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IntroductionPlasmids, the most important and versatile bacterial extrachromosomal DNA Molecules, has have been a center central topic for bacterial genetics and biology. However, the inability of short-read high-throughput sequencing methods to reliably assemble plasmids makes it difficult to investigate the diversity of plasmid structures and functions.MethodsIn this work, we used the long-read Nanopore sequencing method to address this issue, by producing high quality whole genome sequences of 33 bacterial strains from 11 perianal abscess-suffering patients.Results and discussionSuccessful high quality assemblies were generated with this method, including 20 perfect assemblies out of 33 genomes. A total of 47 plasmids were identified from the bacterial strains, including 12 unique, newly identified, high quality circular plasmids. These plasmids were further subject to structural analysis, leading to the finding of significant diversification from previously known plasmids, suggesting the diversity of plasmid structure and function. Particularly, two mcr-10.1-harboring conjugative plasmids were found from Citrobacter portucalensis and Enterobacter kobei, which were not previously reported. This works shows the feasibility of using long-read sequencing to identify plasmids, and the high diversity of plasmid structure and function that awaits further surveillance.

Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity, population structure and whole-genome selection signatures of Luxi cattle to reveal its genomic characteristics in terms of meat and carcass traits, skeletal muscle development, body size, and other traits. Methods To further analyze the genomic characteristics of Luxi cattle, this study sequenced the whole-genome of 16 individuals from the core conservation farm in Shandong region, and collected 174 published genomes of cattle for conjoint analysis. Furthermore, three different statistics (pi, Fst, and XP-EHH) were used to detect potential positive selection signatures related to selection in Luxi cattle. Moreover, gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathway enrichment analyses were performed to reveal the potential biological function of candidate genes harbored in selected regions. Results The results showed that Luxi cattle had high genomic diversity and low inbreeding levels. Using three complementary methods (pi, Fst, and XP-EHH) to detect the signatures of selection in the Luxi cattle genome, there were 2,941, 2,221 and 1,304 potentially selected genes identified, respectively. Furthermore, there were 45 genes annotated in common overlapping genomic regions covered 0.723 Mb, including PLAG1 zinc finger (PLAG1), dedicator of cytokinesis 3 (DOCK3), ephrin A2 (EFNA2), DAZ associated protein 1 (DAZAP1), Ral GTPase activating protein catalytic subunit alpha 1 (RALGAPA1), mediator complex subunit 13 (MED13), and decaprenyl diphosphate synthase subunit 2 (PDSS2), most of which were enriched in pathways related to muscle growth and differentiation and immunity. Conclusion In this study, we provided a series of genes associated with important economic traits were found in positive selection regions, and a scientific basis for the scientific conservation and genetic improvement of Luxi cattle.

On-site bioaerosol monitoring is essential for estimating microbial biomass and mitigating the risk of infection induced by aerosol transmission. This study introduces a novel electrostatic bioaerosol sampler, which is fabricated by the use of 3D printing, for rapid bioaerosol collection. Aerosol particles were charged and enriched in the sampler. Relationships between particle sizes and collection efficiencies under varying charging voltages were established using a charging model. The design of the sampler was optimized using commercial software, incorporating electrostatic field analysis, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and particle trajectory simulations. To validate the sampler’s collection efficiency, polystyrene (PS) spheres in an aerosol dispenser were atomized into an aerosol. The sampler collection efficiency exceeded 90% for particles larger than 1.2 μm under an applied voltage of 4.7 kV and an airflow rate of 2 L/min. The enrichment capacity was greater than 153,000 for particles larger than 1.2 μm under an applied voltage of 4.7 kV and an airflow rate of 8 L/min. With the merits of low cost, miniaturization, and high collection efficiency, the sampler can be used to collect samples on-site and in remote areas to verify the pathogens and reduce the risk of infection through aerosol transmission.

