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Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Ad-MSCs) are promising candidates for cardiac repair/regeneration. The application of copolymer nanoscaffolds has received great attention in tissue engineering to support differentiation and functional tissue organization toward effective tissue regeneration. The objective of the current study was to develop functional and bioactive scaffolds by combining polycaprolactone (PCL) and polylactic acid (PLA) for cardiomyocyte differentiation of human Ad-MSC (hAd-MSCs) in the absence or presence of 5-azacytidine and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). To that end, the human MSCs were extracted from human adipose tissue (AD). The cardiomyocyte differentiation potency of hAd-MSCs was evaluated on the novel synthetic PCL/PLA nanofiber scaffolds prepared in the absence and presence of 5-azacytidine and TGF-β supplements. A PCL/PLA nanofibrous scaffold was fabricated using the electrospinning method and its nanotopography and porous structure were characterized using scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the attachment of hAd-MSCs on the PCL/PLA scaffolds was semiquantitatively investigated. Compared with other treatments, the PCL/PLA nanofibrous scaffold supplemented with both 5-azacytidine and TGF-β was observed to differentiate hAd-MSCs into cardiomyocytes at Day 21 as evidenced by real-time PCR for cardiac-specific genes including cardiac troponin I (cTnI), GATA4, MYH7, and NKX2.5. In addition, flow cytometric analysis of cTnI-positive cells demonstrated that the cardiomyocyte differentiation of hAd-MSCs was more efficient on the PCL/PLA nanofibrous scaffold supplemented with both 5-azacytidine and TGF-β than it was in the other treatment groups. Generally speaking, the results show that PCL/PLA nanofibrous scaffolds may be applied as a platform for efficient differentiation of hAd-MSCs into functional cardiomyocytes.

The present study determined the effect of supplementing palmitic acid (PA) and stearic acid (SA) on the nutrient intake, digestibility, and serum metabolites of dairy cows fed two different starch levels during the postpartum period. Forty-four multiparous Holstein cows were used in a completed randomized block based on their parity and previous milk yield. Dietary treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 arrangement with two dietary starch levels (HS: 260 g/kg of diet dry matter (DM) vs LS: 210 g/kg of diet DM) and two fat supplements rich in PA or SA at 15 g/kg of diet DM. Increasing the starch concentration of the postpartum diet improved organic matter (OM), ether extract (EE), crude protein (CP), and starch intake. Moreover, HS diets resulted in higher apparent digestibility of OM and CP but lower starch digestibility than LS diets. Feeding HS diets increased fecal starch output compared with LS diets. There was starch levels and FA supplements interaction for serum albumin and total antioxidant capacity (TAC), with higher concentrations in HSSA and LSPA compared to HSPA and LSSA. Significant correlations between performance and blood metabolites were observed in weeks 3 and 4. In week 3, a negative correlation was observed between serum TAC with milk protein (r = - 0.51) and lactose percentage (r = - 0.49) in the HS diet. However, non-esterified FA was correlated with the fat to protein ratio in the LS diet (r = 0.54). Moreover, in week 4, serum TAC was negatively related to the body condition score of the cows fed LS diet (r = 0.50), while there was no relationship for cows fed HS diets. In conclusion, feeding HS diets to postpartum cows increased nutrient intake and the digestibility of OM and CP compared with LS diets. The addition of SA to the HS diet may be more beneficial than PA in improving the oxidative status of dairy cows in the postpartum period.

This study assessed the effects of different levels of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) meal (MTM) on egg quality traits, oxidative stability, blood biochemical parameters and liver health indices in laying hens receiving diets supplemented with lipid from different sources. For this purpose, Leghorn laying hens (Hy-Line W-36) were randomly assigned to 12 experimental treatments with eight replicates of five birds each. Dietary treatments consisted of four dietary fat sources (fish oil, sunflower oil, poultry oil and fat powder, each with different fatty acid profiles) and three levels of MTM (0.0, 15 and 30 g/kg) offered through 10 days of adaptation and 70 days of main recording. Results showed that dietary inclusion of polyunsaturated fatty acids, including fish or sunflower oils, reduced serum cholesterol content but increased blood malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration (p

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is known as a reproductive disorder in mammalian females. Medical plants are known from ancient times and herbal therapy is common in many countries for preventing and treating different diseases or disorders. The effect of fennel essential oil and/or flaxseed oil on body weight, blood parameters, and histological structure of ovaries and pancreas in rat suffered PCOS, was investigated. Thirty adult Wistar female rats (BW=260±20 g) that 24 of them suffered by PCOS by a single intra-muscular (IM) injection of 4 mg/kg estradiol-valerate (EV) were allocated to the treatments. Fennel essential oil (100 mg/kg BW/day) and flaxseed oil (429 mg/kg BW/day or 240 mg ω-3/kg BW/day) were fed using oral gavage in a 50-day period after PCOS induction. Serum concentration of progesterone, testosterone, insulin, and glucose, and also HOMA-IR, HOMA-β, and QUICKI indices were affected (P< 0.05) by the treatments. Fennel essential oil increased (P

A major mean to minimize feeding costs and faecal nitrogen excretion on poultry farms is to decrease the supplied dietary protein content. This, however, is associated with the declines in productive performance and systemic health indices. Sanguinarine may improve protein efficiency via decreasing the intestinal amino acid decarboxylation and stimulating the tryptophan‐serotonin pathway. The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of sanguinarine on the performance, egg yolk biochemical parameters, serum enzyme activities, nutrient digestibility, ovarian follicles, and hepatic health indices in laying hens fed decremental levels of crude protein (CP). For this purpose, 180 laying hens were allocated into nine dietary treatments with four replicates of five birds each. The experimental treatments consisted of three levels of CP (85.0%, 92.5%, and 100% of Hy‐Line W‐36 manual recommendation) and three levels of sanguinarine (0.00, 3.75, and 7.50 mg/kg) in a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement administered during a 70‐day feeding trial. Results showed that the decremental levels of CP led to significant increases in serum aspartate aminotransferase (p, Decremental levels of CP increased hepatic enzymes activity, fat percentage and MDA content. Decreasing CP content lowered DM and CP digestibility, and egg production percentage. Sanguinarine suppressed egg yolk cholesterol and triglyceride in laying hens fed on low‐CP diet. Sanguinarine improved performance, antioxidant capacity and hepatic health indices.

