Potential of Endangered Local Donkey Breeds in Meat and Milk Production

The problem of the erosion of animal genetic resources is evident in certain local donkey breeds, and their long-term sustainability can be achieved by economically repositioning them. To develop alternative and sustainable commercial programs, the meat and milk production characteristics of Istrian donkey and Littoral Dinaric donkey breeds were investigated. The meat production characteristics were examined in mature males, whose carcasses were dissected, and meat composition was determined using NIT spectrophotometry and gas chromatography. Milk yield and milk composition were determined in jennies in second or subsequent lactations by measuring milk volume and using infrared spectrometry and gas chromatography. Compared to the Littoral Dinaric donkey, the Istrian donkey has a higher carcass weight and dressing percentage (p < 0.001). The share of boneless meat in relation to live weight was 28.27% in the Istrian donkey and 26.18% in the Littoral Dinaric donkey. The absolute masses of primal cuts of meat in E, I, and II classes were significantly greater in Istrian donkeys than in Littoral Dinaric donkeys (p < 0.01), although the differences in the proportions of primal cuts were not significant. The breed did not have a significant impact on the color, pH, or meat composition. A significant influence of breed on milk yield, lactose, protein, and the fat content of milk was observed (p < 0.01). A significant influence of breed on the ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFA fatty acids in donkey milk was observed (p = 0.002). The values of the atherogenic and thrombogenic indexes were favorable, considering potential beneficial effects of donkey milk and meat on consumer health. The findings of this research suggest that local donkey breeds hold significant potential for meat and milk production, focusing on the uniqueness and quality of their products rather than the quantity of meat and milk they can produce

The Hypothermic Effect of Hydrogen Sulfide Is Mediated by the Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin-1 Channel in Mice

This is the final version. Available from MDPI via the DOI in this record.Data is contained within the article and Supplementary Materials.Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been shown in previous studies to cause hypothermia and hypometabolism in mice, and its thermoregulatory effects were subsequently investigated. However, the molecular target through which H2S triggers its effects on deep body temperature has remained unknown. We investigated the thermoregulatory response to fast-(Na2S) and slow-releasing (GYY4137) H2S donors in C57BL/6 mice, and then tested whether their effects depend on the transient receptor potential ankyrin-1 (TRPA1) channel in Trpa1 knockout (Trpa1-/-) and wild-type (Trpa1+/+) mice. Intracerebroventricular administration of Na2S (0.5-1 mg/kg) caused hypothermia in C57BL/6 mice, which was mediated by cutaneous vasodilation and decreased thermogenesis. In contrast, intraperitoneal administration of Na2S (5 mg/kg) did not cause any thermoregulatory effect. Central administration of GYY4137 (3 mg/kg) also caused hypothermia and hypometabolism. The hypothermic response to both H2S donors was significantly (p < 0.001) attenuated in Trpa1-/- mice compared to their Trpa1+/+ littermates. Trpa1 mRNA transcripts could be detected with RNAscope in hypothalamic and other brain neurons within the autonomic thermoeffector pathways. In conclusion, slow- and fast-releasing H2S donors induce hypothermia through hypometabolism and cutaneous vasodilation in mice that is mediated by TRPA1 channels located in the brain, presumably in hypothalamic neurons within the autonomic thermoeffector pathways.National Research, Development and Innovation OfficeMedical School, University of PecsNew National Excellence Program of the Hungarian Ministry for Innovation and TechnologyNew National Excellence Program of the Hungarian Ministry for Innovation and TechnologyHigher Education Institutional Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities in HungaryEuropean UnionNational Research, Development and Innovation Fund of HungaryJanos Bolyai Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Science

Using random forest and decision tree models for a new vehicle prediction approach in computational toxicology

yesDrug vehicles are chemical carriers that provide beneficial aid to the drugs they bear. Taking advantage of their favourable properties can potentially allow the safer use of drugs that are considered highly toxic. A means for vehicle selection without experimental trial would therefore be of benefit in saving time and money for the industry. Although machine learning is increasingly used in predictive toxicology, to our knowledge there is no reported work in using machine learning techniques to model drug-vehicle relationships for vehicle selection to minimise toxicity. In this paper we demonstrate the use of data mining and machine learning techniques to process, extract and build models based on classifiers (decision trees and random forests) that allow us to predict which vehicle would be most suited to reduce a drug’s toxicity. Using data acquired from the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP) we propose a methodology using an area under a curve (AUC) approach that allows us to distinguish which vehicle provides the best toxicity profile for a drug and build classification models based on this knowledge. Our results show that we can achieve prediction accuracies of 80 % using random forest models whilst the decision tree models produce accuracies in the 70 % region. We consider our methodology widely applicable within the scientific domain and beyond for comprehensively building classification models for the comparison of functional relationships between two variables