Introduction: Northeast Merino (NMS) is a breed developed in Northeast China during the 1960s for wool and meat production. It exhibits excellent traits such as high wool yield, superior meat quality, rapid growth rate, robust disease resistance, and adaptability to cold climates. However, no studies have used whole-genome sequencing data to investigate the superior traits of NMS.Methods: In this study, we investigated the population structure, genetic diversity, and selection signals of NMS using whole-genome sequencing data from 20 individuals. Two methods (integrated haplotype score and composite likelihood ratio) were used for selection signal analysis, and the Fixation Index was used to explore the selection signals of NMS and the other two breeds, Mongolian sheep and South African meat Merino.Results: The results showed that NMS had low inbreeding levels, high genomic diversity, and a pedigree of both Merino breeds and Chinese local breeds. A total length of 14.09 Mb genomic region containing 287 genes was detected using the two methods. Further exploration of the functions of these genes revealed that they are mainly concentrated in wool production performance (IRF2BP2, MAP3K7, and WNT3), meat production performance (NDUFA9, SETBP1, ZBTB38, and FTO), cold resistance (DNAJC13, LPGAT1, and PRDM16), and immune response (PRDM2, GALNT8, and HCAR2). The selection signals of NMS and the other two breeds annotated 87 and 23 genes, respectively. These genes were also mainly focused on wool and meat production performance.Conclusion: These results provide a basis for further breeding improvement, comprehensive use of this breed, and a reference for research on other breeds.

As a part of the growing strand of employee-centered HRM research, employee well-being is suggested to be a key mechanism that may help to explain the relationship between HRM and performance. To investigate how an employee’s well-being mediates the HRM-performance relationship, we distinguish between two types of well-being identified in prior work, happiness well-being and health well-being, and present arguments for differences in their effects on individual performance. Building on Job Demands-Resources (JDR) theory, we propose that happiness well-being positively mediates the relationship between perceived High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS) and individual task performance, while health well-being negatively mediates this focal relationship. Thus, happiness well-being fits the “mutual gains” perspective. In contrast, health well-being fits the “conflicting outcomes” perspective, and thus may be harmed by the HPWS to enhance the performance. We find partial support for our arguments in an analysis of longitudinal survey data of 420 participants spanning a total of four waves of data collection.

Abstract Recently, two Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) closely related to bat merbecoviruses, NeoCoV and PDF-2180, were discovered to use angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) for entry. The two viruses cannot use human ACE2 efficiently, and their host range and cross-species transmissibility across a wide range of mammalian species remain unclear. Herein, we characterized the species-specific receptor preference of these viruses by testing ACE2 orthologues from 49 bats and 53 non-bat mammals through receptor-binding domain (RBD)-binding and pseudovirus entry assays. Results based on bat ACE2 orthologues revealed that the two viruses were unable to use most, but not all, ACE2 from Yinpterochiropteran bats (Yin-bats), which is distinct from NL63 and SARS-CoV-2. Besides, both viruses exhibited broad receptor recognition spectra across non-bat mammals. Genetic and structural analyses of bat ACE2 orthologues highlighted four crucial host range determinants, all confirmed by subsequent functional assays in human and bat cells. Notably, residue 305, participating in a critical viral receptor interaction, plays a crucial role in host tropism determination, particularly in non-bat mammals. Furthermore, NeoCoV and PDF-2180 mutants with enhanced human ACE2 recognition expanded the potential host range, especially by enhancing their interaction with an evolutionarily conserved hydrophobic pocket. Our results elucidate the molecular basis for the species-specific ACE2 usage of MERS-related viruses and shed light on their zoonotic risks.

