endothelial cell, basal cell, monocyte, and dendritic cell. Tracking the differentially expressed genes of cancers and corresponding enrichment analysis show urine exosomes are intensively involved in immune activities, indicating that they may be harnessed as reliable biomarkers of noninvasive liquid biopsy in cancer genomic diagnostics and precision medicine.

The Scientific Basis of the Target Plant Concept: An Overview

Reforestation and restoration using nursery-produced seedlings is often the most reliable way to ensure successful establishment and rapid growth of native plants. Plant establishment success—that is, the ability for the plant to develop within a set period of time with minimal further interventions needed—depends greatly on decisions made prior to planting, and yet nursery-grown plants are often produced independently of considering the range of stressors encountered after nursery production. The optimal plant or seedling will vary greatly with species and site (depending on edaphic and environmental conditions), and in having the biological capacity to withstand human and wildlife pressures placed upon vegetative communities. However, when nursery production strategies incorporate knowledge of genetic variability, address limiting factors, and include potential mitigating measures, meeting the objectives of the planting project—be it reforestation or restoration—becomes more likely. The Target Plant Concept (TPC) is an effective framework for defining, producing, and handling seedlings and other types of plant material based on specific characteristics suited to a given site. These characteristics are often scientifically derived from testing factors that are linked to outplanting success, such as seedling morphology and physiology, genetic source, and capacity to overcome limiting factors on outplanting sites. This article briefly summarizes the current knowledge drawn from existing literature for each component of the TPC framework, thereby helping land managers and scientists to meet objectives and accelerate reforestation and restoration trajectories.

No, I’m not… Chaucer? The Arabic motif in Troilus and Criseyde and Pushkin’s ‘The Prophet’ [‘Prorok’]

The article discusses two works of literature: Troilus and Criseyde, a long poem written in the genre of courtly romance (1382–1386/1387) by G. Chaucer, and ‘The Prophet’ [‘Prorok’] (1826), a poem by A. Pushkin. The two works are compared due to a common motif: the opening of the chest and swapping of the heart as a sign of the person’s spiritual regeneration. In her comparative analysis of the two poems, the author attempts to identify their common source or the likelihood of direct contact — whether Pushkin had come across Chaucer’s work and borrowed the motif directly. As for the heart being replaced, it seems both poets may have been inspired by several biblical stories. Further analysis of the motif of the chest being opened suggests that the research should focus on the Arabic tradition alone and take into account the potential influence of Islamic religious texts on Pushkin as well as Chaucer. Relying on the available data about Russian and European relations with the Arabic world, the article hypothesises about the ways in which the motif in question could have reached each of the poets. The author names the Quran as the common genetic source of the two poems.

Genetic source tracking of human plague cases in Inner Mongolia-Beijing, 2019

On 12 November 2019, one couple from the Sonid Left Qi (County) in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was diagnosed with pneumonic plague in Beijing. The wife acquired the infection from her husband. Thereafter, two bubonic plague cases were identified in Inner Mongolia on November 16th and 24th. In this study, genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis was used to identify the phylogenetic relationship of Yersinia pestis strains isolated in Inner Mongolia. Strains isolated from reservoirs in 2018 and 2019 in Inner Mongolia, together with the strain isolated from Patient C, were further clustered into 2.MED3m, and two novel lineages (2.MED3q, 2.MED3r) in the 2.MED3 population. According to the analysis of PCR-based molecular subtyping methods, such as the MLVA 14 scheme and seven SNP allele sequencing, Patients A/B and D were classified as 2.MED3m. In addition, strains from rodents living near the patients’ residences were clustered into the same lineage as patients. Such observations indicated that human plague cases originated from local reservoirs. Corresponding phylogenetic analysis also indicated that rodent plague strains in different areas in Inner Mongolia belong to different epizootics rather than being caused by spreading from the same epizootic in Meriones unguiculatus in 2019.

Morphological characterization of six Lombok upland rice cultivars

Lombok upland rice is one of the cultivars that have the potential as a genetic source. However, Lombok upland rice is almost rarely found. Therefore, conservation was carried out through morphological characterization to provide genetic information. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of six Lombok upland rice cultivars, namely, Reket Putek Bulu, Reket Putek Buntung, Reket Bireng Bulu, Reket Bireng Buntung, Pare Beaq Sapit, and Beaq Ganggas. A completely randomized design was used, consisting of these six Lombok upland rice cultivars as treatments. Two superior cultivars were also used for comparison. The study revealed sufficient divergence for various qualitative and quantitative traits. Pare Beaq Sapit and Beaq Ganggas shared common morphological characters, and both were tall plants. The auricle and ligule colors of Reket Bireng Bulu were different from those of the other cultivars. Reket Putek Buntung had the latest flowering and harvesting age. Reket Putek Bulu and Reket Bireng Buntung had a high number of productive tillers. Six cultivars of Lombok upland rice were characterized to have morphological diversity, so that they are expected to be used as genetic material in rice plant breeding, thereby developed to avoid extinction.

Freshwater, Landlocked Grand Lake Strain of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.) as a Potential Genetic Source of Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Synthesis

Selection efforts focused on adaptation to plant-based diets, particularly the ability to synthesize polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), are now emerging in aquaculture. Landlocked salmon (Grand Lake population; GL) may differ from the commercial Saint John River (SJR) strain in terms of PUFA metabolism. The objective of this study was to determine if GL salmon can contribute toward broodstock selection for enhanced PUFA synthesis. Two diets containing either fish oil (FO) or plant-based oil (FO-free) were fed to the SJR and GL strains (∼58 g/fish) for 16 weeks. Growth, liver, and muscle fatty acid (FA) content, and transcript expression of lipid metabolism and inflammation-related genes were evaluated. GL salmon fed the FO diet showed reduced growth compared to SJR salmon (fed either diet); however, GL salmon fed the FO-free diet, growth was not significantly different compared to any group. In liver, SJR salmon fed the FO-free diet had higher levels of n-6 PUFAs (21.9%) compared to GL fed the same diet (15.9%); while GL salmon fed the FO-free diet had higher levels of monounsaturated FAs (48.9%) compared with SJR salmon fed the same diet (35.7%). 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 were the same in GL and SJR salmon liver and muscle, respectively, fed the FO-free diet. In liver, GL salmon fed the FO-free diet had higher acac and acly compared to all treatments and had higher fasb compared to both strains fed the FO-diet. GL salmon fed the FO-free diet had higher cd36c and fabp3b in liver compared to GL salmon fed the FO diet and SJR salmon fed either diet. GL salmon fed the FO-free diet had higher lect2a and pgds in liver compared to SJR salmon fed the FO-free diet. In muscle, GL salmon fed the FO-free diet had higher fadsd5 and fadsd6b compared with both strains fed the FO diet. These results suggest there is a genetic basis behind the potential for GL salmon to utilize FO-free diets more efficiently than SJR salmon, with regards to FA metabolism.