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Didancao (Elephantopus scaber L.) has been used as a traditional herbal medicine and has exhibited a beneficial role in animal health. This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with E. scaber on growth performance, meat quality, intestinal morphology, and microbiota composition in ducks. A total of 480 Jiaji ducks (42 days old, male:female ratio = 1:1) were randomly assigned to one of four treatments. There were six replicates per treatment, with 20 ducks per replicate. The ducks in the control group (Con) were fed a basal diet; the three experimental groups were fed a basal diet supplementation with 30 (T1), 80 (T2), and 130 mg/kg (T3) of E. scaber. After a 48-day period of supplementation, growth performance, meat quality, intestinal morphology, and microbiota composition were evaluated. The results showed that no differences were observed in the final body weight, average daily feed intake, and average daily gain among the four groups. Compared with that in the Con group, the feed conversion in the T1 and T2 groups was increased significantly; the T2 group was shown to decrease the concentration of alanine aminotransferase in serum; the T3 group was lower than the Con group in the concentration of aspartate aminotransferase and was higher than the Con group in the concentration of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. The highest concentration of creatinine was observed in the T1 group. The T2 group was higher than the Con group in the contents of Phe, Ala, Gly, Glu, Arg, Lys, Tyr, Leu, Ser, Thr, Asp, and total amino acids in the breast muscle. Moreover, the T2 group was higher than the Con group in the contents of meat C18:2n−6 and polyunsaturated fatty acid. The concentration of inosinic acid in the T1, T2, and T3 groups was significantly higher than that in the Con group. However, the Con group was higher than the T2 or T3 group in the Zn content. The T2 group was lower than the Con group in the jejunal crypt depth. The T3 group was higher than the Con group in the ileal villus height and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth. In addition, the T3 group had a trend to significantly increase the abundance of Fusobacteria. Compared with the Con group, the T1 and T2 groups displayed a higher abundance of Subdoligranulum. Collectively, dietary supplementation with 80 mg/kg of E. scaber improves meat quality and intestinal development in ducks.

Background/aims: Type 2 diabetes mellitus aggravates myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MI/RI). Activation of adenosine receptors (ARs) confer to attenuated MI/RI in nondiabetic animals and human. However, this effects and mechanism of ARs in the type 2 diabetic state are still unknown. In present study, we established a type 2 diabetic rat in vivo myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) model to evaluate the effect of ARs on MI/RI with a focus on the A2A adenosine receptor (A2 AR) -mediated cardioprotective effects. Methods: Type 2 diabetic rat were subjected to myocardial infarction by LAD ligation in situ and randomly received ARs agonist and/or antagonists or vehicle treatment. After 2h marker of the extent of myocardial damage(ejection fraction of the LV, Infarct size, plasma cardiac troponin I) were measured and pro- and anti-apoptotic signals (protein kinase Cα，Bcl-2, Bax, miR-15), and marker of apoptosis execution (cleaved caspase-3, TUNEL) were quantified in the infarcted myocardium.Results: non-selective adenosine receptor agonist 5′-(N-ethylcarboxamido) adenosine treatment attenuates MI/RI, improve post-MI/R left ventricular function, limit infarct size, reduce cardiac troponin I release, reduce myocardial apoptosis, up-regulates bcl2 and down-regulates miR-15a, bax and cleaved caspase-3 expression; This protective effects were attenuated by pretreatment with selective A2AR antagonist ZM241385 or PKCα-selective inhibitor Go6976; and duplicated by treatment with A2AR-selective agonist CGS21680 or PKCα-potent activator PMA.Conclusions: NECA reduces MI/RI in T2DM rats via the A2AR/PKCα/miR-15a signaling pathway; NECA is a useful target candidate for the treatment of MI/RI in patient with type 2diabetes.

The fermented sorghum distiller's dried grains with soluble (FS-DDGS) contain numerous nutrients, yet its nutritional effects on growing-finishing pigs remain unclear. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary FS-DDGS addition on growth performance, carcass traits, and meat quality in growing-finishing pigs. A total of 48 healthy male crossbred (Large White × Landrace × Duroc) barrows with initial body weight (BW) of 39.95 ± 2.15 kg were allocated to one of four dietary treatments (12 pigs per treatment). The dietary treatments were as follows: basal diet without (FS-DDGS0 group) or with 50 g/kg (FS-DDGS50 group), 100 g/kg (FS-DDGS100 group), or 150 g/kg (FS-DDGS150) FS-DDGS, respectively. Results showed that dietary FS-DDGS addition increased (linear, P 24h value, and contents of ash, crude protein, and Pro in Longissimus dorsi muscle, and Ala, Arg, Asp, Glu, Ile, Leu, Lys, Ser, and Tyr in Biceps femoris (BF) muscle. Meanwhile, dietary FS-DDGS addition decreased (linear, P P

In order to solve the problem of pose measurement of roadheader body in low illumination and high dust environment in coal mine, a pose measurement technology of roadheader body based on visual and strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) is proposed. By extracting the point and line features and using the monocular vision positioning principle based on the gate three lines, the spatial pose of the roadheader body measured by vision is obtained according to the spatial matrix transformation. At the same time, the spatial pose of the roadheader body measured by SINS is calculated by gyroscope and accelerometer. Then the least square method is used to align the two-sensor data, and the registration data is fused based on the extended Kalman filter fusion algorithm to obtain the final fusion roadheader pose data. The experimental results show that the measurement error of the roadheader body position in the x axis direction of the roadway coordinate system is less than ± 20 mm, the error of the y axis direction is less than ±35 mm, the error of the z axis direction is less than ± 10 mm, the yaw angle error is between-0.4° to 0.7°, the roll angle error is between -0.2° and 0.6°, and the pitch angle error is between -0.02° and 0.5°. This method can be used to measure the pose of the roadheader stably and accurately in the complex environment of high dust, miscellaneous light and low illumination.