A hybrid analytical heat conduction model was developed to predict the transient thermal evolution at the particle–substrate interface during the deposition of cold spray process. First, three-dimensional heat conduction model based on classical diffusion approach was developed to predict the transient surface temperature of the substrate. To that end, the traveling wave solution technique was utilized in order to take into account the effect of the movement of the cold spray nozzle. The results of the analytical model were validated with the experimentally measured surface temperature which was obtained by employing a low-pressure cold spray unit to generate the impingement of a compressed air jet on a flat substrate. The analytical model was further utilized to investigate the effect of the non-dimensional characteristic velocity of the traveling heat source on the surface temperature profile of the substrate. It was found that both the maximum surface temperature and the spatial variation of surface temperature profile of the substrate decreased as the non-dimensional characteristic velocity increased. The mathematical model was further extended by developing a one-dimensional hyperbolic (non-Fourier) heat conduction model to predict the temperature rise at the particle–substrate interface during the cold spray deposition process. In order to validate the results of the hybrid model, a three-dimensional finite element model was developed in ABAQUS to simulate the thermal and dynamic behavior of a single particle upon impact. The results of the hybrid analytical model for the temperature at the particle–substrate interface were compared to the results of the numerical model, and good agreement was found. It was concluded that by coupling the classical diffusion theory and hyperbolic heat conduction approach, the proposed hybrid analytical model can be utilized to predict the transient temperature of the particle–substrate interface during the cold spray deposition process a priori before experimentation.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of an enzymatically hydrolyzed cottonseed protein (HCSP) as a peptide source on performance, blood metabolites, gastrointestinal development, and intestinal microbes. Forty-eight newborn Holstein calves were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 dietary treatments including 0, 2, 4, and 6% of HCSP (dry matter basis). All calves received the same amount of pasteurized whole milk, weaned on d 56 of the experiment, and the study was concluded on d 70. Data were analyzed using PROC MIXED in SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) as a randomized complete block design with linear and quadratic contrasts. Results showed that increased amount of HCSP linearly decreased the starter intake during the postweaning (d 57 to 70) and overall period (d 1 to 70). In addition, when dietary HCSP increased during the overall period, average daily gain tended to linearly decrease. All skeletal growth variables also linearly decreased as dietary HCSP increased at the end of the study, except for body length, which did not differ among the treatments. Serum cortisol concentration was higher in calves supplemented with 6% of HCSP at weaning and at the end of the study. This indicates that these calves may have experienced a stressful condition compared with calves in other treatments. Total antioxidant capacity was quadratically affected by HCSP supplementation; calves fed 2 and 4% of HCSP diets had the highest total antioxidant capacity, whereas calves fed 0 and 6% HCSP diets had lower total antioxidant capacity at weaning and at end of the study. Calves supplemented with 6% HCSP had lower empty reticulo-rumen and omasum weights and rumen wall thickness compared with calves in other treatments at the end of the study. In conclusion, supplementation of HCSP at the rate of 2% of starter diet enhanced antioxidant status without any detrimental effects on the performance and metabolic status of calves, whereas greater inclusion rates impaired starter intake and growth of calves, and exposed them to a stressful status.

SCNT embryos suffer from poor developmental competence (both in vitro and in vivo) due to various defects such as oxidative stress, incomplete epigenetic reprogramming, and flaws in telomere rejuvenation. It is very promising to ameliorate all these defects in SCNT embryos by supplementing the culture medium with a single compound. It has been demonstrated that melatonin, as a multitasking molecule, can improve the development of SCNT embryos, but its function during ovine SCNT embryos is unclear. We observed that supplementation of embryonic culture medium with 10 nM melatonin for 7 days accelerated the rate of blastocyst formation in ovine SCNT embryos. In addition, the quality of blastocysts increased in the melatonin-treated group compared with the SCNT control groups in terms of ICM, TE, total cell number, and mRNA expression of NANOG. Mechanistic studies in this study revealed that the melatonin-treated group had significantly lower ROS level, apoptotic cell ratio, and mRNA expression of CASPASE-3 and BAX/BCL2 ratio. In addition, melatonin promotes mitochondrial membrane potential and autophagy status (higher number of LC3B dots). Our results indicate that melatonin decreased the global level of 5mC and increased the level of H3K9ac in the treated blastocyst group compared with the blastocysts in the control group. More importantly, we demonstrated for the first time that melatonin treatment promoted telomere elongation in ovine SCNT embryos. This result offers the possibility of better development of ovine SCNT embryos after implantation. We concluded that melatonin can accelerate the reprogramming of telomere length in sheep SCNT embryos, in addition to its various beneficial effects such as increasing antioxidant capacity, reducing DNA damage, and improving the quality of derived blastocysts, all of which led to a higher in vitro development rate.

