A Combined Metabolomic and Proteomic Study Revealed the Difference in Metabolite and Protein Expression Profiles in Ruminal Tissue From Goats Fed Hay or High-Grain Diets

Currently, knowledge about the impact of high-grain (HG) feeding on metabolite and protein expression profiles in ruminal tissue is limited. In this study, a combination of proteomic and metabolomic approaches was applied to evaluate metabolic and proteomic changes of the rumen epithelium in goats fed a hay diet (Hay) or HG diet. At the metabolome level, results from principal component analysis (PCA) and PLS-DA revealed clear differences in the biochemical composition of ruminal tissue of the control (Hay) and the grain-fed groups, demonstrating the evident impact of HG feeding on metabolite profile of ruminal epithelial tissues. As compared with the Hay group, HG feeding increased the levels of eight metabolites and decreased the concentrations of seven metabolites in ruminal epithelial tissues. HG feeding mainly altered starch and sucrose metabolism, purine metabolism, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, glycerolipid metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, glycolysis or gluconeogenesis, galactose metabolism, glycine, serine and threonine metabolism, and arginine and proline metabolism in ruminal epithelium. At the proteome level, 35 differentially expressed proteins were found in the rumen epithelium between the Hay and HG groups, with 12 upregulated and 23 downregulated proteins. The downregulated proteins were related to fatty acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolic processes and nucleoside metabolic processes, while most of upregulated proteins were involved in oxidative stress and detoxification. In general, our findings revealed that HG feeding resulted in differential proteomic and metabolomic profiles in the rumen epithelia of goats, which may contribute to better understanding how rumen epithelium adapt to HG feeding

Further validation of the Health Scale of Traditional Chinese Medicine (HSTCM)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Few health measurement scales are based on Chinese medicine theory. The Health Scale of Traditional Chinese Medicine (HSTCM) was developed to fill this gap. The aim of this study is to validate the HSTCM.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A convenience sample of 630 participants was recruited in 11 settings. All participants were asked to complete the HSTCM and World Health Organization Quality of Life Measure-Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Properties of the HSTCM were tested. Intra-class correlation coefficient representing the inter-interviewer reliability was 0.99 (95%CI) for the overall instrument. Spearman-Brown correlation coefficient and Cronbach's coefficient alpha were 0.81 and 0.94 respectively, indicating satisfactory internal reliability and inter-interviewer reliability. Spearman's rho correlation coefficient between the HSTCM and WHOQOL-BREFF was -0.67. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to test the discriminate validation. Areas under the ROC curve analysis for the HSTCM and its domains ranged 0.71–0.87 and all the lower levels of 95%CI were greater than 0.50.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The HSTCM was validated as a generic health scale and may complement existing health measurement scales in Chinese medicine health care.</p

Thick MgB2 film with (101) oriented micro-crystals

Very thick, ~ 40 $\mu$m, clean, and highly textured MgB2 film was effectively grown on an Al2O3 substrate. The fabrication technique is by the hybrid physical-chemical vapor deposition (HPCVD) using B2H6 gas and Mg ingot as the sources. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows a highly (101)-oriented MgB2 crystal structure without any impurity detected. There is no signal from the substrate in the XRD spectrum, indicating that the film thickness exceeds the X-ray penetration length. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals that the film is composed of highly-packed MgB2 micro-crystals with a uniform size distribution of about 2 $\mu$m in diameter and 0.2 $\mu$m in thickness. According to the compositional analysis of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), no oxygen, hence no MgO, exists in the textured film, consistent with the XRD result. Also, the transport properties are similar to those of a single crystal, indicating a clean film of good crystallite. The zero field transition temperatures are determined as TC(onset) = 39.2 K and TC(zero) = 38.4 K, giving a sharp transition typical of a clean sample. The residual resistivity ratio (RRR) is determined as 6.4 and the magnetoreisitance (MR) is about 28 % at 40 K under the applied field of 9 T, which are similar to those of a single crystal. The zero temperature upper critical field, HC2(0), is extrapolated as 19 T from the TC(onset) at applied field up to 9 T.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Genome-wide gene expression analyses reveal unique cellular characteristics related to the amenability of HPC/HSCs into high-quality induced pluripotent stem cells

is Table S2 presenting characteristics of the SF-iPSCs and TTF-iPSCs. (DOC 28 kb

Comparison of bleeding risk and hypofibrinogenemia-associated risk factors between tigecycline with cefoperazone/sulbactam therapy and other tigecycline-based combination therapies

