Supplementation of lentinan improves lactation performance by altering ruminal microorganisms and metabolites in dairy cows.

Lentinan (LNT) is a bioactive polysaccharide that has been proven to improve the production performance of animals. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of LNT on lactation performance and rumen fermentation in dairy cows. Through random block design, 80 Holstein cows were randomly assigned to four treatments (CON, control group, fed a basal diet; and 5LNT, 10LNT, 15LNT groups, fed a basal diet with 5, 10, 15 g/d LNT, respectively) according to the days in milk (57 ± 21.

Molecular Regulatory Network of Soybean Responses to Abiotic Stress.

Global climate change exacerbates the impact of environmental stressors such as drought, salinity and extreme temperatures on crop growth and grain yield, endangering the sustainability of the food supply. Soybean (Glycine Max [L.] Merr.

Supplementation with Lentinan Improves the Colostrum Quality of Holstein Dairy Cows and the Immunity and Antioxidant Capacity of Newborn Calves.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of lentinan (LNT) on the quality of colostrum produced by perinatal dairy cows and the health status of their newborn calves. A total of 40 expectant Holstein cows, matched for parity and expected date of delivery, were selected and randomly divided into four groups: a control group fed a total mixed diet (TMR); a low LNT group (10 g/d, LLNT); a medium LNT group (20 g/d, MLNT); and a high LNT group (40 g/d, HLNT). The study commenced 21 days prior to parturition and continued for three weeks.

Evening complex component ELF3 interacts with LUX proteins to repress soybean root nodulation.

Formation of root nodules is a unique hallmark of the symbiotic interaction between legume host plants and rhizobia and is governed by a complex regulatory framework that balances the appropriate orchestration of rhizobial infection and subsequent nodule organogenesis. In contrast to prominent model species such as Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus, research on symbiotic signal transduction in the staple-crop soybean Glycine max remains relatively insufficient. Here, we identified a soybean mutant with ~25% additional root nodules over wild-type, designated as increased number of nodules 1 (inn1).

Identification and Expression Analysis of the Soybean Serine Acetyltransferase () Gene Family Under Salt Stress.

Serine acetyltransferase (SAT) is a critical enzyme in the sulfur-assimilation pathway of cysteine, playing an essential role in numerous physiological functions in plants, particularly in their response to environmental stresses. However, the structural characteristics of the soybean gene family remain poorly understood. Members of the soybean gene family were identified using the Hidden Markov Model approach.

Genome-Wide Analyses of the Soybean Gene Family in Response to Salt Stress.

Background: Soybean ( (L.) .) is a significant economic oilseed crop, and saline-alkali soils restrict soybean yield.

Weighted Expectile Regression Neural Networks for Right Censored Data.

As a favorable alternative to the censored quantile regression, censored expectile regression has been popular in survival analysis due to its flexibility in modeling the heterogeneous effect of covariates. The existing weighted expectile regression (WER) method assumes that the censoring variable and covariates are independent, and that the covariates effects has a global linear structure. However, these two assumptions are too restrictive to capture the complex and nonlinear pattern of the underlying covariates effects.

Prevalence, mortality and risk factors for self-reported COPD among smokers and never smokers, NHANES 1999-2018.

Introduction: Cigarette smoke is the main risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but 25% to 50% of cases occur in non-smokers. In the US, limited recent national data compare COPD prevalence between smokers and never smokers. Furthermore, our study seeks to explore the prevalence and mortality of self-reported COPD among smokers (including current smokers and ex-smokers) and never smokers in the US from 1999 to 2018, and to identify the risk factors and differences.

Effect of Different Slow-Release Urea on the Production Performance, Rumen Fermentation, and Blood Parameter of Angus Heifer.

This study investigated the effect of replacing part of the dietary soybean meal with either polymer-coated urea or gelatinized starch urea on the production performance, blood indexes, and ruminal fermentation of Angus heifers. A total of 210 purebred Angus cattle (BW = 314.26 kg) were divided into three groups: the no urea group (CON), the polymer-coated urea group (PCU), and the gelatinized starch urea group (GSU); 20 g/kg polymer-coated urea or 25 g/kg gelatinized starch urea was used to replace part of soybean meal in the concentrate feed, according to the principle of isometabolic energy and isonitrogenous.