Maternal obesity induces placental dysfunction and intestinal microbial dysbiosis. However, the associations between intestinal microbiota and placental dysfunction are still unclear. In the present study, a gilt model was used to investigate the role of maternal obesity on placental oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, and fecal microbiota composition, meanwhile identifying microbiota markers associated with placental oxidative stress. Twenty gilts were divided into two groups based on their backfat thickness on parturition day: namely Con group (average backfat thickness = 33 mm), and Obese group (average backfat thickness = 39 mm). The results showed that Obese group was lower than Con group in the birth weight of piglets. Compared with the Con group, the Obesity group exhibited an increased oxidative damage and inflammatory response in placenta, as evidenced by the increased concentrations of placental reactive oxygen species (ROS), protein carboxyl, and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Obesity group was lower than Con group in the concentrations of placental adenosine triphosphate, citrate synthase, and complex I activity. In addition, lower propionate level and Bacteroidetes abundance in feces were seen in the Obese Group. Furthermore, the concentrations of placental ROS, protein carboxyl, and IL-6 were positively correlated with the abundance of Christensenellaceae_R-7_group and negatively correlated with that of norank_f_Bacteroidales_S24-7_group. In conclusion, these findings suggest that maternal obesity might impair oxidative and inflammatory response in placenta through modulating intestinal microbiota composition.

The fermented sorghum distiller's dried grain with soluble (FS-DDGS) contains numerous nutrients, yet its nutritional effects on growing-finishing pigs remain unclear. The present study evaluated the effects of dietary FS-DDGS addition on growth performance, carcass traits, and meat quality in growing-finishing pigs. A total of 48 healthy male crossbred (Large White × Landrace × Duroc) barrows with initial body weight (BW) of 39.95 ± 2.15 kg were allocated to one of four dietary treatments (12 pigs per treatment). The dietary treatments were as follows: basal diet without (FS-DDGS0 group) or with 50 g/kg (FS-DDGS50 group), 100 g/kg (FS-DDGS100 group), or 150 g/kg (FS-DDGS150 group) FS-DDGS, respectively. Results showed that there were no significant differences in the final BW, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and feed to gain ratio among these four groups. However, dietary FS-DDGS addition increased (linear, P0.05) the pH

SUMMARY: To know the nerve variations of brachial plexus and its branches is very important in the management of upper limb nerve injuries. Variations of the brachial plexus are not uncommon, but types of variations are diverse. The unusual communication branches between the musculocutaneous nerve (MCN) and the median nerve (MN) in course were found during routine dissection on the two different left arms of formalin fixed male cadavers. Depending on the position related to the coracobrachial muscle (CBM), one MCN pierced the CBM, the other did not in the two cases. The branches of MCN emerged interior to the coracoid process to innervate the CBM. The present case reports of anatomical variations of nerves can help to manage nerve injuries and plan surgical approaches during surgical procedures.

A total of 64 pregnant Bama mini-pigs were used to investigate the effects of maternal probiotic or synbiotic supplementation during gestation and lactation on immune response, intestinal morphology, and microbiota community of offspring piglets. The sows were assigned randomly to one of four groups, control group (basal diet), antibiotic group (basal diet supplemented with 50 g/t virginiamycin), probiotic group (basal diet supplemented with 200 mL/d probiotic fermentation broth per pig), or synbiotic group (basal diet supplemented with 200 mL/d probiotic fermentation broth per pig + 500 g/t xylo-oligosaccharides) during pregnancy and lactation periods. After weaning, two piglets close to the average body weight (BW) per litter were selected and fed a basal diet. Eight piglets with similar BW were selected from each group for sample collection at 65 d-old. The results showed that plasma interleukin (IL)-2 and lipopolysaccharide concentrations were decreased (P < 0.05) in the probiotic group, while the immunoglobulin A (IgA) concentration in the probiotic and synbiotic groups was increased (P < 0.05), when compared with the control group. The jejunal IL-10, interferon-α, and secretory IgA (sIgA) concentrations were increased (P < 0.05) in the probiotic and synbiotic groups, as well as the ileal sIgA concentration in the probiotic group. The jejunal villus height (VH) and the ratio of VH to crypt depth were increased (P < 0.05) in the probiotic group, as well as the ileal VH in the synbiotic group. Furthermore, the piglets from the antibiotic group exhibited a lower microbiota diversity in the jejunum and ileum. The piglets from the synbiotic group had higher relative abundances of Actinobacteria, Bifidobacterium, Turicibacter, and Clostridium in the jejunum compared with the antibiotic group. Dietary probiotic treatment increased (P < 0.05) the relative abundance of Psychrobacter in the ileum compared with the antibiotic and control groups. Spearman's correlation analysis revealed that the relative abundances of Bifidobacterium, Clostridium, and Blautia in the jejunum and Psychrobacter in the ileum, were positively correlated with the alterations of immunoglobulin and cytokines. Collectively, these findings suggest that maternal interventions with probiotic or synbiotic are promising strategies for improving the immune response of offspring piglets by altering the gut microbiota.