It is known that Intuitionistic fuzzy models give more precision, flexibility and compatibility to the system as compared to the classic and fuzzy models. Intuitionistic fuzzy tree has an important role in neural networks, computer networks, and clustering. In the design of a network, it is important to analyze connections between the levels. In addition, the intuitionistic fuzzy tree is becoming increasingly significant as it is applied to different areas in real life. The study proposes the novel concepts of intuitionistic fuzzy graph (IFG) and some basic definitions. We investigate the types of arcs, for example, $$\alpha _{\mu }$$ α μ -strong, $$\beta _{\mu }$$ β μ -strong, and $$\delta _{\mu }$$ δ μ -arc in an intuitionistic fuzzy graph, and introduce some of their properties. In particular, the present work develops the concepts of intuitionistic fuzzy bridge (IFB), intuitionistic fuzzy cut nodes (IFCN) and some important properties of an intuitionistic fuzzy bridge. Next, we define an intuitionistic fuzzy cycle (IFC) and an intuitionistic fuzzy tree (IFT). Likewise, we discuss some properties of the IFT and the relationship between an intuitionistic fuzzy tree and an intuitionistic fuzzy cycle. Finally, an application of intuitionistic fuzzy tree is illustrated in other sciences.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of three production systems on growth performance, behavior, blood parameters, carcass characteristics, and meat quality. A total of 30 lambs (n = 10 lambs/treatment) were randomly assigned to three production systems that included rotational grazing (NG) and two different levels of concentrate (CON), one with medium (roughage/concentrate ratio 50:50% based on DM, MC) and one with high concentrate (roughage/concentrate ratio 30:70% based on DM, HC) during the 90-day fattening period. At the start of the experiment, all lambs averaged 90 ± 4 days of age (mean ± SD) and were slaughtered at an average of 180 ± 3 days (mean ± SD). CON-fed lambs had higher average daily gain and loin thickness than NG-fed lambs. The NG lambs spent more time eating, drinking, and standing, but less time resting and rumination than the CON-fed lambs. In addition, plasma lipid, β-hydroxybutyrate, and urea levels were higher, while phosphorus levels were lower in NG-fed lambs than in CON-fed lambs. CON-fed lambs had better carcass yield, but gastrointestinal tract and rumen weights were lower than NG lambs. CON-fed lambs had higher pH values 0 h post mortem than the NG lambs; however, there was no effect of treatment on pH 24 h post mortem. The post-mortem color of the LD muscle of NG lambs had a higher lightness and yellowness index and a lower redness index than that of the LD muscle of CON-fed lambs. The results of this study showed that lambs fed CON had better carcass yield than lambs fed NG, although feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), growth performance, carcass yield, and meat quality of lambs fed MC and HC were similar.

Protective coatings are widely utilized to promote corrosion resistance of the surfaces of steel components that are used in various industrial applications. Different surface engineering methods such as thermal spraying and thermal diffusion techniques can be used to fabricate these protective coatings. Thermal spraying processes have received significant attention due to their ability to deposit a variety of materials. Several metals such as zinc-, aluminum-, nickel, and chromium-based materials and their alloys can be deposited using thermal spraying processes to enhance the corrosion resistance and prolong the service life of steel components. On the other hand, technologies based on thermal diffusion techniques are emerging due to their unique deposition features, which alleviates the issues of cracking and delamination typical of thermal-sprayed coatings, as well as their ability to protect inaccessible and complex components such as the inner surface of long tubing and pipelines. This work is a comprehensive review on short and long-term corrosion resistance of the most effective and commonly-used coatings deposited by a variety of surface engineering techniques to protect steel structures. Moreover, the effect of the spraying process, the addition of alloying elements on the corrosion resistance of these coatings has also been reviewed in this study.

A rectangular waveguide equipped with a network analyzer was used to assess the quality indices of shell egg. The scattering parameters of the eggs were acquired in the range of 0.9–1.7 GHz and they were then used to calculate microwave spectra of the samples. PLS and ANN regression methods were implemented to predict the egg quality indices and SIMCA and ANN classification methods were applied to classify the eggs based on their storage time. The best predictive models, however, obtained from ANN analysis where the yolk coefficient, air cell height, thick albumen height, Haugh unit, and albumen pH could be predicted with the residual predictive deviation (RPD) values of 3.500, 3.000, 2.411, 2.033, and 1.829, respectively. To classify the eggs according to their storage time, both SIMCA and ANN analyses resulted in the total accuracy of 100% when return loss spectra were used as the input.

Background Reproductive toxicity of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on spermatozoa is well established. Objective The aim of the present study was to show the potential benefits of alpha lipoic acid (ALA) as a strong antioxidant in alleviating the reproductive toxicity of LPS. Materials and methods Sperm cells and cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were collected from healthy NMRI mice (body weights ranged from 25 to 35 g, 100 females and 200 males). Sperm cells were treated with varying doses of ALA (0.01, 0.02, and 0.04 mm) and 0.01 μg/mL of LPS for 4 h. The quality of spermatozoa (ROS production, DNA fragmentation, and spontaneous acrosome reaction), sperm fertilizability, and the consequent developmental competence of oocytes inseminated with ALA/LPS-treated spermatozoa were recorded. Results The results showed that 0.04 mm of ALA abrogated LPS-reduced sperm motility, viability, ROS production, spontaneous acrosome reaction, fertilizability, and developmental competence. In addition, 0.04 mm ALA significantly reverted the negative effects of LPS on inner cell mass (ICM) cell counts, total cell number (TCM), and ratio between ICM and TCM. Discussion Our data showed that ALA significantly could abrogate the negative effects of LPS on sperm quality and oocyte developmental competence. Therefore, ALA had the capacity for protecting sperm cells from LPS-induced damage and ensured fertilization and developmental competency. Conclusion These in vitro findings suggested a therapeutic role for ALA in reducing the negative effects of LPS on spermatozoa and early embryonic development.