The Effects of Lentinan on the Hematological and Immune Indices of Dairy Cows.

In this study, we investigated the effects of lentinan (LNT) on hematological parameters, immune indices, and metabolite levels in dairy cows. We randomly assigned forty Holstein cows to four treatment groups. The treatments consisted of 0, 5, 10, and 15 g/d of LNT.

Betaine Reduces Lipid Anabolism and Promotes Lipid Transport in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet by Influencing Intestinal Protein Expression.

Betaine is more efficient than choline and methionine methyl donors, as it can increase nitrogen storage, promote fat mobilisation and fatty acid oxidation and change body fat content and distribution. Lipid is absorbed primarily in the small intestine after consumption, which is also the basis of lipid metabolism. This study was conducted to establish a mouse model of obesity in Kunming mice of the same age and similar body weight, and to assess the effect of betaine on the intestinal protein expression profile of mice using a proteomic approach.

Betaine Supplementation Causes an Increase in Fatty Acid Oxidation and Carbohydrate Metabolism in Livers of Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet: A Proteomic Analysis.

Betaine, a common methyl donor whose methylation is involved in the biosynthesis of carnitine and phospholipids in animals, serves as food and animal feed additive. The present study used liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to analyze the liver protein profile of mice on a high fat (HF) diet to investigate the mechanism by which betaine affects hepatic metabolism. Although betaine supplementation had no significant effect on body weight, a total of 103 differentially expressed proteins were identified between HF diet + 1% betaine group (HFB) and HF diet group by LC-MS (fold change > 2, p < 0.

Ascorbic acid regulates mouse spermatogonial stem cell proliferation in a Wnt/β-catenin/ROS signaling dependent manner.

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) provide a foundation for spermatogenesis, but the mechanism of SSC proliferation is still poorly understood. To investigate whether and how ascorbic acid (AA) regulates the growth of mouse SSCs in vitro, the SSCs were cultured in different concentration AA medium for 14 days. The proliferation, apoptosis and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels of SSCs in different AA groups were respectively detected.

900 MHz Radiofrequency Field Induces Mitochondrial Unfolded Protein Response in Mouse Bone Marrow Stem Cells.

To examine whether exposure of mouse bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) to 900 MHz radiofrequency fields used in mobile communication devices can induce mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR). BMSCs were exposed to continuous wave 900 MHz radiofrequency fields (RF) at 120 μW/cm power intensity for 4 h/d for 5 consecutive days. Cells in sham group (SH) were cultured in RF exposure system, but without RF radiation.

Effects of seasonal ambient heat stress on expression of microRNAs in the mammary gland of Holstein cows.

This study was conducted to assess the link of miRNA expressions in cow's mammary gland undergoing heat stress. Twelve Holstein cows were allocated either to undergo heat stress (HS) or remain in a thermoneutral environment (non-heat stress, NS), respectively. The experiment with HS cows was carried out in August, and the experiment with NS cows was done in November.

Methyl-Cantharidimide Inhibits Growth of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells by Inducing Cell Cycle Arrest and Promoting Apoptosis.

Methyl-Cantharidimide (MCA) is a derivative of cantharidin which has potential anticancer activity. This study investigates the effect of MCA on the growth and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Human HCC HepG2 and Hep3B2.

A kernel nonparametric quantile estimator for right-censored competing risks data.

In medical and epidemiological studies, it is often interest to study time-to-event distributions under competing risks that involve two or more failure types. Nonparametric analysis of competing risks is typically focused on the cumulative incidence function or nonparametric quantile function. However, the existing estimators may be very unstable due to their unsmoothness.

Liver metabolic perturbations of heat-stressed lactating dairy cows.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to elucidate the mechanism underlying liver metabolic perturbations in dairy cows exposed to heat stress (HS).

Methods: Liquid chromatography massabl spectrometry was used to analyze metabolic differences in livers of 20 dairy cows, with and without exposure to HS.