To investigate the effect of functional amino acid on meat flavor and eating quality, 60 growing‐finishing pigs (Duroc × Large White × Landrace) were dietarily supplemented with or without 1.0% l‐arginine, glutamic acid, or l‐arginine plus glutamic acid for 2 months. After animals were slaughtered, the muscle fatty acid profile, flavor compounds, and meat sensory quality were comparatively investigated. The results showed that dietary supplementation with arginine, glutamic acid, or arginine plus glutamic acid had little effect on free amino acids, no effect on 5′‐nucleotides and meat sensory taste traits, but supplementation with arginine plus glutamic acid significantly increased (P

Maternal obesity is associated with placental oxidative stress. However, the mechanism underlying this association remains poorly understood. In the present study, a gilt obesity model was developed by exposure to different energy diets and used to investigate the role of NADPH oxidase 2 (Nox2) in the placenta. Specifically, 99 gilts (Guangdong Small-ear Spotted pig) at day 60 of gestation were randomly assigned to one of the following three treatments: low-energy group (L, DE=11.50 MJ/kg), medium-energy group (M, DE=12.41 MJ/kg), and high-energy group (H, DE=13.42 MJ/kg), with 11 replicate pens per treatment and 3 gilts per pen. At the start of the study, maternal body weight and backfat thickness were not significantly different in the three treatments. After the study, data indicated that the H group had higher body weight and backfat thickness gain for gilts during gestation and lower piglet birth weight compared with the other two groups. Additionally, the H group showed glucolipid metabolic disorders and increased triglyceride and nonesterified fatty acid contents in the placenta of gilts. Compared with the L group, the H group exhibited lower mitochondrial biogenesis and increased oxidative damage in the placenta. Importantly, increased mRNA expression and protein abundance of Nox2 were observed for the first time in H group placentae. Furthermore, compared with the L group, the H group showed a decrease in the density of placental vessels and the protein levels of vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), and phosphorylation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (p-VEGFR2) as well as the immunostaining intensity of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (CD31). Our findings suggest that maternal high-energy diet-induced obesity increases placental oxidative stress and decreases placental angiogenesis possibly through the upregulation of Nox2.

Previous studies have shown that the composition and function of gut microbiota possibly contribute to the oxidative stress and host metabolism of sows. However, a functional link between gut bacteria with oxidative stress and stillbirth rate of sows remain unclear. To address this issue, the reproductive performance, oxidative stress and gut microbiota of sows with high (H) and low (L) stillbirth rate were analyzed. Results showed that, compared with the H group, the L group had a shorter farrowing duration as well as higher concentration of serum total antioxidant capacity and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity. For the gut microbiota composition of the tested sows, 6 genera differed between the two groups, 7 genera were correlative with stillbirth rate, and 2 genera were correlated with farrowing duration. The relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae_UCG-001, Marvinbryantia and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-004 were negatively correlated with antioxidant capacity, but positively correlated with the stillbirth rate of sows. Furthermore, the microbiota functions in the polyketide sugar unit biosynthesis and nitrotoluene degradation were found to be different between the two groups through the phylotypic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states. Collectively, gut microbiota and their functions vary between sows with high or low stillbirth rate, while stillbirth rate and farrowing duration are significantly correlated with the gut microbiota composition and oxidative stress status of sows.

Objective To provide an open-source software package for determining temporal correlations between disease states using longitudinal electronic medical records (EMR). Materials and Methods We have developed an R-based package, Disease Correlation Network (DCN), which builds retrospective matched cohorts from longitudinal medical records to assess for significant temporal correlations between diseases using two independent methodologies: Cox proportional hazards regression and random forest survival analysis. This optimizable package has the potential to control for relevant confounding factors such as age, gender, and other demographic and medical characteristics. Output is presented as a DCN which may be analyzed using a JavaScript-based interactive visualization tool for users to explore statistically significant correlations between disease states of interest using graph-theory-based network topology. Results We have applied this package to a longitudinal dataset at Loyola University Chicago Medical Center with 654 084 distinct initial diagnoses of 51 conditions in 175 539 patients. Over 90% of disease correlations identified are supported by literature review. DCN is available for download at https://github.com/qunfengdong/DCN. Conclusions DCN allows screening of EMR data to identify potential relationships between chronic disease states. This data may then be used to formulate novel research hypotheses for further characterization of these relationships.

Background and objective Hedyotis diffusa is an herb used for anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fibroblast treatment in the clinical practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine. However, its pharmacological mechanisms have not been fully established and there is a lack of modern scientific verification. One of the best ways to further understand Hedyotis diffusa's mechanisms of action is to analyze it from the genomics perspective. Methods In this study, we used network pharmacology approaches to infer the herb-gene interactions, the herb-pathway interactions, and the gene families. We then analyzed Hedyotis diffusa's mechanisms of action using the genomics context combined with the Traditional Chinese Medicine clinical practice and the pharmacological research. Results The results obtained in the pathway and gene family analysis were consistent with the Traditional Chinese Medicine clinical experience and the pharmacological activities of Hedyotis diffusa. Conclusions Our approach can identify related genes and pathways correctly with little a priori knowledge, and provide potential directions to facilitate further research.