Background: Understanding the most relevant hematological/biochemical characteristics, pre-existing health conditions and complications among survivors and non-survivor will help to predict the mortality in COVID-19 patients.Methods: A literature review was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and various preprint servers (bioRxiv, medRxiv and SSRN) for COVID-19 mortality, with more than 97 reported clinical studies and preprints, consisting of survivor and non-survivor sub-populations. A total of 19014 patients including 14359 survivors and 4655 non-survivors were included in this meta-analysis. Outcome data was extracted and compared between survivors and non-survivors. Meta and network analyses were performed using META-MAR V2.7.0 and PAST software.Results: The finding showed higher concentrations of gamma-glutamyl transferase and creatinine and a higher number of neutrophils in non-survivors of COVID-19. A lower number of lymphocytes and platelets and a lower concentration of hemoglobin and albumin were observed in non-survivors. Data showed age, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease as the most influential risk factors in non-survivors. Heart failure was the most common complication among non-survivors, accompanied by septic shock, and respiratory failure.Conclusions: Increased number of neutrophils and decreased number of platelets and lymphocytes, along with higher GGT concentration and lower hemoglobin levels were the best mortality indicators for COVID-19 patients. In addition, age, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease were prevalent risk factors among non-survivors of COVID-19. Heart failure and septic shock were the most common complications among non-survivors. Data indicated that cheap and quick biochemical and hematological tests can be used to predict the risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Multipotent stem cells, including mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), represent a promising source to be used by regenerative medicine. They are capable of performing myogenic, chondrogenic, osteogenic, and adipogenic differentiation. Also, MSCs are characterized by the expression of multiple surface antigens, but none of them appear to be particularly expressed on MSCs. Moreover, the prospect of monitoring and controlling MSC differentiation is a scientifically crucial regulatory and clinical requirement. Different transcription factors and signaling pathways are involved in cardiomyocyte differentiation. Due to the paucity of studies exclusively focused on cardiomyocyte differentiation of MSCs, the present study aims at describing the roles of various signaling pathways (FGF, TGF, Wnt, and Notch) in cardiomyocyte differentiation of MSCs. Understanding the signaling pathways that control the commitment and differentiation of cardiomyocyte cells not only will expand our basic understanding of molecular mechanisms of heart development but also will enable us to develop therapeutic means of intervention in cardiovascular diseases.

In this paper, the effect of initial water temperature on the cooling performance of a water mist fire suppression system has been investigated. A zero-dimensional analytical model was first developed to study the thermal and dynamic behavior of a single water droplet. The developed model was validated against available experimental data in the literature. The developed model was further extended to simulate the transient heating, evaporation, break-up, and liquid penetration length of a hollow-cone water spray. Results indicated that increasing the initial temperature of the water spray before injection resulted in a decrease in the initial size distribution of the spray droplets. It was further found that the evaporation time of the injected droplets decreased by about 11% and the cooling power of the pre-heated water mist system enhanced by 12% in exchange for increasing the initial temperature of the water spray by 10˚C. It was concluded that pre-heating the sprayed water droplets would likely improve the cooling efficiency of the water mist system. It could be also inferred that at equal cooling power, less water was consumed by the pre-heated spray compared to conventional water mist systems.

Identification of disease-causing genes that underlie complex traits, such as susceptibility to disease, is the primary goal of genetic and biomedical researches. Bovine mastitis is the most prevalent disease with substantial economic losses and animal welfare issues in dairy industry. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and single-nucleotide polymorphism or gene association data as biomarkers were used in the selection programs in this industry. In the current microarray-based study, the gene expression profiles of cows selected for high or low mastitis susceptibility affected by a specific QTL on Bos taurus auto some 18 (BTA18) with induced E. coli mastitis in acute phase (time point 24h) were used to perform functional genomics. The results of a functional enrichment analysis showed that the Q genotype (favorable allele) helps to correct suppression of the metabolic process during infection and help to moderate signaling pathways related to immune response and inflammation. The most important pathways suppressed by Q genotype are related to triggering the inflammatory and immune responses which cause moderate responses to infection. Furthermore, the pathways related to growth, cell proliferation and reproductive process enriched by down-regulated expressed genes. The results of network analysis showed that transcription factors TP53, SP1 ligands such as INS, IL1B, IFNG, TGFB1, EGF and protein kinase MAPK1 are the common regulatory factors in the constructed networks.These findings regardless of revealing the new biological process of gene regulatory network analysis of differentially expressed genes (DE)s in bovine mastitis, could also introduce the important key regulatory elements in resistance to mastitis. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

A semi-empirical analytical model was developed to determine the convective heat transfer coefficient of an impinging air jet generated by a cold spraying nozzle. A low-pressure cold spraying unit was utilized to produce hot air jets that impinged upon a flat substrate surface. An infrared camera was used to measure the surface temperature of the substrate at different time intervals. A method involving Green's functions was employed to solve a transient two-dimensional heat conduction problem to obtain an expression for the temperature distribution within the substrate. By coupling the analytical results of temperature distribution and experimental surface temperature data, the radial variation of the non-dimensional heat transfer coefficient of the impinging air jets upon the substrate was estimated. The results showed that the maximum values of the heat transfer coefficient were present close to the stagnation point of the air jets. It was found that the heat transfer coefficient was independent of the time that the cold spray nozzle remained stationary over the substrate surface. It was found further that by increasing the stand-off distance of the nozzle, the radial variations of the heat transfer coefficient became negligible, compared to those for small stand-off distances. The close agreement between the experimental results and the predictions of the model suggested that the estimated heat transfer coefficient of the cold spray gas jet can be used to estimate the surface temperature of the substrate at any time.

