Effect of Astragalus polysaccharide supplementation on growth performance and plasma parameters of weaned piglets under commercial condition

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) supplementation on the growth performance, plasma biochemical parameters, and plasma immune and antioxidant indexes of weaned piglets in a commercial swine farm. A total of 120 piglets weaned at 22 days and allocated to 2 groups, and fed a basal diet either without (CTR) or with 200 mg/kg of APS in a local commercial farm for a 42-d experiment. At end of the trial, one piglet from each pen was selected for blood sampling. The results showed that dietary APS decreased the feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the CTR group from day 14 to day 28 and day 0 to day 42 (P = 0.08 and 0.02, respectively). In addition, supplementation of APS had the tendency to increase the plasma superoxide dismutase activity and IgG content of piglets compared to the CTR group on day 42 (P = 0.06 and 0.09, respectively). Results in this study suggested that dietary APS might have a beneficial effect on growth performance and health status of weaned piglets under the commercial condition

Elevated plasma D-dimer and hypersensitive C-reactive protein levels may indicate aortic disorders Níveis plasmáticos elevados do dímero D e da proteína C reativa hipersensíveis podem indicar desordens aórticas

OBJECTIVE: D-dimer and C-reactive protein are of diagnostic and predictive values in patients have thrombotic tendency, such as vascular thrombosis, coronary artery disease and aortic dissection. However, the comparative study in these biomarkers between the patients with acute aortic dissection and coronary artery disease has not been sufficiently elucidated. METHODS: Consecutive surgical patients for acute type A aortic dissection (20 patients), aortic aneurysm (nine patients) or coronary artery disease (20 patients) were selected into this study. Plasma from preoperative blood samples and supernatant of aortic homogenate of the surgical specimens were detected for D-dimer and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). RESULTS: Plasma D-dimer and hs-CRP values in type A aortic dissection or aortic aneurysm were much higher than in coronary artery disease patients or the healthy control (for D-dimer, aortic dissection: coronary artery disease, 0.4344 ± 0.2958 µg/ml vs. 0.0512 ± 0.0845 µg/ml, P OBJETIVO: D-dímero e proteína C reativa são de valores de diagnóstico e preditivo em pacientes com tendência trombótica, como a trombose vascular, doença arterial coronária e dissecção aórtica. No entanto, o estudo comparativo desses biomarcadores entre os pacientes com dissecção aguda da aorta e doença arterial coronariana não foi suficientemente esclarecido. MÉTODOS: Pacientes cirúrgicos consecutivos foram selecionados para este estudo por tipo de dissecção aguda aórtica (20 pacientes), aneurisma da aorta (9 pacientes) ou doença arterial coronária (20 pacientes). O plasma a partir de amostras de sangue no pré-operatório e sobrenadante de homogenato de aorta dos espécimes cirúrgicos foi detectado para o D-dímero e proteína C reativa hipersensível. RESULTADOS: Os valores do plasma de D-dímero e proteína-C reativa em dissecção aórtica tipo A ou aneurisma da aorta foram muito superiores em pacientes com doença arterial coronariana ou de controles saudáveis (pelo D-dímero, dissecção aórtica: doença arterial coronariana, 0,4344 ± 0,2958 µg/ml vs 0,0512 ± 0,0845 µg/ml, P <0,0001; dissecção aórtica: controle saudável, 0,4344 ± 0,2958 µg/ml vs 0,1250 ± 0,1295 µg/ml, P = 0,0005; aneurisma da aorta: doença arterial coronariana, 0,4200 ± 0,4039 µg/ml vs 0,0512 ± 0,0845 µg/ml, P = 0,0013; e aneurisma de aorta: controle saudável, 0,4200 ± 0,4039 µg/ml vs. 0,1250 ± 0,1295 µg/ml, P = 0,0068 e para a hs-CRP, dissecção aórtica: doença arterial coronariana, 4,400 ± 3,004 mg/L vs. 1,232 ± 0,601 mg/L, P <0,0001; dissecção aórtica: grupo controle saudável, 4,400 ± 3,004 mg/L vs 0,790 ± 0,423 mg/L, P <0,0001; aneurisma da aorta: doença arterial coronariana, 2,314 ± 1,399 mg/L vs. 1,232 ± 0,601 mg/L, P = 0,0084; aneurisma da aorta: grupo controle saudável, 2,314 ± 1,399 mg/L vs. 0,790 ± 0,423 mg/L, P = 0,0002; e doença arterial coronariana: grupo controle saudável, 1,232 ± 0,601 mg/L versus 0,790 ± 0,423 mg/L, P = 0,0113). Além disso, houve correlações próximas de plasma de D-dímero e proteína C reativa em em todos os pacientes com dissecção aórtica (Y = 4.8798X + 0,8138, r² = 0,450, r= 0,671, P < 0,001), (Y = 2.6298X + 1,2098, r² = 0,5762, r = 0,759, P < 0,001), e aneurisma de aorta (Y = 7.1341X + 1,3006, r² = 0,4935, r = 0,7025, P = 0,048) ao contrário dos grupos de doença arterial coronariana ou grupo controle de pacientes saudáveis. Além disso, não houve diferenças significativas dos valores de D-dímero e proteína C reativa de sobrenadante de aorta entre os grupos, exceto para o D-dímero indetectável no sobrenadante de aorta do grupo com doença coronária. CONCLUSÕES: Os pacientes com dissecção aguda da aorta e aneurisma da aorta podem refletir a reação inflamatória extensa e coagulopatias graves nos pacientes com o dissecção aguda aórtica tipo A e aneurisma da aorta torácica em comparação com os doentes coronários e indivíduos-controle saudáveis. As detecções após o acomentimento nos pacientes com dor torácica aguda podem ajudar a fazer um diagnóstico diferencial entre a aortopatias e doença isquêmica cardíaca. A escassa significância dos biomarcadores de tecido pode impedir o seu valor diagnóstico na prática clínica