Background Gut microbiota and their metabolites were associated with obesity. Our previous study showed that maternal body fat percentage increased from days 45 to 110 of gestation in a Huanjiang mini-pig model. Thus, 16S rRNA sequencing and metabonomic techniques were used to investigate the changes of maternal gut microbiota composition and microbial metabolite profile from days 45 to 110 of gestation. Results The abundances of Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Romboutsia, Turicibacter, and Streptococcus in jejunum contents were higher in day 110 than those in day 45 or 75 of gestation. In ileum, the abundance of Streptococcus was the highest (P P

Background: Oxidative stress in placenta is associated with the occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes in sow, but there are few satisfactory treatment strategies for these conditions. This study investigated the potential of cysteamine (CS) as an antioxidant protectant for regulating the reproductive performance, redox status, and placental angiogenesis of sows.Methods: The placental oxidative stress status and vascular density of piglets with different birth weights: in vivo results were validated using porcine vascular endothelial cells (PVECs).Results: The placentae for the LBW piglets had higher oxidative damage and lower vascular density than those for the NBW piglets (P < 0.05). Further experiments with sows showed that compared with the CON group, the CS100 group was lower in the stillbirth and invalid rates, and higher in the piglet birth weight and placental efficiency (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the CS100 group also displayed higher glutathione and lower malondialdehyde in both the serum and colostrum of sows (P < 0.05). Interestingly, compared to the CON group, the LBW placentae of the CS100 group showed a decrease in oxidative damage, while an increase in vascular density (P < 0.05), as well as the mRNA level of vascular endothelial growth factor A and the immunostaining intensity of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the in vitro experiment indicated that CS pre-treatment could significantly reverse the NADPH oxidase 2-ROS-mediated inactivation of signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (Stat3) signaling pathway induced by H2O2 inhibition of the proliferation, tube formation, and migration of PVECs (P < 0.05).Conclusions: The results indicated that oxidative stress and impaired angiogenesis might contribute to the occurrence of low-birth-weight piglets during pregnancy, but CS supplementation at 100 mg/kg during late gestation and lactation of sows could alleviate oxidative stress and enhance angiogenesis in placenta, thereby improving pregnancy outcome. The in vitro data showed that the underlying mechanism for the positive effects of CS may be related to the activation of Stat3.

In our previous study, the maternal high-fat/low-fiber (HF-LF) diet was suggested to induce metabolic disorders and placental dysfunction of the dam, but the effects of this diet on glucose metabolism of neonatal offspring remain largely unknown. Here, a neonatal pig model was used to evaluate the effects of maternal HF-LF diet during pregnancy on glucose tolerance, transition of skeletal muscle fiber types, and mitochondrial function in offspring.A total of 66 pregnant gilts (Guangdong Small-ear Spotted pig) at day 60 of gestation were randomly divided into two groups: control group (CON group; 2.86% crude fat, 9.37% crude fiber), and high-fat/low-fiber diet group (HF-LF group; 5.99% crude fat, 4.13% crude fiber).The maternal HF-LF diet was shown to impair the glucose tolerance of neonatal offspring, downregulate the protein level of slow-twitch fiber myosin heavy chain I (MyHC I), and upregulate the protein levels of fast-twitch fiber myosin heavy chain IIb (MyHC IIb) and IIx (MyHC IIx) in soleus muscle. Additionally, compared with the CON group, the HF-LF offspring showed inhibition of insulin signaling pathway and decrease in mitochondrial function in liver and soleus muscle.Maternal HF-LF diet during pregnancy impairs glucose tolerance, induces the formation of glycolytic muscle fibers, and decreases the hepatic and muscular mitochondrial function in neonatal piglets.

Background: Guangdong Small-ear Spotted pigs are Chinese indigenous pig that have the characteristic of desired meat quality and resistance to coarse feeding. However, no study has elucidated the effects of dietary energy levels on body weight, muscle development and glucose metabolism of its newborn piglets. Therefore, a total of 66 pregnant gilts with an average body weight of 80.6±6.6 kg at day 60 of gestation were randomly divided into two groups: control group (CON group; 11.50 MJ/kg digestible energy), and high-energy diet group (HE group; 13.42 MJ/kg digestible energy). Results: The results showed that the maternal HE diet was shown to decrease the birth weight of piglets that from the gilts with total or alive litter size of 12 to 13. Additionally, the HE diet group were shown to impair the glucose tolerance of newborn piglets, as evidenced by the glucose tolerance test and the inhibition of insulin signaling pathway in liver and soleus muscle. Despite no significant change in the muscle weight in the two groups, the maternal HE diet was shown to downregulate the protein level of slow-twitch fiber myosin heavy chain I (MyHC I), and upregulate the protein levels of fast-twitch fiber myosin heavy chain IIb (MyHC IIb) and IIx (MyHC IIx) in soleus muscle of their progeny. Furthermore, the newborn piglets in HE group were showed a decrease in mitochondrial biogenesis in liver and soleus muscle when compared to that in CON group. Conclusions: Maternal high-energy diet from middle to late gestation decreases the birth weight of piglets that from the gilts with total or alive litter size of 12 to 13, induces the formation of glycolytic muscle fibers, and impairs glucose tolerance of their newborn piglets.

