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This study examined the effect of supplementing exogenous cellulase on nutrient and energy utilization. Twelve desexed Boer crossbred goats were used in a replicated 3×3 Latin square design with 23-d periods. Dietary treatments were basal diet (control, no cellulase), basal diet plus 2 g unitary cellulase/kg of total mixed ration dry matter (DM), and basal diet plus 2 g compound cellulase/kg of total mixed ration DM. Three stages of feeding trials were used corresponding to the three treatments, each comprised 23 d, with the first 14 d as the preliminary period and the following 9 d as formal trial period for metabolism trial. Total collection of feces and urine were conducted from the 4th d of the formal trial, and gas exchange measures were determined in indirect respiratory chambers in the last 3 d of the formal trial. Results showed that cellulase addition had no effect (p>0.05) on nutrient digestibility. Dietary supplementation of cellulase did not affect (p>0.05) N intake and retention in goats. Gross energy (GE) intake, fecal energy and urinary energy excretion, heat production were not affected (p>0.05) by the cellulase supplementation. Total methane emission (g/d), CH4 emission as a proportion of live weight or feed intake (DM, organic matter [OM], digestible DM or digestible OM), or CH4 energy output (CH4-E) as a proportion of energy intake (GE, digestible energy, or metabolizable energy), were similar (p>0.05) among treatments. There was a significant (p

Due to invariance to significant intensity differences, similarity metrics have been widely used as criteria for an area-based method for registering optical remote sensing image. However, for images with large scale and rotation difference, the robustness of similarity metrics can greatly determine the registration accuracy. In addition, area-based methods usually require appropriately selected initial values for registration parameters. This paper presents a registration approach using spatial consistency (SC) and average regional information divergence (ARID), called spatial-consistency and average regional information divergence minimization via quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (SC-ARID-QPSO) for optical remote sensing images registration. Its key idea minimizes ARID with SC to select an ARID-minimized spatial consistent feature point set. Then, the selected consistent feature set is tuned randomly to generate a set of M registration parameters, which provide initial particle warms to implement QPSO to obtain final optimal registration parameters. The proposed ARID is used as a criterion for the selection of consistent feature set, the generation of initial parameter sets, and fitness functions used by QPSO. The iterative process of QPSO is terminated based on a custom-designed automatic stopping rule. To evaluate the performance of SC-ARID-QPSO, both simulated and real images are used for experiments for validation. In addition, two data sets are particularly designed to conduct a comparative study and analysis with existing state-of-the-art methods. The experimental results demonstrate that SC-ARID-QPSO produces better registration accuracy and robustness than compared methods.

In the present experiment, we investigated the impact of heat stress (HS) on physiological parameters, dry matter intake, milk production, the metabolome of milk, and blood plasma in lactating Holstein dairy cows. For this purpose, 20 Holstein lactating cows were distributed in two groups in such a way that each group had 10 cows. A group of 10 cows was reared in HS conditions, while the other group of 10 cows was reared in the thermoneutral zone. The results of the experiment showed that cows subjected to HS had higher respiration rates (p < 0.01) and greater rectal temperature (p < 0.01). Results of milk production and composition explored that HS lowered milk production (p < 0.01) and milk protein percentage (p < 0.05) than cows raised in a thermoneutral place. Furthermore, HS increased the concentrations of N-acetyl glycoprotein, scyllo-inositol, choline, and pyridoxamine in milk, while HS decreased the concentrations of O-acetyl glycoprotein, glycerophosphorylcholine, citrate, and methyl phosphate in milk. Moreover, HS enhanced plasma concentrations of alanine, glucose, glutamate, urea, 1-methylhistidine, histidine, and formate in cows, while the plasma concentration of low-density lipoprotein, very-low-density lipoprotein, leucine, lipid, and 3-hydroxybutyrate decreased due to HS. Based on the findings of the current research, it is concluded that HS alters the milk and blood plasma metabolites of lactating Holstein dairy cows. Overall, in the current experiment, HS altered eight metabolites in milk and twelve metabolites in the plasma of lactating Holstein dairy cows. Furthermore, the current study explored that these metabolites were mainly involved in proteolysis, gluconeogenesis, and milk fatty acid synthesis and could be potential biomarkers for dairy cows undergoing HS.