An Preliminary analysis on the relationship between CO₂ concentrations and global climate change

The fourth IPCC (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) assessment report-AR4 in 2007, insisted that the rise of observed earth's average temperature over the past 50 years was very likely (90%) caused by human activities, among which the increasing of greenhouse gases emissions by human being is the main factor.By analyzing the geological records in this study, we found that the fluctuation of CO₂ concentration was the result, but not the cause of climate changes instead, and CO₂ concentration was varying according to air temperature.During the historical period human being has released much CO₂ into the atmosphere.At the same time, the temperature also increased, both of which might be coincident.The theory that the global warming was due to the releasing of CO₂ cannot explain the fact that temperature decrease during some periods of modern human time.Comparing to the long term climate change, we can see that modern global warming is just a warm period within the long-time climatic fluctuation, showing that the global warming has no connection to the concentration of CO2.It could be wrong to ignore natural factors and simply attribute the global warming to human activities.7 page(s

Oil charging history and pathways of the Ordovician carbonate reservoir in the Tuoputai region, Tarim Basin, NW China

Abstract Geochemical analysis of 64 oils sampled from an Ordovician carbonate reservoir in the Tuoputai region was undertaken to study the composition of molecular markers. All the oils have similar geochemical characteristics and belong to a single oil family. They are presumed to derive from the same source kitchen and have similar oil charging history. A histogram of homogenization temperatures (T h) of aqueous inclusions in reservoir rocks shows a bimodal distribution pattern, indicating that the Ordovician reservoir has been charged twice. Coupling the measured T h (°C) with the burial and geothermal histories reconstructed using 1D basin modeling, we relate the homogenization temperature to the relevant geological ages: i.e., 425–412 and 9–4 Ma, corresponding to the Middle to Late Silurian and the Miocene to Pliocene, respectively. The oil filling orientation and pathways are traced using molecular indicators related to alkyldibenzothiophenes and benzo[b]naphthothiophenes. The oil charging orientation is from south to north generally. It can be predicted that the Ordovician reservoirs were sourced from a kitchen located to the south of the Tuoputai region, most probably between the Awati and Manjiaer Depressions. Traps located in the southern side of the Tuoputai region, along the oil charging pathways, should therefore be preferred oil exploration targets

Volcanic impacts on global climate changes

Volcanic eruption is one of the most important factors influencing global climate.Intensive volcanic activities may produce a lot of volcanic cash vapor and H2SO4 gases,which cause the reduction of solar radiation,and further result in lowering the temperature and influencing the precipitation.Geological records reveal that cold climate has a close link with volcanic eruptions.The models based on lots of observations show that the areas around volcano,even over global scale,should be having a lower temperature in one or several years after the eruptions.Researches also indicate that the effects of strong volcanic eruptions are more important than those of greenhouse gases.6 page(s