Comparative Analysis of the Subventricular Zone in Rat, Ferret and Macaque: Evidence for an Outer Subventricular Zone in Rodents

The mammalian cerebral cortex arises from precursor cells that reside in a proliferative region surrounding the lateral ventricles of the developing brain. Recent work has shown that precursor cells in the subventricular zone (SVZ) provide a major contribution to prenatal cortical neurogenesis, and that the SVZ is significantly thicker in gyrencephalic mammals such as primates than it is in lissencephalic mammals including rodents. Identifying characteristics that are shared by or that distinguish cortical precursor cells across mammalian species will shed light on factors that regulate cortical neurogenesis and may point toward mechanisms that underlie the evolutionary expansion of the neocortex in gyrencephalic mammals. We immunostained sections of the developing cerebral cortex from lissencephalic rats, and from gyrencephalic ferrets and macaques to compare the distribution of precursor cell types in each species. We also performed time-lapse imaging of precursor cells in the developing rat neocortex. We show that the distribution of Pax6+ and Tbr2+ precursor cells is similar in lissencephalic rat and gyrencephalic ferret, and different in the gyrencephalic cortex of macaque. We show that mitotic Pax6+ translocating radial glial cells (tRG) are present in the cerebral cortex of each species during and after neurogenesis, demonstrating that the function of Pax6+ tRG cells is not restricted to neurogenesis. Furthermore, we show that Olig2 expression distinguishes two distinct subtypes of Pax6+ tRG cells. Finally we present a novel method for discriminating the inner and outer SVZ across mammalian species and show that the key cytoarchitectural features and cell types that define the outer SVZ in developing primates are present in the developing rat neocortex. Our data demonstrate that the developing rat cerebral cortex possesses an outer subventricular zone during late stages of cortical neurogenesis and that the developing rodent cortex shares important features with that of primates

Harnessing the Potential of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells and Gene Editing for the Treatment of Retinal Degeneration

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: A major cause of visual disorders is dysfunction and/or loss of the light-sensitive cells of the retina, the photoreceptors. To develop better treatments for patients, we need to understand how inherited retinal disease mutations result in the dysfunction of photoreceptors. New advances in the field of stem cell and gene editing research offer novel ways to model retinal dystrophies in vitro and present opportunities to translate basic biological insights into therapies. This brief review will discuss some of the issues that should be taken into account when carrying out disease modelling and gene editing of retinal cells. We will discuss (i) the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for disease modelling and cell therapy; (ii) the importance of using isogenic iPSC lines as controls; (iii) CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing of iPSCs; and (iv) in vivo gene editing using AAV vectors.RECENT FINDINGS: Ground-breaking advances in differentiation of iPSCs into retinal organoids and methods to derive mature light sensitive photoreceptors from iPSCs. Furthermore, single AAV systems for in vivo gene editing have been developed which makes retinal in vivo gene editing therapy a real prospect.SUMMARY: Genome editing is becoming a valuable tool for disease modelling and in vivo gene editing in the retina.</p

The Effects of Using Collaborative Assessment With Students Going Abroad: Intercultural Competence Development, Self-Understanding, Self-Confidence, and Stages of Change

For this study we examined collaborative assessment in counseling 820 German students who were going abroad and who were exposed to the Test to Measure Intercultural Competence (TMIC). A randomized pretest–posttest control group design was used. The control group did not get any test feedback. The remaining groups received written feedback or written plus oral collaborative test feedback. Repeated measures linear mixed effects modeling showed that collaborative test feedback positively influenced students’ self-appraisal of their intercultural competence (TMIC-SA); their values on three stages of change; as well as their self-understanding, self-confidence, and perceived benefit from test participation. It is concluded that collaborative assessment and feedback can enhance self-appraised intercultural competence, thereby showing its potential in intercultural training