The yak rumen microflora has more efficient fiber-degrading and energy-harvesting abilities than that of low-altitude cattle; however, few studies have investigated the effects of dietary energy levels on the rumen bacterial populations and the relationship between rumen bacteria and the intramuscular fatty acid profile of fattening yaks. In this study, thirty yaks were randomly assigned to three groups. Each group received one of the three isonitrogenous diets with low (3.72 MJ/kg), medium (4.52 MJ/kg), and high (5.32 MJ/kg) levels of net energy for maintenance and fattening. After 120 days of feeding, results showed that increasing dietary energy significantly increased ruminal propionate fermentation and reduced ammonia concentration. The 16S rDNA sequencing results showed that increasing dietary energy significantly increased the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes and stimulated the relative abundance of Succiniclasticum, Saccharofermentans, Ruminococcus, and Blautia populations. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that high dietary energy increased the abundances of Streptococcus bovis, Prevotella ruminicola, and Ruminobacter amylophilus at the species level. Association analysis showed that ruminal acetate was positively related to some intramuscular saturated fatty acid (SFA) contents, and Prevotella was significantly positively related to intramuscular total polyunsaturated fatty acid content and negatively related to intramuscular total SFA content. This study showed that high dietary energy mainly increased ruminal amylolytic and propionate-producing bacteria populations, which gave insights into how the effects of dietary energy on rumen bacteria are related to intramuscular fat fatty acids of fattening yaks.

Heat stress (HS) exerts significant effects on the production of dairy animals through impairing health and biological functions. However, the molecular mechanisms related to the effect of HS on dairy cow milk production are still largely unknown. The present study employed an RNA-sequencing approach to explore the molecular mechanisms associated with a decline in milk production by the functional analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in mammary glands of cows exposed to HS and non-heat-stressed cows. The results of the current study reveal that HS increases the rectal temperature and respiratory rate. Cows under HS result in decreased bodyweight, dry matter intake (DMI), and milk yield. In the current study, a total of 213 genes in experimental cow mammary glands was identified as being differentially expressed by DEGs analysis. Among identified genes, 89 were upregulated, and 124 were downregulated. Gene Ontology functional analysis found that biological processes, such as immune response, chaperone-dependent refolding of protein, and heat shock protein binding activity, were notably affected by HS. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis found that almost all of the top-affected pathways were related to immune response. Under HS, the expression of heat shock protein 90 kDa beta I (HSP90B1) and heat shock 70 kDa protein 1A was upregulated, while the expression of bovine lymphocyte antigen (BoLA) and histocompatibility complex, class II, DRB3 (BoLA-DRB3) was downregulated. We further explored the effects of HS on lactation-related genes and pathways and found that HS significantly downregulated the casein genes. Furthermore, HS increased the expression of phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin, cytosolic arginine sensor for mTORC1 subunit 2 (CASTOR2), and cytosolic arginine sensor for mTORC1 subunit 1 (CASTOR1), but decreased the phosphorylation of Janus kinase-2, a signal transducer and activator of transcription factor-5. Based on the findings of DMI, milk yield, casein gene expression, and the genes and pathways identified by functional annotation analysis, it is concluded that HS adversely affects the immune function of dairy cows. These results will be beneficial to understand the underlying mechanism of reduced milk yield in HS cows.

The current study was performed to examine the relationship between the true digestibility of calcium (TDC) in the diet and bacterial community structure in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of goats. Twenty-six Nubian healthy female goats were selected as experimental animals, and their TDC was determined using metabolic experiments. Eight goats were grouped into the high digestibility of Calcium (HC) phenotype, and another eight were grouped into the low digestibility of Calcium (LC) phenotype. Their bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicons from the rumen, abomasum, jejunum, cecum, and colon contents were sequenced using next-generation high-throughput sequencing technology. In the rumen, 239 genera belonging to 23 phyla, 319 genera belonging to 30 phyla in the abomasum, 248 genera belonging to 36 phyla in the jejunum, 248 genera belonging to 25 phyla in the colon and 246 genera belonging to 23 phyla in the cecum were detected. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the TDC and the relative abundance of Candidatus_Saccharimonas, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, Mogibacterium, Prevotella_1, Prevotella_UCG_004, Ruminococcus_2, Saccharibacteria in the rumen, Eubacterium_coprostanoligens_group, Lachnospiraceae_ND3007_group, Lachnospiraceae_NK3A20_group, p-1088-a5_gut_group, and Planctomycetes in the abomasum, Butyrivibrio in the cecum, and Fibrobacter in the cecum were observed. This study suggests an association of GIT microbial communities as a factor influencing TDC in goats.