This research aims to study the effects of rare earth-chitosan chelates (RECC) on growth performance, immunity and antioxidant function in broilers. A total of 192 one-day-old mixed-sex Arbour Acres (AA) broilers were allotted into 4 treatment groups with 6 replicates per treatment and 8 broilers per pen. Broilers were fed the basal diet supplemented with, respectively, 0 (control group), 150, 200 and 250 mg/kg RECC for 42 d. The results showed that dietary RECC improved average daily gain and decreased feed/gain (p

In this study, the effects of Artemisia argyi polysaccharide (AAP) on broilers’ immune and antioxidative functions and the underlying regulatory mechanism were investigated. In this experiment, 288 one-day-old Arbor Acres plus broilers were randomly allocated into 6 treatments with 6 replicates where each treatment group contained 6 replicate groups and there were 8 broilers in each replicate group. The control group was fed the basal diet, and the experimental groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 250, 500, 750 or 1000 mg/kg AAP in comparison with 50 mg/kg chlortetracycline for 42 d. The result demonstrated that the best amount of AAP addition was 1000 mg/kg for growth. It could promote the contents of cytokines, immunoglobulin as well as the activity of the antioxidant enzyme (GPx), and reduce the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the serum of broilers on 42 d. The same dose of AAP could regulate the immune and antioxidant functions in the liver of broilers, and activate the TLR/NF-κB signal pathway in broilers. The growth-promoting effect of AAP was comparable to that of chlorotetracycline.

Artemisia annua L. is a natural herb with a variety of bioactive substances, which can play a variety of biological functions such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial and antiviral, and can be used as a potential feed additive. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different doses of Artemisia annua L. water extract (AAWE) on growth performance and intestinal related indicators in broilers. A total of 200 one-day-old Arbor Acre broilers were selected and randomly divided into five treatment groups, with five replicates in each group and eight birds per replicate. The control group was fed a basal diet, whereas the other groups were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 g/kg AAWE. On d 21, with the increase in AAWE dose, final body weight and feed efficiency showed a quadratic increase effect, whereas feed intake showed a linear reduction effect; however, the apparent metabolic rate of dry matter, crude protein, and ether extract increased quadratically on d 42. In addition, the activity of duodenal chymotrypsin and trypsin, and of jejunal lipase quadratically increased, whereas the intestine crypt depth linearly decreased on d 42. The number of total anaerobic bacteria increased quadratically, whereas the number of Escherichia coli decreased quadratically. The number of Lactobacillus increased linearly, whereas H2S emission linearly decreased on d 21; moreover, NH3 emission (24 h) quadratically decreased on d 42. In conclusion, AAWE promoted the growth performance and intestinal related indicators of broilers.

Based on field investigation, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating and sedimentary analyses, this research shows that the Yinduba paleolandslide-dammed lake (PDL) was formed by a catastrophic rock avalanche damming Jinsha River before 74 ka ago. According to the blocked ancient riverbed, the lake depth was determined about 110 m and the corresponding lake length was about 22 km when the lake level reached the peak. Geomorphologic features of lacustrine terraces at Yinduba and river terraces on the residual dam body and OSL dating results indicate that Yinduba PDL is a dammed lake with multi-stage outbursts. Following the peak, due to the multi-stage breaching of the dam body, the lake level experienced two major drops until the dam breached entirely after 36 ka. The large dam size, special sedimentary structure, and semi-arid climate contribute to the long life of Yinduba PDL, which existed for approximately 38,000 years from its formation to its extinction. This study supports the possibility of a large landslide-dammed lake having the life span of up to tens of millennia, and provides new evidence regarding the evolutionary history of a dammed lake.

Rock–ice avalanches have increased in recent years due to global warming. On 12 March 2004, a massive failure of rock mass (9.1×106 m3) originated on the south slope of Yulong Mountain in Yunnan Province and eventually formed the Ganheba rock–ice avalanche, with an H/L ratio of 0.4. In this study, the geomorphological characteristics, sedimentary characteristics, and emplacement process of the Ganheba rock–ice avalanche were analyzed based on remote sensing interpretation, field investigation, and 2D discrete element modeling. This study suggests that long-term effects, including historical seismic effects and freeze–thaw action, were the key factors in the occurrence of this landslide. Interesting landforms and sedimentary structures found in this case, such as lateral ridges, superelevation, and boat rocks, were used to explain the characteristics of the velocity and the thinning spreading process of the avalanche mass. The numerical simulation further revealed that the entire movement of this rock–ice avalanche lasted about 105 s, with a maximum front velocity of 82 m/s. The underlying substrate rather than the ice is considered to have contributed to the hypermobility of the Ganheba rock–ice avalanche. The developed fissures, complex topography, and basal friction were determined to control the progressive fragmentation in this case. Meanwhile, the kinematic process of the Ganheba rock–ice avalanche was divided into four stages: failure and acceleration, collision deceleration, deceleration spreading, and deformation. The findings of this study contribute to an understanding of the evolution of glacier-related hazards in the high-mountain region.

