Background miRNA is one of the crucial roles in the complex and dynamic network that regulates the development of skeletal muscle. The landscape of skeletal muscle miRNAs from fetus to adult in New Zealand rabbits has not been revealed yet. Results In this study, nine RNA-seq libraries of fetus, child and adult rabbits’ leg muscles were constructed. A total of 278 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) were identified. In the fetus vs. child group, the main functional enrichments were involved in membrane and transport. Pathway enriched terms of up-regulated DEmiRNAs were connected with the differentiation and hypertrophy of skeletal muscle, and down-regulated ones were related to muscle structure and metabolic capacity. In the child vs. adult group, functions were associated to positioning and transportation, and pathways were relevant to ECM, muscle structure and hypertrophy. Finally, ocu-miR-185-3p and ocu-miR-370-3p, which had the most target genes, were identified as hub-miRNAs in these two groups. Conclusions In short, we summarized the highly expressed and uniquely expressed DEmiRNAs of fetus, child and adult rabbits’ leg muscles. Besides, the potential functional changes of miRNAs in two consecutive stages have been explored. Among them, the ocu-miR-185-3p and ocu-miR-370-3p with the most target genes were selected as hub-miRNAs. These data improved the understanding of the regulatory molecules of meat rabbit development, and provided a novel perspective for molecular breeding of meat rabbits.

Against the background of the aging trend in China, construction and regeneration strategies for an aging-friendly built environment are becoming common, led by urban governments, and public street spaces are the focus of these strategies. Exploring such planning and design strategies can help to improve the social welfare of the aging population and meet their diverse needs. Thus, this paper, through analyzing the determinants of the elderly’s needs, examines the relationship between spatial perception and street form, using Shanghai, in China, as a case study. This study contributes to the current literature in two ways: first, it constitutes the first attempt to build a needs hierarchy for aging people in a Chinese developed city; second, our statistical analysis involves large-scale population surveys, which helps us to comprehensively and deeply understand the impact of detailed street forms on the elderly’s various spatial perceptions. Our results indicate that the renovation of street space in different areas of cities can be improved by the control of street form, to meet the diverse needs of the local aging group.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a significant role in animal reproduction by regulating the expression of protein-coding genes. The hypothalamus regulates the pregnancy cycle changes in goats; however, the action mechanism of miRNAs in this regulation remains to be investigated. In this study, we performed RNA sequencing of hypothalamus samples to establish a comprehensive miRNA profiling of pregnant and non-pregnant goats. A total of 384 miRNAs were identified in the hypothalamus of pregnant goats, of which 239 were newly discovered, and 390 miRNAs were detected in the hypothalamus of non-pregnant goats of which 192 were novel miRNAs. In addition, a total of 280 differentially expressed miRNAs are characterized, of which 171 were known miRNAs and 109 were novel miRNAs. Functional enrichment suggests that the predicted target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs may be involved in the reproductive process. This preliminary study revealed that let-7f-5p, miR-99a-5p and miR-100-5p may be involved in the hypothalamic regulation of pregnancy cycle changes in goats. These data provide a basic reference for subsequent studies on the regulatory role of miRNAs in mammalian pregnancy.