Effects of sea-buckthorn leaves on performance and serum metabolic profiles in Altay lambs

In this study, the effects of sea-buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) leaves (SL) on the biochemical parameters and metabolomic profiling in Altay lamb (Ovis aries) were observed. Sixty six-month-old male Altay lambs (body weight 28.0 ± 3.5 kg) were randomly assigned to four groups (n=15). The experimental groups were named as CON, 2.5%, 5.0% and 7.5%. The group CON, contained animals fed with a basal diet. Animals of the other groups were fed a treatment diet consisting of 2.5% (Group 2.5%), 5.0% (Group 5.0%) and 7.5% (Group 7.5%) SL. The experimental period lasted 56 days. The results showed that the average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) increased with the increase in the levels of dietary SL. Dietary SL showed a direct relationship with total protein (TP), albumin, globulin and total cholesterol (TC) content of the experimental animals. However, an indirect relationship was observed between dietary SL and the concentration of urea nitrogen (UN). The concentrations of glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) showed quadratic change. Additional changes occurred in the endogenous metabolites involving multiple pathways. The pathways were tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, the metabolism of protein and amino acid and the metabolism of fatty acid and steroid. The changes in metabolites primarily revealed an increase in amino acids and carbohydrates and a decrease in lipid metabolites. These findings provide a comprehensive insight into the effects of the metabolic aspects of sea-buckthorn leaves on Altay lambs. In addition, the present research results provide a better understanding to the development and utilization of sea-buckthorn as a healthy additive for small ruminant production.Keywords: Hippophae rhamnoides L., lamb, metabolomics, growth performance, serum parameter

Ethyl 5-(ethoxy­carbon­yl)-3-(4-methoxy­phen­yl)-1H-pyrazole-1-acetate

In the title compound, C17H20N2O5, all bond lengths and angles show normal values. The dihedral angle between the pyrazole ring and the benzene ring is 6.98 (11)°. The mol­ecules are linked by inter­molecular C—H⋯π inter­actions

A novel auxiliary subunit critical to BK channel function in caenorhabditis elegans

The BK channel is a Ca(2+)- and voltage-gated potassium channel with many important physiological functions. To identify proteins important to its function in vivo, we screened for C. elegans mutants that suppressed a lethargic phenotype caused by expressing a gain-of-function (gf) isoform of the BK channel α-subunit SLO-1. BKIP-1, a small peptide with no significant homology to any previously characterized molecules was thus identified. BKIP-1 and SLO-1 showed similar expression and subcellular localization patterns, and appeared to interact physically through discrete domains. bkip-1 loss-of-function (lf) mutants phenocopied slo-1(lf) mutants in behavior and synaptic transmission, and suppressed the lethargy, egg-laying defect, and deficient neurotransmitter release caused by SLO-1(gf). In heterologous expression systems, BKIP-1 decreased the activation rate and shifted the conductance-voltage (G-V) relationship of SLO-1 in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner, and increased SLO-1 surface expression. Thus, BKIP-1 is a novel auxiliary subunit critical to SLO-1 function in vivo

Oxonium picrate

The title compound, H3O+·C6H2N3O7 −, consists of one picrate anion and one oxonium cation. The oxonium cation is located on a crystallographic twofold axis and both its H atoms are disordered, each over two symmetry-equivalent positions with occupancy ratios of 0.75. The picrate anions are also located on twofold axes bis­ecting the phenolate and p-nitro groups. π–π inter­actions between the rings of the picrates [centroid-to-centroid distances of 3.324 (2) Å] connect the anions to form stacks along the a-axis direction. The stacks are further joined together by the protonated water mol­ecules through hydrogen bonds to form two-dimensional sheets extending parallel to the ab plane. The sheets are stacked on top of each other along the c-axis direction and connected through C—H⋯O inter­actions between the CH groups of the benzene rings and the picrate nitro groups, with C⋯O distances of 3.450 (2) Å

Observation of in-gap surface states in the Kondo insulator SmB6 by photoemission

Kondo insulators (KIs) are strongly correlated materials in which the interactions between 4f and conduction electrons lead to a hybridization gap opening at low temperature 1-2. SmB6 is a typical KI, but its resistivity does not diverge at low temperatures, which was attributed to some in-gap states 3-10. However after several decades of research, the nature and origin of the in-gap states remain unclear. Recent band calculation and transport measurements suggest that the in-gap states could actually be ascribed to topological surface states. SmB6 thus might be the first realization of topological Kondo insulator (TKI) 13, the strongly correlated version of topological insulator (TI) 11,12. Here by performing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we directly observed several dispersive states within the hybridization gap of SmB6, which cross the Fermi level and show negligible kz dependence, indicative of their surface origin. Furthermore, the circular dichroism (CD) ARPES results of the in-gap states suggest the chirality of orbital momentum, and temperature dependent measurements have shown that the in-gap states vanish simultaneously with the hybridization gap around 150 K. These strongly suggest their possible topological origin.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure

Demographic history and genomic response to environmental changes in a rapid radiation of wild rats

For organisms to survive and prosper in a harsh environment, particularly under rapid climate change, poses tremendous challenges. Recent studies have highlighted the continued loss of megafauna in terrestrial ecosystems and the subsequent surge of small mammals, such as rodents, bats, lagomorphs, and insectivores. However, the ecological partitioning of these animals will likely lead to large variation in their responses to environmental change. In the present study, we investigated the evolutionary history and genetic adaptations of white-bellied rats (Niviventer Marshall, 1976), which are widespread in the natural terrestrial ecosystems in Asia but also known as important zoonotic pathogen vectors and transmitters. The southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QHTP) was inferred as the origin center of this genus, with parallel diversification in temperate and tropical niches. Demographic history analyses from mitochondrial and nuclear sequences of Niviventer demonstrated population size increases and range expansion for species in Southeast Asia, and habitat generalists elsewhere. Unexpectedly, population increases were seen in N. eha, which inhabits the highest elevation among Niviventer species. Genome scans of nuclear exons revealed that among the congeneric species, N. eha has the largest number of positively selected genes. Protein functions of these genes are mainly related to olfaction, taste and tumor suppression. Extensive genetic modification presents a major strategy in response to global changes in these alpine species

MiRNA-30e downregulation increases cancer cell proliferation, invasion and tumor growth through targeting RPS6KB1

Human esophagus carcinoma (EC) is one of the most common malignant tumors, especially in Africa and Asia including China. In EC initiation and progression, genetic and epigenetic aberrations have been reported to play a major role, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, the miR-30e levels were analyzed in human EC tissues and TCGA databases, and the results demonstrated that miR-30e expression in EC tissues was significantly decreased compared to adjacent normal tissues. To further investigate the role of miR-30e in cancer cells, we found that forced expression of miR-30e dramatically inhibited cell proliferation, invasion, tube formation, and colony formation of cancer cells. To determine the underlying mechanism of miR-30e, we found that RPS6KB1 was a direct target of miR-30e by binding to its 3\u27-UTR, which was verified by luciferase activity assay using reporters with wild-type miR-30e and its seed sequence mutant constructs and Western blotting assay. In vivo experiment showed that miR-30e overexpression significantly inhibited tumor growth and decreased RPS6KB1 expression in xenografts. In EC, high expression of RPS6KB1 in tumor tissues indicated poor prognosis of patients with less survival rate. High levels of RPS6KB1 and low levels of miR-30e closely correlated poor survival of patients with several other types of cancer. These findings show that miR-30e and its target RPS6KB1 are important in cancer development and clinical outcomes, and miR-30e/RPS6KB1 is a potential future therapeutic pathway for EC intervention