Pooled follicular fluid is easily accessible during ovum pick-up (OPU) and can be a potential source of non-invasive biochemical predictors for oocyte competence. Using the OPU procedure, oocytes recovered from a total of 60 Holstein heifers were used in in vitro embryo production. Pooled follicular fluid was collected at the time of OPU in order to establish a relationship between follicular biochemical components and the formation of blastocyst. The oocytes from each heifer were pooled together, matured in in vitro maturation medium for 24 h and then fertilized with sperm cells. The resulting zygotes were cultured for 7 days and the formation of blastocyst was recorded. Next, heifers were classified on the basis of the blastocyst formation, cleaved heifers and failed heifers. Follicular glucose concentrations were higher and the amount of C-reactive protein (CRP) was lower in cleaved heifers than in failed heifers. Moreover, the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve, clustering and network analysis showed the closeness between CRP, total bilirubin, and blastocyst yield. In conclusion, the findings imply that CRP follicular concentrations, which have been linked to heifer blastocyst formation, should be investigated further.

The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary supplemental silymarin on growth performance, intestinal microbiota, and jejunal health indices in broiler chicks challenged with Escherichia coli (E. coli) O78:K80. For this purpose, 384 seven-day-old Ross broiler chicks were randomly allocated to eight experimental treatments with four replicates of 12 birds each. The treatments consisted of two microbial conditions (unchallenged and challenged with E. coli O78:K80) with further division into four additive supplementations (no additive, additions of 500 and 1000 ppm of silymarin, and antibiotic addition as the positive control). The birds were orally infected with E. coli O78:K80 at 1 × 109 cfu from 7 to 28 d of age. Results showed that E. coli infection led to the declines (P

Omega-3 fatty acids are necessary for human health, although products containing higher proportions of these fatty acids make them more susceptible to lipid peroxidation. The current study was conducted to evaluate the synergetic effects of dietary supplementation of herbal essential oils mixture (Thymus vulgaris, Mentha piperita, Rosmarinus officinalis and Anethum graveolens) and dietary fat sources on egg quality traits, oxidative stability and liver health indices of laying hens. A total of 150 laying hens were randomly distributed among 6 experimental treatments with five replicates of five birds each. Dietary treatment consisted of three levels of herbal essential oils mixture (0, 100 and 200 mg/kg) and two sources of fat (fish oil and soybean oil containing different ratios of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids) that fed during an 80 d feeding trial. The results showed that administrating fish oil, containing low ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids, enhanced liver (P

The final quality of cold-sprayed coatings can be significantly influenced by gas-substrate heat exchange, due to the dependence of the deposition efficiency of the particles on the substrate temperature distribution. In this study, the effect of the air temperature and pressure, as process parameters, and surface roughness and thickness, as substrate parameters, on the convective heat transfer coefficient of the impinging air jet was investigated. A low-pressure cold spraying unit was used to generate a compressed air jet that impinged on a flat substrate. A comprehensive mathematical model was developed and coupled with experimental data to estimate the heat transfer coefficient and the surface temperature of the substrate. The effect of the air total temperature and pressure on the heat transfer coefficient was studied. It was found that increasing the total pressure would increase the Nusselt number of the impinging air jet, while total temperature of the air jet had negligible effect on the Nusslet number. It was further found that increasing the roughness of the substrate enhanced the heat exchange between the impinging air jet and the substrate. As a result, higher surface temperatures on the rough substrate were measured. The study of the effect of the substrate thickness on the heat transfer coefficient showed that the Nusselt number that was predicted by the model was independent of the thickness of the substrate. The surface temperature profile, however, decreased in increasing radial distances from the stagnation point of the impinging jet as the thickness of the substrate increased. The results of the current study were aimed to inform on the influence and effect of substrate and process parameters on the gas-substrate heat exchange and the surface temperature of the substrate on the final quality of cold-sprayed coatings.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of milk thistle meal on performance, blood biochemical indices, ileal bacterial counts and intestinal histology in laying hens fed diets containing different levels of metabolizable energy. A total number of 200 Leghorn laying hens (Hy-Line W-36) were randomly assigned to eight experimental treatments with five cage replicates of five birds each. Dietary treatments consisted of four levels of milk thistle meal (0%, 15%, 30% and 60%) and two levels of AMEn (11.09 and 12.34 MJ/kg) fed over a period of 80 days. In vitro studies revealed that the total phenolic component of milk thistle meal was 470.64 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of the sample, and its antioxidant activity for inhibiting the 2-2-diphenyl-1-picrichydrazyl free radical and reducing ferric ions was about 21% higher than that of butylated hydroxyltoluene (p

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of silymarin on performance, jejunal morphology and ileal bacterial population in broiler chicks intoxicated with a mix of aflatoxins. A total of three hundred thirty six 7-day-old Ross broiler chicks were randomly distributed between seven experimental groups with four replicates of 12 birds each. Experimental treatments consisted of a control group (unchallenged), and a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement, including two aflatoxin levels (0.5 and 2 ppm) and three levels of silymarin (0, 500 and 1000 ppm). Birds were challenged with a mix of aflatoxins from 7 to 28 days of age. Results showed that increasing aflatoxin level resulted in decreased average daily feed intake (ADFI) and weight gain (ADWG), consequently impaired feed conversion ratio (FCR) throughout the trial period. Dietary supplementation of silymarin resulted in the marked increases in ADFI and ADWG, and improved FCR values in aflatoxin-challenged chicks. Ileal bacterial populations at days 28 and 42 of age were increased by incremental levels of aflatoxins. On the other hand, dietary silymarin supplementation suppressed ileal populations of Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Klebsiella and total negative bacteria in aflatoxicated birds. Increase in dietary aflatoxin level resulted in the decreased villi height, villi height-to-crypt depth ratio (VH:CD), villi surface area and apparent villi absorptive area, while it increased crypt depth, goblet cell count and lymphoid follicular diameter. Feeding silymarin at the level of 1000 ppm increased villi height and VH:CD in aflatoxicated birds. Present results indicate that dietary inclusion of silymarin could improve performance by suppressing ileal bacteria and enhancing absorptive surface area in aflatoxin-challenged broiler chicks.