Background: Tigecycline and cefoperazone/sulbactam can cause coagulation disorders; tigecycline may also lead to hypofibrinogenemia, raising safety concerns. This study aimed to investigate whether tigecycline plus cefoperazone/sulbactam increases the risk of bleeding compared with other tigecycline-based combination therapies and identify risk factors for tigecycline-associated hypofibrinogenemia.Methods: In this multi-method, multicenter, retrospective study, coagulation and other baseline variables were compared using a cohort study, and risk factors for hypofibrinogenemia using a case-control study.Results: The 451 enrolled participants were divided into three group: tigecycline plus cefoperazone/sulbactam (Group A, 193 patients), tigecycline plus carbapenems (Group B, 200 patients) and tigecycline plus β-lactams without N-methylthio-tetrazole (NMTT) side chains (Group C, 58 patients). Activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time were prolonged, and fibrinogen declined for all patients after tigecycline-based medication (all p &lt; 0.05). Prothrombin time in Group B was significantly longer than in other groups (p &lt; 0.05), but there were no significant differences in bleeding events between the three groups (p = 0.845). Age greater than 80 years (OR: 2.85, 95% CI: 1.07–7.60), treatment duration (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.19–1.41), daily dose (OR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1.29–5.25), total bilirubin (OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.01–1.02) and basal fibrinogen (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.14–1.63) were independent risk factors of hypofibrinogenemia. The optimal cut-off for treatment course was 6 days for high-dose and 11 days for low-dose.Conclusion: Tigecycline plus cefoperazone/sulbactam did not increase the risk of bleeding compared with tigecycline plus carbapenem, or tigecycline plus β-lactam antibiotics without NMTT-side-chains. Coagulation function should be closely monitored in patients receiving tigecycline treatment

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1H NMR-based metabolic profiling combined with multivariate data analysis was used to explore the metabolic phenotype of functional dyspepsia (FD) in stressed rats and evaluate the intervention effects of the Chinese medicine Weikangning (WKN). After a 7-day period of model establishment, a 14-day drug administration schedule was conducted in a WKN-treated group of rats, with the model and normal control groups serving as negative controls. Based on 1H NMR spectra of urine and serum from rats, PCA, PLS-DA, and OPLS-DA were performed to identify changing metabolic profiles. According to the key metabolites determined by OPLS-DA, alterations in energy metabolism, stress-related metabolism, and gut microbiota were found in FD model rats after stress stimulation, and these alterations were restored to normal after WKN administration. This study may provide new insights into the relationship between FD and psychological stress and assist in research into the metabolic mechanisms involved in Chinese medicine

Toward ultrahigh thermal conductivity graphene films

With increasing demands of high-performance and functionality, electronics devices generate a great amount of heat. Thus, efficient heat dissipation is crucially needed. Owing to its extremely good thermal conductivity, graphene is an interesting candidate for this purpose. In this paper, a two-step temperature-annealing process to fabricate ultrahigh thermal conductive graphene assembled films (GFs) is proposed. The thermal conductivity of the obtained GFs was as high as 3826 +/- 47 W m(-1) K-1. Extending the time of high-temperature annealing significantly improved the thermal performance of the GF. Structural analyses confirmed that the high thermal conductivity is caused by the large grain size, defect-free stacking, and high flatness, which are beneficial for phonon transmission in the carbon lattice. The turbostratic stacking degree decreased with increasing heat treatment time. However, the increase in the grain size after long heat treatment had a more pronounced effect on the phonon transfer of the GF than that of turbostratic stacking. The developed GFs show great potential for efficient thermal management in electronics devices

Text Mining of the Classical Medical Literature for Medicines That Show Potential in Diabetic Nephropathy

Objectives. To apply modern text-mining methods to identify candidate herbs and formulae for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. Methods. The method we developed includes three steps: (1) identification of candidate ancient terms; (2) systemic search and assessment of medical records written in classical Chinese; (3) preliminary evaluation of the effect and safety of candidates. Results. Ancient terms Xia Xiao, Shen Xiao, and Xiao Shen were determined as the most likely to correspond with diabetic nephropathy and used in text mining. A total of 80 Chinese formulae for treating conditions congruent with diabetic nephropathy recorded in medical books from Tang Dynasty to Qing Dynasty were collected. Sao si tang (also called Reeling Silk Decoction) was chosen to show the process of preliminary evaluation of the candidates. It had promising potential for development as new agent for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. However, further investigations about the safety to patients with renal insufficiency are still needed. Conclusions. The methods developed in this study offer a targeted approach to identifying traditional herbs and/or formulae as candidates for further investigation in the search for new drugs for modern disease. However, more effort is still required to improve our techniques, especially with regard to compound formulae