The estimated genetic parameters and their standard deviations (SD) under different models^*.

*<p>All the models are performed with original hip score and different transformations of the elbow score. The transformations include Log, square root (SQRT) and inverse (INV). In each transformation of elbow score, the hip score remains the status of original score. The model of Original (O) was performed on the original scores on both hip and elbow. BLM (O) means the bi-variate linear model with original hip and elbow conformation scores as observations; BLM (LOG) means the bi-variate linear model with original hip conformation scores and log transformations for elbow scores as observations; BLM (SQRT) means the bi-variate linear model with original hip scores and square root transformations for elbow scores as observations; BLM (INV) means the bi-variate linear model with original hip scores and inverse transformations for elbow scores as observations. is the additive genetic variance, is the variance of combination effects of test year and test month, is the residual variance, is the phenotypic variance, is the heritability, subscript 1 means the trait of hip joint conformation scores, subscript 2 means the trait of elbow joint conformation scores. is the additive genetic covariance between these two traits, is the residual covariance between them, is the additive correlation between them, is the residual correlation between them.</p

Table1_Exploring milk loss and variability during environmental perturbations across lactation stages as resilience indicators in Holstein cattle.docx

Genetic selection for resilience is essential to improve the long-term sustainability of the dairy cattle industry, especially the ability of cows to maintain their level of production when exposed to environmental disturbances. Recording of daily milk yield provides an opportunity to develop resilience indicators based on milk losses and fluctuations in daily milk yield caused by environmental disturbances. In this context, our study aimed to explore milk loss traits and measures of variability in daily milk yield, including log-transformed standard deviation of milk deviations (Lnsd), lag-1 autocorrelation (Ra), and skewness of the deviations (Ske), as indicators of general resilience in dairy cows. The unperturbed dynamics of milk yield as well as milk loss were predicted using an iterative procedure of lactation curve modeling. Milk fluctuations were defined as a period of at least 10 successive days of negative deviations in which milk yield dropped at least once below 90% of the expected values. Genetic parameters of these indicators and their genetic correlation with economically important traits were estimated using single-trait and bivariate animal models and 8,935 lactations (after quality control) from 6,816 Chinese Holstein cows. In general, cows experienced an average of 3.73 environmental disturbances with a milk loss of 267 kg of milk per lactation. Each fluctuation lasted for 19.80 ± 11.46 days. Milk loss traits are heritable with heritability estimates ranging from 0.004 to 0.061. The heritabilities differed between Lnsd (0.135–0.250), Ra (0.008–0.058), and Ske (0.001–0.075), with the highest heritability estimate of 0.250 ± 0.020 for Lnsd when removing the first and last 10 days in milk in a lactation (Lnsd2). Based on moderate to high genetic correlations, lower Lnsd2 is associated with less milk losses, better reproductive performance, and lower disease incidence. These findings indicate that among the variables evaluated, Lnsd2 is the most promising indicator for breeding for improved resilience in Holstein cattle.</p

The annual genetic improvement in each breed over 40 years.

<p>The annual genetic improvement is represented by the average increments of estimated breeding value (EBV) per year and its standard errors. The blue bar indicates the genetic change for hip dysplasia on the vertical axis on the left, the red bar indicates the genetic change for elbow dysplasia on the vertical axis on the right. A breed was required to have a minimum of 10 dogs recorded as “degenerative joint disease I or II, or III” to be included in the analysis, which led to only 21 breeds remaining for elbow scores evaluation. All the 74 breeds satisfied the requirement on hip scores.</p

Distribution of hip and elbow scores released between 1974 and 2009.

<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0076390#pone-0076390-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2A:</a> Only three categories of hip scores (Excellent, Good and Fair) were jointly released as Normal between 1974 and 1985 and separately reported after 1985. There was no release on other categories before 2000. Then, all categories were released and reported separately; <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0076390#pone-0076390-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2B:</a> Elbow I meant “Normal”, Elbow II, III, IV meant osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease) level I, II and III respectively. Few elbow scores were released except for category “Normal” before 2000. The reports were heavily biased against reporting poor hip and elbow scores in the first 30 years.</p

Breed effects on hip and elbow scores and their standard errors.