Artemisia ordosica has been applied as a traditional Chinese/Mongolian medicine for treating csertain inflammatory ailments. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Artemisia ordosica alcohol extract (AOAE) supplemented in diets on growth performance, immune, and inflammatory response in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged broilers. A total of 240 one-day-old Arbor Acre male broilers were randomly allotted into 5 groups with 6 replicates (n = 8), which were basal diet group (CON), LPS-challenge and basal diet group (LPS), LPS-challenge and the basal diet added with low (500 mg/kg), middle (750 mg/kg), and high (1,000 mg/kg) dose of AOAE groups (AOAE-L, AOAE-M, and AOAE-H), respectively. On d 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28, all broilers were injected intra-abdominally either with LPS or an equivalent amount of saline. Results showed that dietary AOAE alleviated the LPS-induced decrease in average daily gain and average daily feed intake in the broilers (P < 0.05). Dietary AOAE supplementation reversed the increased spleen index and the decreased bursa index in LPS-challenged broilers (P < 0.05). Moreover, feeding AOAE could mitigate the elevation of IL-1β in serum, liver, and spleen, IL-2 in serum and liver, IL-6 in serum and spleen, and the decrease of IgG in spleen, IgM in serum, liver, and spleen, and IL-4 in serum of the LPS-challenged broilers (P < 0.05). This study also showed that AOAE supplementation alleviated the increase of mRNA expression of TLR4, MyD88, TRAF6, NF-κB p65, NF-κB p50, IL-1β, and IL-6, and the decrease of gene expression of IκBα and PPARγ in liver and/or spleen of broilers challenged by LPS (P < 0.05). We speculated that AOAE administration could effectively alleviate LPS-induced inflammation via decreasing over-production of proinflammatory cytokines, ultimately relieving the growth inhibition of broilers caused by LPS. In conclusion, 1,000 mg/kg AOAE has a strong capacity to enhance immunity and inhibit inflammation, and can be used as a potential novel feed additive with applications in treating inflammation-related diseases and bacterial infection in broilers.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Artemisia annua L. aqueous extract (AAE) on intestinal immune and antioxidative function of broilers. A total of 200 one-day-old Arbor Acre broilers were randomly allotted into five dietary treatment groups, with five replicates per treatment and eight broilers per replicate. The five treatment diets were formulated by adding, respectively, 0 (control group), 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 g/kg AAE in the basal diet. The results showed that dietary inclusion of AAE quadratically decreased interleukin (IL)-1β content, linearly decreased IL-6 content in the small intestine through regulating the nuclear factor-kappa B signal pathway, and quadratically increased immunoglobulin (Ig)M and sIgA content in ileum and jejunum. Besides, there was a quadratic decrease in the gene expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and toll like receptor 4 (TLR4) in ileum on day 21, and the gene expression of IL-6 and TLR4 in duodenum on day 42, thereby improving small intestinal immune function in broilers. Additionally, dietary inclusion of AAE improves antioxidative function through the nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signal pathway in the small intestinal mucosa of broilers, especially, quadratically increased catalase (CAT) and superoxidase dismutase activity in ileum, and total antioxidant capacity and glutathione peroxidase activity in duodenum, and quadratically decreased malondialdehyde concentration in ileum, besides, linearly increased heme oxygenase-1 and Nrf2 gene expression in jejunum and ileum on day 42, quadratically increased CAT gene expression in the small intestine. Furthermore, regression analyses of the above parameters showed that the optimal dose range of AAE in the diet of broilers was 1.12–1.38 g/kg.