The objectives of the study were to assess colostrum quality and nutrients in dairy cows in Isfahan, Iran, and to determine the effects of calving season, parity, and volume of first colostrum on colostrum quality. Colostrum samples were collected over the period January-December, from 365 Holstein dairy cows from 12 dairy farms and analyzed for their IgG, IgM, total solids, fat, protein, lactose, Ca, and P concentrations. The IgG and IgM contents were measured to be 35.8 ± 17.6 and 5.8 ± 3.8 mg/mL, respectively. Mean percentages of total solids, fat, protein, and lactose in the samples were 27.2 ± 5.8, 4.6 ± 3.4, 18.5 ± 4.9, and 2.0 ± 0.9, respectively while calcium and P concentrations were 2.69 ± 0.9 and 2.02 ± 0.88 g/kg. Colostral IgG and IgM concentrations were found to be higher during the winter months. Calving season affected lactose, Ca, and P concentrations as evidenced by the higher colostral lactose percentages in cows calved in the fall but higher calcium and P concentrations in those calved in the summer. Parity had no significant effects on IgG and IgM concentrations. However, a decreasing trend was observed in Ca and P concentrations with increasing parity. Volume of first milking colostrum did not have any effect on colostral composition. The findings of this study indicate that colostrum quality may be affected by calving season.

The aim of this study was to examine whether the increasing crude protein (CP) content of starter feed together with the different milk feeding procedure would improve performance, and health responses in dairy calves. Two milk feeding procedures [step-down (STEP) or conventional (CON)] and two levels of starter crude protein (20 or 24% of starter DM) were combined in 2 × 2 factorial arrangements. Forty Holstein male calves were included in four following experimental treatments (10 calves per treatment): (1) conventional milk feeding with 20% CP starter (C20); (2) conventional milk feeding with 24% CP starter (C24); (3) step-down milk feeding with 20% CP starter (D20); (4) step-down milk feeding with 24% CP starter (D24). For the conventional method, calves (n = 20) received 5.5 L/d milk until day 56 of the study, and then they were fed 2 L/d milk from day 56 to 59 of the study. For the step-down method, calves (n = 20) received 7 L/d milk until day 35, and 4 L/d milk from day 35 to 49 of the study followed by feeding 2 L/d milk from day 50 to 59 of the study. The total amount of milk consumed with both milk feeding procedures (STEP and CON) was similar, during milk feeding period (311 L ± 3). Calves in all groups were weaned on day 60 and they were followed up until day 74 of the study. Starter dry matter intake, body weight, average daily gain, feed efficiency, and structural growth were not affected by experimental treatments. On d 35 and d 74 of the experiment, rumen fluid samples were collected with a stomach tube 4 h after morning feeding and were analyzed for volatile fatty acid (VFA) by gas chromatography. Rumen pH and molar concentration of ammonia-N were higher in STEP method during milk feeding period, while calves consuming 24% CP starter had a higher molar concentration of ammonia-N on d 74 (P

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on quantitative and qualitative indices of mouse embryos challenged by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Having determined the effective concentrations of LPS (1 mg/mL) that could reduce blastocyst formation rate by around 50% and the optimal concentration of ALA (10 μM) that could attenuate the toxic effects of LPS on blastocyst formation, the following indices were defined: inner cell mass and trophectoderm cell numbers, blastocyst mitochondrial distribution, ROS and GSH levels, as well as the relative expression of Tlr-4. Nrf-2 and Tnf-RI/P-60 receptor involved in inflammatory pathways. Finally, embryos derived from the experimental and control groups were transferred to synchronized recipients and their implantation rate and post-implantation capacity were determined. Treatment with LPS resulted in an increase in intracellular ROS level (P ≤ 0.05), and remarkable decreases (P ≤ 0.05) in intracellular GSH content, mitochondrial mass, and blastocyst quality. ALA attenuated all the aforementioned negative effects of LPS. The relative expression levels of Nrf-2 and Tnf-RI/P-60 receptor (P ≤ 0.05) significantly increased in response to LPS, and treatment with ALA significantly reduced the relative expression of Tnf-RI/P-60. ALA also improved the post-implantation developmental capacity of embryos treated with LPS. In conclusion, our findings indicate that the reproductive toxicity of LPS could be overcome by ALA treatment. These effects were mainly due to the improvements made in intracellular antioxidant capacity as well as suppression of some inflammatory elements, especially the main receptor of TNF-α, the Tnf-RI/P-60, involved in induction of apoptosis. These observations have important implications for dairy farming and treatment of infertility.

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on the expression of the genes involved in the reduction of inflammatory conditions induced by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). To fulfill this, the C2C12 murine myoblast cell line was used. The experimental treatments consisted of 50 and 100 µM of CLA with 10, 15 and 20 ng/mL of TNF-α. Our results indicated that the concentrations of 50, 100 and 150 µM of CLA at 24 and 48 h increased the cell survival rate (p 0.05), as compared with the control group. The effect of pre-treating CLA before the inflammation induced by TNF-α showed that the amount of cell death caused by TNF-α was inhibited in both 50 and 100 µM concentrations of CLA (p 0.05). Modulatory effects of CLA on PGC1-α and Fndc5 transcript levels showed that the PGC1-α and Fndc5 expression levels were significantly increased 48 h after treating with 50 and 100 µM of CLA (p 0.05). Overall, these findings indicate that using CLA could considerably improve the inflammatory condition induced by TNF-α.