<p>A breed was required to have a minimum of 10 dogs recorded as “degenerative joint disease I or II, or III” to be included in the analysis, which led to only 21 breeds remaining for elbow scores evaluation. All the 74 breeds satisfied the requirement on hip scores.</p

Trends of inbreeding coefficients over 40 years for small- and large-population breeds.

<p>The small and large population breeds were separated by a threshold value of 50,000 dogs. Breeds with 50,000 or less dogs were defined as small population breeds, while breeds with more than 50,000 dogs were the large population breeds, which included the Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, German Shepherd Dog, and Rottweiler.</p

Number of dogs with hip and elbow scores during 1974 to 2009.

<p>Red bar indicates the number for hip scores, and blue bar for elbow scores. There were 760,455 and 135,409 hip and elbow scores, respectively, in 74 dog breeds collected by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) during this period.</p

The means and standard deviations (SD) of hip and elbow scores. These statistics and number of scores (N) are characterized by sex and category of age in months.

<p>The means and standard deviations (SD) of hip and elbow scores. These statistics and number of scores (N) are characterized by sex and category of age in months.</p

DataSheet4_Association of lncRNA H19 polymorphisms with cancer susceptibility: An updated meta-analysis based on 53 studies.PDF

The association between polymorphisms in lncRNA H19 and cancer susceptibility remains to be inconsistent. This study aimed to provide a more precise estimation of the relationship between lncRNA H19 polymorphisms and the risk of cancer based on all available published studies. 53 studies encompassing 32,376 cases and 43,659 controls were included in our meta-analysis by searching the Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, WanFang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. Pooled ORs and their 95% CIs were used to estimate the strength between the SNPs in H19 (rs217727, rs2839698, rs2107425, rs3024270, rs2735971, rs3741216, and rs3741219) and cancer susceptibility. The results showed that H19 rs2839698 polymorphism was associated with increased cancer risk in all participants under three genetic models. However, no significant association was identified between the other six SNPs as well as an overall cancer risk. Stratification by ethnicity showed that rs2839698 mutation indicated to be an important hazardous factor for the Asian population. While rs2107425 mutation had a protective effect on the Caucasian population. Stratification by cancer type identified that rs217727 mutation was linked to increased susceptibility to oral squamous cell carcinoma, lung cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma; whereas rs2839698 mutation was associated with an elevated risk of hematological tumor and digestive system tumor (p < 0.05). Besides, the rs2735971 mutation was connected with the digestive system tumor. In summary, the rs217727, rs2839698, rs2107425 and rs2735971 polymorphisms in H19 have associations with cancer susceptibility.</p

Unraveling Stable Vanadium Tetraboride and Triboride by First-Principles Computations

Transition metal polyborides (e.g., tetraborides or triborides) with intriguing boron configurations offer a unique combination of excellent mechanical, superconducting, optical, and thermoelectric properties. Unraveling the specific structures of polyborides is critical to understanding their underlying physical and electronic properties. Here, we perform first-principles calculations to focus on the predictions of geometrical structures, relative stabilities, and mechanical and electronic properties of vanadium tetraboride (VB₄) and triboride (VB₃). VB₄ prefers to take <i>Cmcm</i> symmetry with a planar boron isosceles trapezoid, differing from earlier graphene-like or rhomboid boron arrangements in tetraborides. Upon compression, another new <i>Amm</i>2-type structure is energetically favorable above 12.0 GPa and can be stabilized up to 50 GPa. Both structures are qualified into incompressible and hard materials, comparable to previous reported tetraborides. Predicted <i>C</i>2/<i>m</i>-type VB₃ possesses intriguing puckered boron bilayers and graphene-like boron sheet and shows excellent mechanical properties. Analysis of electronic structure, electron density distributions, and Mulliken overlap population demonstrated the significant contributions of special planar isosceles trapezoid boron units to the great stability and excellent mechanical property for VB₄. Furthermore, the universal trend of structural features and mechanical behaviors was analyzed for the available 3d transition metal tetraborides