Chinese Red Steppe Cattle (CRS), a composite cattle breed, is well known for its milk production, high slaughter rate, carcass traits, and meat quality. Nowadays, it is widely bred in Jilin and Hebei Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region. However, the population structure and the genetic basis of prominent characteristics of CRS are still unknown. In this study, we systematically describe their population structure, genetic diversity, and selection signature based on genotyping data from 61 CRS individuals with GGP Bovine 100 K chip. The results showed that CRS cattle had low inbreeding levels and had formed a unique genetic structure feature. Using two complementary methods (including comprehensive haplotype score and complex likelihood ratio), we identified 1291 and 1285 potentially selected genes, respectively. There were 141 genes annotated in common 106 overlapping genomic regions covered 5.62 Mb, including PLAG1, PRKG2, DGAT1, PARP10, TONSL, ADCK5, and BMP3, most of which were enriched in pathways related to muscle growth and differentiation, milk production, and lipid metabolism. This study will contribute to understanding the genetic mechanism behind artificial selection and give an extensive reference for subsequent breeding.

It is well known that Dorper (DP) is a full-bodied, fast-growing and high dressing percentage breed, while the production performance of Small-tailed Han sheep (STH) is not so excellent, in contrast to DP. Therefore, in this study, a comparative transcriptomic analysis of liver and muscle tissues from DP and STH breeds was carried out to find differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that affect their growth and meat quality traits. The results showed that the total number of DEGs was 2,188 in the two tissues. There were 950, 160 up-regulated and 1,007, 71 down-regulated genes in the liver and muscle, respectively. Several DEGs such as TGFB1, TGFB3, FABP3, LPL may be associated with growth and development in DP. Also, several GO terms were found to be associated with muscle growth and development, such as developmental growth (GO:0048589), and myofibril (GO:0030016). Further validation of eight genes (6 up-regulated, and 2 down-regulated) was performed using quantitative RT-PCR. These findings will provide valuable information for studying growth and development as well as meat quality traits in sheep.

To investigate the effects of internal shear fragmentation on dry granular flow, in this study a series of ring shear tests were performed on quartz sand samples under different normal stresses (100 kPa, 200 kPa, and 300 kPa), shear displacements (3 m, 5 m, 10m, 15 m, and 20 m), and shear rates (30 deg min−1, 60 deg min−1, and 90 deg min−1). Next, the grain-size distributions, fractal dimensions, and microcharacteristics of the quartz sand before and after the experiments were compared and analyzed. The study results show that grain breakage under shearing preferentially occurs at the edges of the particles and forms a bimodal distribution in frequency grain-size distribution curves, which is consistent with observations of rock avalanches. The fine particles prevent the coarse particles from breaking, in turn leading to the ultimate grain-size distribution and stable fractal dimension (2.61) of quartz sand at relatively small shear displacements compared with the travel distance of rock avalanches. The results of this study suggest that the fragmentation of rock avalanches during the shear spread stage may be far less significant than previously believed. Therefore, the fragmentation effect is not considered to be a major factor of the hypermobility in the late stage of rock avalanches.

Background: Recently, many studies have suggested that bilirubin is associated with the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Conversely, there is substantial evidence that lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels are associated with the prognosis of cancer. Therefore, we sought to find a novel marker based on the above to predict prognosis in patients with resectable CRC.Methods: A total of 702 patients from Hubei Cancer Hospital were included. The whole population was randomly divided into training (n = 491) and testing (n = 211) cohorts. Next, we established a new index based on direct bilirubin, indirect bilirubin and LDH levels. Chi-square tests, Kaplan-Meier survival analyses, and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate prognosis. The prediction accuracies of models for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were estimated through Harrell’s concordance index (C-index) and the Brier score.Results: The median DFS duration was 32 months (range: 0–72.6 months), whereas the median OS duration was 35 months (range: 0 months–73.8 months). In addition, a new indicator, (DIR.LDH) (HR: 1.433; 95% CI, 1.069–1.920) could independently predict outcomes in CRC patients. Moreover, the module based on DIR. LDH was found to have exceptional performance for predicting OS and DFS. The C-index of the nomogram for OS was 0.802 (95% CI, 0.76–0.85) in the training cohort and 0.829 (95% CI, 0.77–0.89) in the testing cohort. The C-index of the nomogram for DFS was 0.774 (95% CI, 0.74–0.81) in the training cohort and 0.775 (95% CI, 0.71–0.84) in the testing cohort.Conclusion: We successfully established a novel module to guide clinical decision-making for CRC.