Results: The results revealed 33 potential metabolite candidate biomarkers for the detection of HS in dairy cows.

Concordance-Assisted Learning for Estimating Optimal Individualized Treatment Regimes.

In this article, we propose a new concordance-assisted learning for estimating optimal individualized treatment regimes. We first introduce a type of concordance function for prescribing treatment and propose a robust rank regression method for estimating the concordance function. We then find treatment regimes, up to a threshold, to maximize the concordance function, named prescriptive index.

Metabolomic analysis of alterations in lipid oxidation, carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism in dairy goats caused by exposure to Aflotoxin B1.

The purposes of this study were to investigate the systemic and characteristic metabolites in the serum of dairy goats induced by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) exposure and to further understand the endogenous metabolic alterations induced by it. A nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabonomic approach was used to analyse the metabolic alterations in dairy goats that were induced by low doses of AFB1 (50 µg/kg DM). We found that AFB1 exposure caused significant elevations of glucose, citrate, acetate, acetoacetate, betaine, and glycine yet caused reductions of lactate, ketone bodies (acetate, β-hydroxybutyrate), amino acids (citrulline, leucine/isoleucine, valine, creatine) and cell membrane structures (choline, lipoprotein, N-acetyl glycoproteins) in the serum.

Effects of aflatoxin B1 combined with ochratoxin A and/or zearalenone on metabolism, immune function, and antioxidant status in lactating dairy goats.

Objective: This experiment investigated the effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) alone or mixed with ochratoxin A (OTA) and/or zearalenone (ZEA) on the metabolism, immune function, and antioxidant status of dairy goats.

Methods: Fifty lactating Laoshan dairy goats were randomly assigned to one of five treatment groups (n = 10) for 14 days. Goats were fed no additive (control) or administered with 50 μg AFB1/kg dry matter (DM) (AFB1), 50 μg AFB1/kg DM+100 μg OTA/kg DM (AFB1+ OTA), 50 μg AFB1/kg DM+500 μg ZEA/kg DM (AFB1+ZEA), or 50 μg AFB1/kg DM+100 μg OTA/kg DM+500 μg ZEA/kg DM (AFB1+OTA+ZEA).

Strong, sudden cooling alleviates the inflammatory responses in heat-stressed dairy cows based on iTRAQ proteomic analysis.

This study was designed to investigate the effects of sudden cooling on the physiological responses of 12 heat-stressed Holstein dairy cows using an isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) labeling approach. Plasma samples were collected from these cows during heat stress (HS), and after strong, sudden cooling in the summer (16 days later). We compared plasma proteomic data before and after sudden cooling to identify the differentially abundant proteins.

Isolation and characterization of a non-specific endoglucanase from a metagenomic library of goat rumen.

A cellulase gene (cel28a) was isolated from a rumen microbial metagenome library of goat rumen microorganisms, cloned into E. coli, and expressed in active form. The gene has a length of 1596 bp obtained using a genome walking Kit and encodes a protein of 509 amino acids with a calculated MW of 55 kDa.

Cloning and Iron Transportation of Nucleotide Binding Domain of Cryptosporidium andersoni ATP-Binding Cassette (CaABC) Gene.

Cryptosporidium andersoni ATP-binding cassette (CaABC) is an important membrane protein involved in substrate transport across the membrane. In this research, the nucleotide binding domain (NBD) of CaABC gene was amplified by PCR, and the eukaryotic expression vector of pEGFP-C1-CaNBD was reconstructed. Then, the recombinant plasmid of pEGFP-C1-CaNBD was transformed into the mouse intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) to study the iron transportation function of CaABC.

Establishment of recipient model for spermatogonial stem cells transplantation in Kunming mice.

The objective of this study was to establish a recipient model for spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) transplantation in the Kunming mice after different doses busulfan treatment. The results showed that the most optimal dose of busulfan was 20mg/kg and the most appropriate time for transplantation was 5-7 wk after busulfan treatment. Then, the cloned fragments existed in the testis of recipient mice after 20mg/kg busulfan treatment and the offspring with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) were produced by the transplanting SSCs.