Background Maternal nutrition during gestation plays a vital role in fetal development. The effects of different maternal feeding strategies from day 1 to day 85 of gestation on glucose tolerance and muscle development in low and normal birth weight offspring were investigated by using 80 gilts randomly allotted to T1 and T2 groups and treated respectively with a gradual-increase (T1) and a convex transition (T2) feeding strategy, with no difference in total feed intake. Results T2 group was seen to have a higher percentage of piglets with birth weight less than 500 g, while T1 group was shown to have a higher percentage of piglets with birth weight over 700 g. Meanwhile, for both low and normal birth weight piglets, T1 group was higher than T2 group in terms of muscle free amino acid concentration, mRNA expression levels of muscle growth-related factors, relative muscle fiber number and cross-sectional area. We must emphasize that the T2 group was shown to improve glucose tolerance, slow-twitch muscle fiber protein levels, and muscle mitochondrial function only in low birth weight piglets. Conclusion The convex transition feeding strategy can decrease the percentage of piglets with birth weight over 700 g, while improving glucose tolerance, slow-twitch muscle fiber protein levels, and muscle mitochondrial function in low birth weight piglets. Our findings provide new evidence for the potential importance of nutritional strategies during gestation, especially for improving the glucose tolerance and muscle development of low birth weight neonatal. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is associated with fetal mortality and morbidity. One of the most common causes of IUGR is placental insufficiency, including placental vascular defects, and mitochondrial dysfunction. In addition, a high level of oxidative stress induces placental vascular lesions. Here, we evaluated the oxidative stress status, mitochondrial function, angiogenesis, and nutrient transporters in placentae of piglets with different birth weights: 700 g (H). Results showed that placentae from the L group had higher oxidative damage, lower adenosine triphosphate and citrate synthase levels, and lower vascular density, compared to those from the other groups. Protein expression of angiogenic markers, including vascular endothelial cadherin, vascular endothelial growth factor A, and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1, was the lowest in the L group placentae compared to the other groups. In addition, the protein levels of glucose transporters GLUT1 and GLUT3 were downregulated in the L group, compared to the other groups. Furthermore, oxidative stress induced by H2O2 inhibited tube formation and migration in porcine vascular endothelial cells. Collectively, placentae for lower birth weight neonates are vulnerable to oxidative damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and impaired angiogenesis.

Our previous study showed dietary supplementation with Arg and Glu increased intramuscular fat deposition and decreased back fat thickness in pigs, suggesting that the genes involved in lipid metabolism might be regulated differently in muscle and s.c. adipose (SA) tissues. Sixty Duroc × Large White × Landrace pigs with an average initial BW of 77.1 ± 1.3 kg were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 treatment groups (castrated male to female ratio = 1:1). Pigs in the control group were fed a basic diet, and those in experimental groups were fed the basic diet supplemented with 2.05% L-alanine (isonitrogenous group), 1.00% L-arginine (Arg group), 1.00% glutamic acid + 1.44% L-alanine (Glu group), or 1.00% L-arginine + 1.00% glutamic acid (Arg+Glu group). Fatty acid percentages and mRNA expression levels of the genes involved in lipid metabolism in muscle and SA tissues were examined. The percentages of C14:0 and C16:0 in the SA tissue of Glu group pigs and C14:0 in the longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle of Glu and Arg+Glu groups decreased (P < 0.05) compared to the basic diet group. The Arg+Glu group showed the highest (P < 0.05) hormone-sensitive lipase expression level in SA tissue and higher (P < 0.05) mRNA levels of PPARγ in the LD muscle than the basic diet and isonitrogenous groups. Additionally, the mRNA level of fatty acid synthase in the Arg+Glu group was more upregulated (P < 0.05) than that of the Arg group. An increase in the mRNA level of PPARγ in the biceps femoris muscle was also observed in the Arg+Glu group (P < 0.05) compared with the basic diet and isonitrogenous groups. Collectively, these findings suggest that dietary supplementation with Arg and Glu upregulates the expression of genes involved in adipogenesis in muscle tissues and lipolysis in SA tissues.

Sixty Duroc × Large White × Landrace pigs with an average initial BW of 77.1 ± 1.3 kg were used to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with arginine and glutamic acid on growth performance, carcass traits, and meat quality in growing-finishing pigs. The animals were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 treatment groups (12 pigs/group, male:female ratio 1:1). The pigs in the control group were fed a basal diet (basal diet group), and those in the experimental groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 2.05% -alanine (isonitrogenous group), 1.0% -arginine (Arg group), 1% glutamic acid + 1.44% -alanine (Glu group), or 1.0% -arginine + 1.0% glutamic acid (Arg+Glu group). After a 60-d period of supplementation, growth performance, carcass traits, and meat quality were evaluated. The results showed no significant differences ( > 0.05) in growth performance and carcass traits of the pigs in the Arg group relative to the basal diet group; however, the longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle and back fat showed a decrease ( 0.05) on the final BW, phase 2 ADFI, and average daily weight gain in pigs but decreased ( < 0.05) their phase 1 ADFI, average back fat thickness, and percentage of SFA in the LD muscle and back fat, and increased ( < 0.05) the i.m. fat (IMF) content of the LD and biceps femoris muscles when compared with the basal diet group. Furthermore, a 16% decrease in yellowness (b* value; < 0.05) was observed in the Arg+Glu group pigs when compared with the isonitrogenous group. These findings suggest that dietary supplementation with both Arg and Glu beneficially increases the IMF deposition and improves the meat color and fatty acid composition without affecting growth performance and s.c. fat in pigs, providing a novel strategy to enhance meat quality in growing-finishing pigs.