Artemisia ordosica has been applied as a traditional Chinese/Mongolian medicine for the treatment of certain inflammatory ailments. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Artemisia ordosica total flavonoids (ATF) supplemented in diets on growth performance, oxidative stress, and antioxidant status in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged broilers. A total of 240 one-day-old Arbor Acre broilers were randomly allotted into 5 groups with 6 replicates (n = 8), which were the basal diet group (CON), LPS-challenged and basal diet group (LPS), and the LPS-challenged and basal diet added with low (500 mg/kg), middle (750 mg/kg), and high (1000 mg/kg) doses of ATF groups (ATF-L, ATF-M, and ATF-H), respectively. On day 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28, broilers were injected intra-abdominally either with LPS or an equivalent amount of saline. Results showed that dietary ATF alleviated the LPS-induced decrease in BW, ADG, and ADFI in broilers. Dietary ATF supplementation reversed the increased serum oxidative damage indexes (reactive oxygen species, protein carbonyl, and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine) and the decreased serum antioxidant indexes [total superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC)] in LPS-challenged broilers. Moreover, ATF alleviated the decreased antioxidase activity and the over-production of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver and spleen induced by LPS. This study also showed that ATF alleviated the increased mRNA expression of Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) and the decreased mRNA expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), CAT, SOD, and GPx in the liver and spleen of broilers challenged with LPS. In conclusion, ATF has a strong capacity to enhance antioxidant enzyme activity and relieve oxidative stress and can be used as a potential novel feed additive in poultry diets to improve growth performance and antioxidant capacity.

The study was designed with a 2 × 2 factorial experiment to evaluate the effects of growth performance, immune function, antioxidant status, blood biochemical indexes, and hormone levels of donkeys in different housing and management systems in cold weather. Twenty-four male donkeys with similar body weight and age were randomly allocated into four treatment groups that were as follows: a cold-water-drinking group without a windproof facility, a lukewarm-water-drinking group without windproof facilities, a cold-water-drinking group with a windproof facility, and a lukewarm-water-drinking group with a windproof facility. The experiment lasted for 42 days. The results showed that windproof facilities increased average daily gain (ADG) and decreased average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed-to-gain ratio (F:G) at all time periods (p < 0.01) of the experiment. Windproof facilities increased the digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude fat (CF), crude protein (CP), ash, calcium (Ca), and phosphate (P) on day 21 (p < 0.01), and increased the digestibility of DM, CF, ash, and P on day 42 (p < 0.01). The respiration rate and the skin temperature of the abdomen and legs increased (p < 0.05) and rectal temperature tended to increase (p = 0.083) by adopting windproof facilities at 07:00; the windproof facilities tended to increase the skin temperature of the ears and abdomen (p = 0.081, p = 0.091) at 14:00. For the blood parameters, with windproof facilities, the concentrations of total protein (TP), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) increased (p < 0.05) and glucose (GLU) concentration decreased (p < 0.05) at 07:00 on day 21; the concentrations of TG and cholesterol (CHO) increased and the concentrations of TP, BUN, and GLU decreased at 07:00 on day 42 (p < 0.05). The concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol (COR), triiodothyronine (T3), and thyroxine (T4) decreased (p < 0.05) at 07:00 on day 21, and T4 concentration decreased (p < 0.05) at 07:00 on day 42. The concentrations of interleukin-4 (IL-4), immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), and immunoglobulin M (IgM) increased (p < 0.01) and the concentrations of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) decreased (p < 0.01) on days 21 and 42. The activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) increased (p < 0.05), and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration decreased (p < 0.01) on day 21; the activities of T-SOD and catalase (CAT) increased (p < 0.05), and MDA concentration decreased (p < 0.01) on day 42. However, under the conditions of this experiment, water temperature did not affect the above indexes on days 21 and 42. These results indicated that adopting windproof facilities in a cold climate can mitigate the effects of atrocious weather on the production performance of donkeys.