Although semen cryopreservation is an important, widely used technique for long-term sperm storage, it not only induces partially irreversible damages to sperm but might also deteriorate anatomical, biochemical, and structural organelles. These cellular and epigenetic modifications are the main reasons underlying the decline in sperm motility and fertility during the freeze-thaw process. Using the two Lake and Beltsville semen extenders, the present study aims to evaluate the epigenetic patterns (DNA methylation and histone modification), cellular parameters (e.g., membrane integrity, viability, DNA stability, mitochondria activity, and apoptosis status), and fertility potential of rooster semen collected from six mature roosters before and after cryopreservation according to a standard protocol. The results show that cryopreservation leads to significantly (P 0.05) reduced values of the parameters examined when compared with those of fresh sperms. While the extenders used exhibit no difference with respect to DNA methylation (DNMT), the Lake extender leads to significant reductions (P 0.05) in H3K9 acetylation (17.4 ± 1.8) and H3K4 methylation (42 ± 2.3) compared to the Beltsville (9.2 ± 1.8 and 23 ± 2.3, respectively). Compared to the Beltsville extender, the Lake one is also observed to yield a significantly (P 0.05) superior sperm quality in terms of total motility (TM; 77.2 ± 1.6 vs. 68.3 ± 1.6), average path velocity (VAP; 71 ± 1.4 vs. 53 ± 1.4), and straight-line velocity (VSL; 52 ± 1.5 vs. 34 ± 1.5) as well as significantly (P 0.05) higher viability (60 ± 1.69 vs. 51 ± 1.69) and membrane functionality (55 ± 3.2 vs. 46 ± 3.2). The Lake extender is also found to outperform the Beltsville one due to its significantly (P 0.05) higher fertility rate (59.5% vs. 47.2%). The two extenders, however, exhibit no differences in DNA fragmentation, mitochondrial activity, or hatchability rate. The Beltsville extender showed to be superior to the Lake one due to its significantly greater reactive oxygen species percentage (ROS; 45.9 ±.3.2 vs. 28.5 ± 3.2) and apoptosis (29 ± 2.3 vs. 27 ± 2.3). It may be concluded that the Lake extender is capable of improving the cellular and epigenetic parameters of rooster sperms during cryopreservation due to the crucial roles it plays in the protection of sperms against cryo-damages.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary inclusion of mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) on growth performance, ileal microbial population, and jejunal morphology in aflatoxin-challenged broiler chicks. A total of 336 seven-day-old Ross broiler chicks were randomly assigned into 7 experimental treatments with 4 replicates of 12 chicks each. Experimental treatments consisted of a control group (unchallenged group), and a 2×3 factorial arrangement of treatments, including 2 aflatoxin levels (0.5 and 2 ppm) and 3 supplemental MOS levels (0, 1, and 2 g/kg). Broiler chicks were challenged with a mix of aflatoxins during 7–28 d of age. Results showed that increasing aflatoxin level resulted in a marked decrease ( P P P P P P Escherichia coli , Salmonella , Klebsiella , and total negative bacteria at both 28 and 42 d of age. Although the lowest bacterial count was assigned to the control (unchallenged) group, supplemental MOS decreased ileal bacterial populations in aflatoxin-challenged broiler chicks. Dietary supplementation of 2 g/kg of MOS was more effective ( P P

Background: High-energy diets of laying hens may improve roductive performance, although some negative effects may also appear with respect to egg quality and physiological parameters. Curcuma longa rhizome powder (CRP) has beneficial effects on health indices of the birds through antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, especially when the birds experience nutritional stress.; Results: Increasing dietary CRP enhanced egg quality by improving eggshell thickness and hardness but decreasing yolk cholesterol content (P < 0.05). The best feed conversion ratio was obtained in birds fed high-apparent metabolizable energy (AME) diets supplemented with 2.0 g kg-1 CRP (P < 0.05). Although increasing dietary AME elevated the serum concentration of triglycerides (P < 0.05) and enzymatic activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase (P < 0.05), dietary inclusion of CRP alleviates the blood levels of these enzymes (P < 0.01). Low level of dietary CRP boosted the immune responses to Newcastle virus (P < 0.01) and sheep red blood cells (P < 0.05) antigens but decreased the heterophil to lymphocyte ratio (P < 0.05). Inclusion of at least 2.0 g kg-1 CRP in the diet of laying decreased Escherichia coli enumerations in the ileal content (P < 0.01) and improved villus height, crypt depth and goblet cell numbers (P < 0.05).; Conclusion: An improvement in the productive performance of laying hens fed high-energy diets might be associated with decreasing health indices and product quality, which could potentially be amended by nutritional modifications such as incorporating medicinal herbs in the feed. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of small molecules: Reversine and 5-azacytidine (5-AC), in an indirect co-culture condition with the cardiac fibroblasts as well as non co-culture condition, in order to explore the effect of such molecules in the process of differentiation of the ovine bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) towards cardiomyocytes. Surface antigens of the isolated cells were analysed using flow-cytometry. In addition, following to three passages cells were examined for their differentiation capacity into osteocytes and adipose cells, in order to ensure the mesenchymal origin of the stem cells. Six types of treatments were carried out in the present investigation, such that, in the first treatment BM-MSCs were cultured for 28 days as control group; the second treatment was composed of culturing ovine fetal cardiac fibroblasts on inserts, aiming to use these inserts for culturing plates which were seeded with BM-MSCs (Chamber group). As the third treatment, BM-MSCs were supplemented with 10-μM 5-AC and incubated for 48 h. The fourth treatment was composed of supplementing BM-MSCs with the 600-nM reversine, incubated for 48 h, and subsequently the incubation was further extended for another 48 h in the presence of 5-AC. The fifth treatment was composed of supplementing the chamber group with 10-μM 5-AC and incubation for 48 h, and the last or the sixth treatment was such that chamber group was supplemented with 600-nM reversine and an incubation period of 48 h. Following to the incubation, medium was replaced with 10-μM 5-AC and further incubated for another round of 48 h. In all treatments, following to addition of the small molecules incubations were carried out for 28 days; same as controls. Expression of cardiac alpha-actinin was analysed by immunocytochemistry. BM-MSCs have shown to express CD44 and CD166 along with a weak expression of the CD90, CD34, in addition to CD45. Multilineage differentiation has indicated that BM-MSCs could differentiate into adipose and osteocytes cells as well. In the treatment 4 it was observed that FGF signalling involved genes and all cardiac-related genes (ANP, MYH6 and Troponin I) were significantly expressed, except connexin 43 compared to other treatments. All treatments received small molecules, either alone or as a co-culture were seen to express sarcomeric alpha-actinin. This finding was partially supported by immunocytochemistry. These results validate that reversine and 5-AC have an effect on ovine BM-MSC differentiation into cardiomyocytes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Summary This study was carried out to investigate the effects of different levels of clove bud (Syzygium aromaticum) powder and vitamin E on serum lipid profile, enzyme activities and antioxidant indices, as well as hepatic biochemical and histological alterations in laying hens receiving different n-6 to n-3 ratios. A total of 160 laying hens, 43 weeks of age, were allotted to 8 experimental diets with 5 cages of 4 birds each. Dietary treatments consisted of two ratios of n-6 to n-3 (16.71 and 2.35), three levels of clove bud (0.0, 2.0 and 4.0 g/kg) and a high vitamin E level (200 mg/kg, as a positive control in each level of n-6 to n-3 ratio) in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement during 70 days of the experiment. Results showed that a decline in the n-6 to n-3 ratio led to a reduction in serum cholesterol concentration (p