SUMMARY: The suprascapular artery (SSA) has been identified to be of clinical relevance to clavicular fracture, suprascapular neuropathy and surgical intervention of shoulder. Thus its origin and course have been intensively studied. In this case, we found a unilateral variation of the suprascapular artery, originating from the 1st segment of axillary artery, and sequentially penetrating the upper trunk of brachial plexus, passing through the suprascapular notch under the superior transverse scapular ligament. This case will be helpful to clinical management in cervical and shoulder region.

In this study, the effects of maternal energy sources during late gestation and lactation on the performance, glucolipid metabolism, and oxidative status of sows and their offspring were investigated using a total of 75 (2 to 6 of parity) Landrace × Large White sows at day 85 of gestation under 3 different dietary treatments: SO diet (basal diet plus 3.0% and 5.0% soybean oil during late gestation and lactation, respectively), FO diet (basal diet plus 3.0%/5.0% fish oil during late gestation and lactation, respectively), and CS diet (basal diet plus 32%/42% corn starch during late gestation and lactation, respectively). All the 3 groups showed no obvious differences (P > 0.05) in the number of total piglets born, born alive, after cross-fostering, and at weaning, whereas the CS group exhibited a shorter farrowing duration (P < 0.05) and lower stillbirth rate (P < 0.05) when compared with the SO group. In addition, litter weight at birth was significantly higher in the CS group than in the SO or FO group (P < 0.05). Despite no notable differences in the ADG of suckling piglets among dietary treatments (P > 0.05), the CS group had greater feed intake than the SO group during the lactation period (P < 0.05). In neonatal piglets with normal birth weight (NBW, 1.3 to 1.5 kg), the CS group was lower than the SO group in the content of liver glycogen (P < 0.05) and the mRNA abundances of fatty acid synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, fatty acid-binding protein 1, and acyl-CoA oxidase (P < 0.05). Interestingly, compared with the SO group, the FO group had a lower preweaning mortality rate (P < 0.05), but greater liver glycogen pools (P < 0.05) in neonatal piglets with low birth weight (LBW

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Sample-based rarefaction analysis.

While an appropriate feed intake is crucial for the reproductive performance of sows, there is a lack of recommendations currently for feed allowance of Guangdong Small-ear Spotted gilts during gestation. The effects of 2 different feeding patterns during gestation on the reproductive performance of Guangdong Small-ear Spotted gilts were investigated by assigning 80 gilts to 2 feeding pattern groups with a randomized complete block design in accordance with initial body weight and back fat thickness, followed by treatment with an incremental feeding pattern (IFP) and a concaved feeding pattern, respectively, with no difference in total feed intake. The IFP group showed a significant decrease in the stillbirth rate (P < 0.05) and an upward trend in piglet mean birth weight (P = 0.06). Furthermore, the IFP group exhibited an increase in the weights of stomach, supraspinatus tendon, triceps, and psoas minor in neonatal piglets (P < 0.05). Overall, the results of the present investigation showed that IFP could significantly reduce the stillbirth rate of Guangdong Small-ear Spotted gilts and increase the muscle weight of progeny.

As the rapid development of IOT (the Internet of Things), RFID technology has been widely applied, and it generates a large of RFID trajectory stream data with the spatialtemporal characteristic. Because RFID has many characteristics, it leads to become very difficult that extracting moving objects groups that together moving (ie. traveling partners) in a period of time from RFID trajectory stream data. Existing methods are difficult to efficiently find this model. This paper presents a closed clustering and intersecting algorithm (CCI) for RFID data to detect movement along traveling partners, which is mainly constituted by two steps: first step is clustering sub-trajectory, it generates sub-trajectory clusters; second step is intersecting sub-trajectories with the traveling partners’ candidate set to improve the candidate set, and find out traveling partners. In this process, we use the principle of Closure to accelerate our processing. Through experiments on the RFID synthetic dataset, we demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our algorithm, thus show that our algorithm is suitable for discovering traveling partners in RFID applications.

The tumor suppressor protein p53 is an important player in the regulation of cell senescence, its functions are largely carried out by modulating its downstream genes. Emerging evidence has suggested that senescence and autophagy appear to be regulated by overlapping signaling pathways. Furthermore, autophagy markers have been observed in senescent cells. In this study, we sought to explore the effects of the expression pattern and function of p53 on the activity of autophagy and replicative senescence in bone marrow derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs). We found that more than 85% of BMSCs stained positive for SA-β-gal at passage 6 (senescent BMSCs) with increased expressions of senescence related genes (p16(ink4a) and p21(waf1)). These results were accompanied by the up-regulation of p53, down-regulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and phosphorylation of Rb. Senescent BMSCs displayed an increased monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining and autophagy related genes (LC3 and atg12) level compared with BMSCs at passage 2. Knockdown of p53 alleviated the senescent state and reduced autophagic activity during the progression of BMSC senescence, which was accompanied by significantly up-regulated levels of mTOR and phosphorylation of Rb. These results demonstrate that autophagy increases when BMSCs enter the replicative senescence state, and p53 contributes a crucial role in the up-regulation of autophagy in this state.