Cold climates may be a risk to the health and welfare of lambs during winter because cold environments alter the physiological processes of lambs, and we used cold environments with three different temperature gradients—an indoor heating control group (IHC) using electric heating; an indoor temperature group (IT) with intermittent and slight degrees of stimulation of coldness; an outdoor temperature group (OT) exposed to cold environments in an external natural environment. The results showed that the lambs in the OT group had a greater decrease in the average daily gain (ADG) and increase in the average daily feed intake (ADFI) and the feed-to-gain ratio (F:G) compared to the other two groups. The decrease in immunoglobulin A (IgA) and interleukin 2 (IL-2) contents and IL-2 gene expression, and the increase in tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) content and TNF-α and nuclear factor kappa-B p65 (NF-κB p65) gene expressions in the OT group suggested that the lambs had a compromised immune status in cold environments. Moreover, the decrease in catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) levels, and CAT, GPx, SOD1, SOD2, and nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) gene expressions, and the increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) in the OT group suggested that the lambs had a lower antioxidant defense capacity in cold environments. Thus, in extreme cold, lambs kept outdoors could reduce growth, immune function and antioxidant status. However, shelter feeding in winter could relieve the stress of cold environments on lambs, and housing with heating equipment was more conducive to the improve growth, immune, and antioxidant function of the lambs.

Recently, there has been renewed interest in cell therapy, which plays a key role in the clinical research of genetic diseases, advanced blood disease, and other diseases. It shows considerable clinical application value and is known as “the new pillar of future medicine”. Automatic cell culture and operation technology is the key to ensuring scale, standardization, and stability between batches of therapeutic cells. The pH of the cell culture medium is vital for cell growth. Most cells are suitable for growth at pH 7.2~7.4. A pH of cell culture medium lower than 6.8 or higher than 7.6 is harmful to cells, and cells will degenerate or even die. At present, the monitoring method of cell culture medium pH of automatic cell culture equipment is mainly a visual observation method, which can not accurately or quickly reflect changes in the cell culture medium. To address the issue of monitoring of cell culture fluid pH for automated cell culture equipment and the inability to employ invasive sensors to measure pH during well plate culture, a pH monitoring method for orifice plate culture medium algorithm based on HSV (hue, saturation, value) model is proposed by studying the changes of cell culture medium in the process of cell culture. The research presented here reveals the laws of cell culture fluid pH change and its color moment, and the intelligent monitoring of cell culture fluid pH was successfully achieved. The problem of non-destructive monitoring of the pH of cell culture fluids in well plates is also addressed.

The sudden pandemic of SARS-Cov-2 (also known as novel coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19) poses a severe threat to hundreds of millions of lives in the world. The complete cure of the virus largely relies on the immune system, which becomes particularly a challenge for the cancer subjects, whose immunity is generally compromised. However, in a constant evolving situation, the clinical data on the prevalence of SARS-Cov-2 for cancer patients is still limited. On top of a wide range of medical references and interim guidelines including CDC, NCI, ASCO, ESMO, NCCN, AACR, ESMO, and the National Health Commission of China, etc., we formed into a guideline based on our experience in our specialized cancer hospital in Wuhan, the originally endemic center of the virus. Furthermore, we formulated an expert consensus which was developed by all contributors from different disciplines after fully discussion based on our understanding and analysis of limited information of COVID-19. The consensus highlighted a multidisciplinary team diagnostic model with assessment of the balance between risks and benefits prior to treatment, individualizing satisfaction of patients’ medical needs, and acceptability in ethics and patients’ socio-economic conditions.