The objective of this study was to investigate preweaning calf performance responses and initial postweaning profile of some blood metabolites to dietary supplementation of calf starter with essential oils or distillated residues blend ( Rosmarinus officinalis L., Zataria multiflora Boiss, and Mentha pulegium L.). Sixty Holstein calves, were randomly assigned to three dietary treatment groups: (1) starter with no additive (CON), (2) starter with essential oils blend (EOB, 300 mg/kg starter), and (3) starter with distillation residues blend (DRB, 50 g/kg starter). The blend was prepared by mixing the essential oils or the distillation residues (1:1:1) and then was added to the starter diet. Each group of calves was weaned based on two different methods: (1) gradual weaning during 4 d [G], and (2) abrupt weaning [A]. Results of DPPH test showed that radical scavenging activity of EOB was higher than DRB (81.4 vs. 15.4%) ( P P P P

The potential effect of dietary forage supplementation on the performance and rumen development in dairy calves is well established. However, limited research has been directed to the comparative effects of forage offering methods on calf performance. The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of forage provision methods (total mixed ration or free choice) on the performance, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation and nutritional behaviour in newborn calves. Forty-five Holstein dairy calves (3 days of age and 41 ± 2 kg of body weight) were assigned to the following three groups (n = 15): (i) starter without forage provision (CON), (ii) starter supplemented with 10% alfalfa hay (AH) as a total mixed ration (AH-TMR) and (iii) starter and AH as a free-choice provision (AH-FC) for a period of 70 days. All the calves were offered 5 l of milk/day from day 3 to 50, and 2.5 l/day from day 50 until weaning on day 56. Dry matter intake (DMI) was greater (p

Summary This study evaluated the effects of physical form of starter feed and forage provision on the performance, blood metabolites, liver composition and intestinal morphology of dairy calves. Individually housed calves (n = 52; body weight = 41.5 ± 2.5 kg) were randomly allocated (n = 13 per treatment) to one of the following four treatments: (i) ground starter feed (GS; mean particle size = 0.72 mm in diameter), (ii) textured starter feed (TS; mean particle size = 3.61 mm in diameter, including steam-flaked corn and barley), (iii) pelleted starter feed (PS; mean particle size = 4.53 mm in diameter) and (iv) ground starter feed with chopped alfalfa hay (GS + AH; mean particle size = 1.02 mm in diameter). The calves fed GS + AH diets had greater (p

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) on expression of hepatic immunological genes and immune responses in aflatoxin-contaminated broiler chicks. A total of 336 seven-day-old Ross broiler chicks were randomly allotted to 7 experimental treatments with 4 replicates and 12 birds per replicate. Experimental treatments consisted of 2 aflatoxin levels (0.5 and 2 ppm) and 3 supplemental MOS levels (0, 1 and 2 g/kg) as a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement in comparison with a control group (unchallenged group). The chicks were challenged with a mix of aflatoxins during 7-28 d of age. Results showed that aflatoxin challenge resulted in the lower antibody titers against infectious bronchitis (IBV) and bursal (IBD) diseases viruses. In addition, aflatoxin-contaminated birds had a lower (P < 0.0001) lymphocyte percentage and a decline in (P < 0.01) interleukin-2 (IL-2) mRNA abundance. Likewise, heterophil proportion, heterophil to lymphocyte ratio and gene expressions of hepatic interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C reactive protein (CRP) were raised (P < 0.001) by increasing dietary aflatoxin level. Dietary inclusion of MOS increased (P < 0.05) antibody titers against IBV, IBD and Newcastle disease virus. Lymphocyte proportion and hepatic IL-2 gene expression were greater (P < 0.0001) in MOS-supplemented birds. Furthermore, supplemental MOS decreased hepatic IL-6 and CRP abundances. Additionally, inclusion of 2 g/kg MOS resulted in the upregulation (P < 0.01) of hepatic IL-2 gene expression in birds contaminated with 0.5 ppm aflatoxin. The present results indicate that supplemental MOS could improve cellular immunity via the upregulation of hepatic IL-2 gene expression in birds challenged with aflatoxins.