Forty-eight Duroc × Large White × Landrace pigs with an average initial body weight of 77.09 ± 1.37 kg were used to investigate the effects of combination of leucine (Leu) with arginine (Arg) or glutamic acid (Glu) on muscle growth, free amino acid profiles, expression levels of amino acid transporters and growth-related genes in skeletal muscle. The animals were randomly assigned to one of the four treatment groups (12 pigs/group, castrated male:female = 1:1). The pigs in the control group were fed a basal diet (13% Crude Protein), and those in the experimental groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 1.00% Leu (L group), 1.00% Leu + 1.00% Arg (LA group) or 1.00% Leu + 1.00% Glu (LG group). The experiment lasted for 60 days. Results showed an increase (p < 0.05) in biceps femoris (BF) muscle weight in the L group and LG group relative to the basal diet group. In longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle, Lys, taurine and total essential amino acid concentration increased in the LG group relative to the basal diet group (p < 0.05). In LG group, Glu and carnosine concentrations increased (p < 0.05) in the BF muscle, when compared to the basal diet group. The Leu and Lys concentrations of BF muscle were lower in the LA group than that in the L group (p < 0.05). A positive association was found between BF muscle weight and Leu concentration (p < 0.05). The LG group presented higher (p < 0.05) mRNA levels of ASCT2, LAT1, PAT2, SANT2 and TAT1 in LD muscle than those in the basal diet group. The mRNA levels of PAT2 and MyoD in BF muscle were upregulated (p < 0.05) in the LG group, compared with those in the basal diet group. In conclusion, Leu alone or in combination with Glu is benefit for biceps femoris muscle growth in fattening pig.

Wogonin is a flavonoid isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis root and has multiple pharmacological effects, including anticancer effects. Recent studies have shown that wogonin induces cell cycle arrest and reverses multi-drug resistance in the human K562 leukemia cell line. However, its pharmacological function in the apoptosis of leukemia cells remains unknown. Therefore, we hypothesized that wogonin can induce apoptosis in the HL-60 leukemia cell line. In the present study, the HL-60 cells were treated with different doses of wogonin (0-150 µM). Wogonin inhibited the viability of HL-60 cells in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. Flow cytometry and analyses of caspase and PARP-1 activation and the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, demonstrated that the cytotoxic effect of wogonin on HL-60 cells was mediated by caspase-dependent and mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis. Wogonin also induced the expression of certain members of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathway (CHOP, GRP94 and GRP78) and the activation of multiple branches of ER stress transducers (IRE1α, PERK-eIF2α and ATF6) in the HL-60 cells. In addition, wogonin reduced the phosphorylation of PI3K and AKT in the HL-60 cells. Furthermore, constitutive activation of AKT induced by adenoviral vectors inhibited the pro-apoptotic effects and ER stress induced by wogonin in the HL-60 cells. In summary, our results indicated that wogonin induced apoptosis and ER stress in HL-60 cells, which was mediated by the inhibition of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.

The osteogenic capacities of bone marrow-derived stromal cells (BMSCs) diminish during replicative senescence, and these changes affect the success of therapeutic application of BMSCs. In this study, we sought to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the osteogenic differentiation capacities that occur during replicative senescence. It is well known that Oct4 is a key transcription factor essential for maintaining differentiation capacities of the stem cells. In this study, we found that BMSCs at passage 6 (replicative senescent BMSCs) showed marked decreases in the osteogenic differentiation potential and the level of Oct4. These were accompanied by reduced levels of Snf5 and histone H3 lysine-4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) in the Oct4 promoter. In BMSCs at passage 2, knockdown of Snf5 diminished expression of Oct4 and disrupted the up-regulation of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) after osteogenic differentiation induction, which was accompanied by a reduction in Snf5 and H3K4me3 binding to the Oct4 promoter. These findings indicate that the decreased level of Snf5 binding to the promoter region of the Oct4 gene down-regulated the expression of Oct4, which may be the mechanism underlying the decline in osteogenic capacities in replicative senescent BMSCs.

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) degrades a protein molecule via 2 main steps: ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. Extraproteasomal ubiquitin receptors are thought to couple the 2 steps, but this proposition has not been tested in vivo with vertebrates. More importantly, impaired UPS performance plays a major role in cardiac pathogenesis, including myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), but the molecular basis of UPS impairment remains poorly understood. Ubiquilin1 is a bona fide extraproteasomal ubiquitin receptor. Here, we report that mice with a cardiomyocyte-restricted knockout of Ubiquilin1 (Ubqln1-CKO mice) accumulated a surrogate UPS substrate (GFPdgn) and increased myocardial ubiquitinated proteins without altering proteasome activities, resulting in late-onset cardiomyopathy and a markedly shortened life span. When subject to regional myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, young Ubqln1-CKO mice showed substantially exacerbated cardiac malfunction and enlarged infarct size, and conversely, mice with transgenic Ubqln1 overexpression displayed attenuated IRI. Furthermore, Ubqln1 overexpression facilitated proteasomal degradation of oxidized proteins and the degradation of a UPS surrogate substrate in cultured cardiomyocytes without increasing autophagic flux. These findings demonstrate that Ubiquilin1 is essential to cardiac ubiquitination-proteasome coupling and that an inadequacy in the coupling represents a major pathogenic factor for myocardial IRI; therefore, strategies to strengthen coupling have the potential to reduce IRI.

Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is a very promising way for the development of heavy oil, extra heavy oil and tight oil reservoirs. Proper monitoring of the SAGD operations is essential to avoid operational issues and improve efficiency. Among all the monitoring techniques, micro-seismic monitoring and related interpretation method can give useful information about the steam chamber development and has been extensively studied. Distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) based on Rayleigh backscattering is a newly developed technique that can measure acoustic signal at all points along the sensing fiber. In this paper, we demonstrate a DAS system based on dual-pulse heterodyne demodulation technique and did field trial in SAGD well located in Xinjiang Oilfield, China. The field trail results validated the performance of the DAS system and indicated its applicability in steam-chamber monitoring and hydraulic monitoring.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 infection and RASSF1A expression play important roles in tumor development and progression. However, the precise mechanisms underlying their concerted function in the development of reproductive system tumors still remain to be elucidated. In the present study, we showed that HPV16-E6 selectively upregulates RASSF1A expression via degradation of p53, which interacts with the RASSF1A promoter and regulates apoptosis. Overexpression of p53 triggered a decrease in endogenous RASSF1A in SiHa cells, accompanied by apoptosis. Similarly, knockdown of endogenous HPV16-E6 in SiHa cells with RNA interference (RNAi) led to downregulation of RASSF1A mediated by p53 and the subsequent induction of apoptosis. These findings collectively suggest that HPV16 infection regulates p53-mediated RASSF1A expression and suppresses apoptosis. Moreover, RASSF1A may form an element of the negative autoregulatory feedback loops that act on the HPV16 response and are involved in p53-dependent apoptosis. Our results provide novel insights into the cellular mechanism of tumor development, and present a starting point for the development of novel strategies in cancer treatment and effective diagnosis.

Aim: Thrombin induces vascular responses including the promotion of tissue factor (TF) and plas-minogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) protein expression, which is modulated by small GTPases RhoA and Rac1, Ca2+ signaling and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Recent studies have shown that membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) functions not only as a protease but also as a signaling molecule. In this study, we hypothesized that MT1-MMP may mediate RhoA and Rac1 activation and their downstream events in thrombin-stimulated endothelial cells.Methods: We used cultured human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs). MT1-MMP was silenced by small interfering RNA (siRNA). RhoA was inhibited by C3 exoenzyme, whereas adenovirus-mediated gene transfection of dominant negative RhoA and Rac1 was used for the inhibition of RhoA and Rac1. RhoA and Rac1 activation was determined by pull-down assays. Intracellular Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]i) were fluorescently measured by fura-2 assay. NADPH oxidase activity was determined by lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence.Results: Inhibition of RhoA attenuated thrombin-triggered [Ca2+]i increase and TF and PAI-1 expression in HAECs, whereas thrombin-triggered ROS generation and TF and PAI-1 expression were blocked by inhibition of Rac1. Silencing of MT1-MMP attenuated thrombin-triggered RhoA and Rac1 activation, resulting in the attenuation of downstream events including Ca2+ signaling, NADPH oxidase activity, ROS generation, and TF and PAI-1 expression.Conclusions: The present study shows that MT1-MMP mediates the RhoA/Ca2+ and Rac1/NADPH oxidase-dependent signaling pathways in thrombin-induced vascular responses.

In most methods for modeling mortality rates, the idiosyncratic shocks are assumed to be homoskedastic. This study investigates the conditional heteroskedasticity of mortality in terms of statistical time series. We start from testing the conditional heteroskedasticity of the period effect in the naive Lee–Carter model for some mortality data. Then we introduce the Generalized Dynamic Factor method and the multivariate BEKK GARCH model to describe mortality dynamics and the conditional heteroskedasticity of mortality. After specifying the number of static factors and dynamic factors by several variants of information criterion, we compare our model with other two models, namely, the Lee–Carter model and the state space model. Based on several error-based measures of performance, our results indicate that if the number of static factors and dynamic factors is properly determined, the method proposed dominates other methods. Finally, we use our method combined with Kalman filter to forecast the mortality rates of Iceland and period life expectancies of Denmark, Finland, Italy and Netherlands.

This paper reports a new optical fiber accelerometer which is suitable for heterodyne demodulation method. Dual low reflectivity polarization-maintaining FBG is used to form the interferometer inside accelerometer, simplify the structure of traditional interferometer and eliminate polarization fading. The resonance frequency and the sensitivity of the accelerometer are predicted by using micro-element analysis. The experimental results showed that the accelerometer’s sensitivity is more than 40 dB re rad/g, and the bandwidth is wider than 1.2 kHz. This type of optical fiber accelerometer can be widely used in acceleration sensing system which requires both high sensitivity and wide bandwidth.

A fiber-optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI) and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based pressure sensor system is designed. Using polyimide coated optical fiber, this sensor works in harsh environment of high temperature and high pressure such as oilfield application with the advantages of high sensitivity, quick response and good reliability. Experiments show the sensor system has a pressure accuracy of 0.05MPa over a range of 0.1MPa to 60MPa at room temperature and in the mixed environment of high temperature and high pressure, the pressure accuracy gets to 0.07MPa under the experimental condition.