Effective feature extraction (FE) has always been the focus of hyperspectral images (HSIs). For aerial remote-sensing HSIs processing and its land cover classification, in this article, an efficient two-staged hyperspectral FE method based on total variation (TV) is proposed. In the first stage, the average fusion method was used to reduce the spectral dimension. Then, the anisotropic TV model with different regularization parameters was utilized to obtain featured blocks of different smoothness, each containing multi-scale structure information, and we stacked them as the next stage’s input. In the second stage, equipped with singular value transformation to reduce the dimension again, we followed an isotropic TV model based on split Bregman algorithm for further detail smoothing. Finally, the feature-extracted block was fed to the support vector machine for classification experiments. The results, with three hyperspectral datasets, demonstrate that our proposed method can competitively outperform state-of-the-art methods in terms of its classification accuracy and computing time. Also, our proposed method delivers robustness and stability by comprehensive parameter analysis.

In recent years, industrial production has become more and more automated. Machine cutting tool as an important part of industrial production have a large impact on the production efficiency and costs of products. In a real manufacturing process, tool breakage often occurs in an instant without warning, which results a extremely unbalanced ratio of the tool breakage samples to the normal ones. In this case, the traditional supervised learning model can not fit the sample of tool breakage well, which results to inaccurate prediction of tool breakage. In this paper, we use the high precision Hall sensor to collect spindle current data of computer numerical control (CNC). Combining the anomaly detection and deep learning methods, we propose a simple and novel method called CNN-AD to solve the class-imbalance problem in tool breakage prediction. Compared with other prediction algorithms, the proposed method can converge faster and has better accuracy.

The role of rolling lubrication technology in hot rolling production line and composition of rolling lubrication hydraulic injection system are described. Through the analysis of the problems in the practical application of the conventional pump controlled rolling lubrication hydraulic injection system, we proposed the design of valve control system. The characteristics of the pressure injection valve and its characteristics are analyzed. The control problem of the system is analyzed in order to control the strip shape and guarantee the stability of rolling process.

The photoperiod affects animals’ secretion of hormones, especially melatonin (MLT), which is involved in the regulation of the immune function and antioxidant status. The present experiment was conducted to study the effects of the photoperiod on MLT secretion, immune function, antioxidant status and related gene expression in goats. Eighteen adult female cashmere goats were randomly divided into three photoperiod groups: the control group (CG: natural photoperiod); the short-day photoperiod group (SDPP group: 8 h light; 16 h dark) and the shortening-day photoperiod group (SIPP group: lighting time shortened gradually from 16 h/d to 8 h/d). The experiment lasted for 60 days. The results showed that SDPP increased MLT concentration in serum at day 30 of the experiment (p < 0.05), but SIPP increased it at day 60 (p < 0.05). The activity of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) increased (p < 0.05), and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration decreased (p < 0.05) at day 30 in SDPP; no significant effects of SIPP were observed at day 30. Both SDPP and SIPP goats had higher activities of T-SOD, GPx and CAT (p < 0.05) at day 60. The concentration of immunoglobulin G (IgG), interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and interleukin 2 (IL-2) increased in SDPP (p < 0.05) at day 30. Both SDPP and SIPP raised the concentration of IgG, IL-1β and IL-2 at day 60 (p < 0.05). For the relative gene expression, the SDPP improved the gene expression of SOD1, CAT, GPx4, nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2(Nrf2), IL-1β, IL-2 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (p < 0.05) in blood leukocytes at day 30. In addition, at day 60, goats in the SDPP group had a higher gene expression of CAT, GPx4, IL-1β and IL-2 (p < 0.05). Goats in SIPP had significantly higher gene expression of SOD1, CAT, GPx4, Nrf2, TNFα, IL-1β and IL-2 (p < 0.05) than those in CG. These results indicated that SDPP and SIPP could secrete more MLT and then improve the immune function and antioxidant status of the goats.