Excretory/Secretory Products (ESPs) of the nematode Trichinella spiralis contain antitumor-active substances that inhibit tumor growth. Mature dendritic cells (DCs) play a critical role in the antitumor immunity of the organism. As pathogen-derived products, it ought to be discussed whether T. spiralis ESPs will reduce the antitumor effect of mature DCs from the host before it is applied to patients’ tumors. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the immunological effect of DCs stimulated by T. spiralis ESPs in H22 tumor-bearing mice. H22 tumor model mice in this study were randomly divided into four groups according to the treatment: PBS control group, ESP group, DCs group, and DCs stimulated with T. spiralis ESP (ESP+DCs group). The antitumor effect was evaluated by tumor inhibition rate and cytokine detection using ELISA. The results showed significant inhibition in tumor growth in the ESP+DCs, DCs and ESP groups when compared with the PBS control group (p

This paper is based on the background of the field experiment of the closed renovation project of the coal yard of Shanxi Zhangshan Power Generation Co., Ltd., and the horizontal bearing capacity experiment of the three-pile cap foundation of the in-line PHC pipe piles to be carried out on the site is used as the prototype. ABAQUS establishes an analysis model to analyze the influence of pile embedded cap depth on the horizontal bearing capacity of pile cap foundation. The results show that the maximum bending moment the pile can withstand increases as the depth of the pile embedded cap increases. Therefore, increasing the depth of the embedded cap can increase the horizontal bearing capacity of the three-pill.

Lipid is the chief energy source for starved animals. β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) is the main ketone body produced by lipid decomposition. In Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell experiment, it was found that BHBA could be used not only as an energy substance, but also as a ligand of GPR109A for regulating lipid metabolism. However, whether BHBA can regulate lipid metabolism of yaks, and its effective concentration and signal pathway are not clear. This study investigated the effects and mechanism of starvation and BHBA on the lipid metabolism of yak. Eighteen male Jiulong yaks were selected and then randomly divided into three groups: normal feeding group (NG), starvation group (SG), and starvation with BHBA infusion group (SBG). The yaks in the NG group were freely fed during the trial, while the yaks in the SG and SBG groups fasted; from 7th to 9th days of the experiment, the NG and SG were infused continuous with 0.9% normal saline and SBG was infused 1.7 mmol/L BHBA solution respectively. The blood samples were collected on the 0th, 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th day of experiment. The subcutaneous adipose tissue of all the yaks in this study were taken from live bodies after infusion. Serum glucose, lipid metabolites, hormone concentrations, and mRNA and protein expressions of key factors of lipid metabolism and signaling pathway in subcutaneous adipose tissue were measured. The results showed that, as compared with NG, starvation significantly reduced the body weight of yak in SG, and significantly increased the concentration of BHBA in serum and the mRNA expression of PKA and CREB1 in subcutaneous adipose tissue, while the mRNA expression of MEK, PKC, ERK1/2, the area of adipocytes, and the proportion of saturated fatty acid were decreased. Whereas, further increase of BHBA concentration through infusion promoted the mRNA expression of GPR109A receptor in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of SBG, inhibited the mRNA expression of AC and PKA, and decreased the phosphorylation protein abundance of CREB1, and significantly increased the diameter and area of adipocytes. These findings suggest that starvation led to enhanced lipid catabolism in yaks. An increasing BHBA concentration could increase the mRNA expression of GPR109A receptor in subcutaneous adipose tissue and inhibit the cAMP/PKA/CREB signaling pathway and lipid decomposition.

Yak suffers severe starvation and body weight reduction in the cold season and recovers relatively rapid growth in the warm season every year. Herein, we investigated the effects of starvation and refeeding on the growth, feed efficiency, blood biochemistry and rumen microbial community as well as functions of yaks. The results showed that starvation significantly reduced the body weight of yaks. Serum glucose and triglyceride concentrations significantly decreased, and β-hydroxybutyric acid and non-esterified fatty acid levels were significantly increased during the starvation period. Starvation also dramatically inhibited rumen microbial fermentations. Whereas, refeeding with the same diet significantly increased the feed efficiency, nutrient digestibility together with rumen acetate, propionate and microbial protein productions compared with those before starvation. The 16S rDNA sequencing results showed that starvation mainly decreased the ruminal protein-degrading bacteria Prevotella and propionate-producing bacteria Succiniclasticum populations and dramatically increased the denitrifying bacteria Thauera populations. Refeeding reduced the Euryarchaeota population and increased propionate-producing bacteria Succinivibrionaceae UCG-002 and starch-degrading bacteria Ruminobacter populations when compared with those before starvation. The predicted microbial metabolic pathways, related to amino acid and starch metabolisms, were also significantly altered during the starvation and refeeding. The results indicated that the rumen microorganisms and their metabolism pathways changed with feed supply, and these alterations in part contributed to yak adaption to starvation and re-alimentation. This study is helpful for enhancing the understanding and utilization of this natural character of yaks to explore and improve their growth potential.

The world's annual output of rabbits is over 1.2 billion, therefore this sector is also one of the sources of greenhouse gases in livestock production. One hundred-twenty New Zealand rabbits were allocated into four treatments, five replicates in each treatment and six rabbits in each replicate to examine the effect of grinding alfalfa hay to different sizes on growth performance, methane production and cecal archaeal populations. The particle sizes of the alfalfa meal in the four treatment diets were 2500, 1000, 100 and 10 μm, while the other ingredients were ground through a 2.5 mm sieve. The average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) increased (P