Effect of DGAT1 gene mutation in sows of dam-line on the composition of the produced milk and piglet rearing during 21-day lactation

Diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 gene (DGAT1) involved in the synthesis and transport of triglycerides is located on chromosome 4 in pigs, in the region with about 200 QTLs responsible among other things for: fat thickness, daily gains, fat content and composition of fatty acids. It is thus probable that the gene polymorphism (as in cows) may affect the fat content in colostrum and milk of sows. The objective of the experiment was to assess the effect of DGAT1 polymorphism on the milk composition of sows and as a result on piglet rearing during the suckling period. The experiment was performed on 207 sows of breeds used in breeding program as a dam-line: polish large white (PLW) and polish landrace (PL). Colostrum and milk of sows were collected at 1, 7, 14 and 21 days of lactation to assay solids, total protein, fat and lactose. Data on piglet rearing performance were collected at 1, 7, 14 and 21 days of lactation. The tests performed showed that A/G rs45434075 DGAT1 mutation occurring in PLW and PL sows did not  significantly affect the quality of their colostrum and milk expressed as solids content, and at the same time on piglet rearing performance. However, it was observed that PLW sows of the DGAT1GG genotype was characterised by a higher fat content in colostrum, whereas PL sows of the same genotype had an increased protein content and a reduced lactose content in milk. Key words: DGAT1, Polymorphism, milk, rearing of piglets, maternal breed.Abbreviation:  PLW, Polish large white; PL, polish landrac

Structure effects in Ne-20+Pb-208 quasi-elastic scattering

Preliminary results of an analysis of experiments devoted to a study of the sensitivity of the 20Ne + 208Pb quasi-elastic angular distributions at two near-barrier energies and the previously measured corresponding barrier distribution to the value of the nuclear quadrupole deformation length of 20Ne are reported

Lorentz Invariance Violation induced time delays in GRBs in different cosmological models

Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) manifesting itself by energy dependent modification of standard relativistic dispersion relation has recently attracted a considerable attention. Ellis et al. previously investigated the energy dependent time offsets in different energy bands on a sample of gamma ray bursts and, assuming standard cosmological model, they found a weak indication for redshift dependence of time delays suggestive of LIV. Going beyond the $\Lambda$CDM cosmology we extend this analysis considering also four alternative models of dark energy (quintessence with constant and variable equation of state, Chaplygin gas and brane-world cosmology). It turns out that the effect noticed by Ellis et al. is also present in those models and is the strongest for quintessence with variable equation of state.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur

Are the weak channels really weak?

The transfer probabilities for 20Ne + 90Zr and 20Ne + 92Zr at energies near the Coulomb barrier were measured. This quantity turned out to be very similar for both Zr isotopes and does not explain the observed differences in the barrier height distributions for these systems

Expression of DLK1 and MEG3 genes in porcine tissues during postnatal development

The Drosophila-like homolog 1 (DLK1), a transmembrane signal protein similar to other members of the Notch/Delta/Serrate family, regulates the differentiation process in many types of mammalian cells. Callipyge sheep and DLK1 knockout mice are excellent examples of a fundamental role of the gene encoding DLK1 in muscle growth and fat deposition. DLK1 is located within co-regulated imprinted clusters (the DLK1/DIO3 domain), along with other imprinted genes. Some of these, e.g. the RNA coding MEG3 gene, presumedly interfere with DLK1 transcription. The aim of our study was to analyze DLK1 and MEG3 gene expression in porcine tissues (muscle, liver, kidney, heart, brain stem) during postnatal development. The highest expression of both DLK1 and MEG3 variant 1 (MEG3 var.1) was observed in the brain-stem and muscles, whereas that of MEG3 variant 2 (MEG3var.2) was the most abundant in muscles and the heart. During development (between 60 and 210 days of age) expression of analyzed genes was down-regulated in all the tissues. An exception was the brain- stem, where there was no significant change in MEG3 (both variants) mRNA level, and relatively little decline (2-fold) in that of DLK1 transcription. This may indicate a distinct function of the DLK1 gene in the brain-stem, when compared with other tissues

Combination of novel and public RNA-seq datasets to generate an mRNA expression atlas for the domestic chicken

Background: The domestic chicken (Gallus gallus) is widely used as a model in developmental biology and is also an important livestock species. We describe a novel approach to data integration to generate an mRNA expression atlas for the chicken spanning major tissue types and developmental stages, using a diverse range of publicly-archived RNA-seq datasets and new data derived from immune cells and tissues. Results: Randomly down-sampling RNA-seq datasets to a common depth and quantifying expression against a reference transcriptome using the mRNA quantitation tool Kallisto ensured that disparate datasets explored comparable transcriptomic space. The network analysis tool Graphia was used to extract clusters of co-expressed genes from the resulting expression atlas, many of which were tissue or cell-type restricted, contained transcription factors that have previously been implicated in their regulation, or were otherwise associated with biological processes, such as the cell cycle. The atlas provides a resource for the functional annotation of genes that currently have only a locus ID. We cross-referenced the RNA-seq atlas to a publicly available embryonic Cap Analysis of Gene Expression (CAGE) dataset to infer the developmental time course of organ systems, and to identify a signature of the expansion of tissue macrophage populations during development. Conclusion: Expression profiles obtained from public RNA-seq datasets - despite being generated by different laboratories using different methodologies - can be made comparable to each other. This meta-analytic approach to RNA-seq can be extended with new datasets from novel tissues, and is applicable to any species

Habits: Theoretical Foundations and a Conceptual Framework on a Managerial Trap and Chance

The overarching aim of the paper is to incorporate the micro-foundations perspective in strategic management and offering possibilities to bridge the macro–micro divide, to review the concept of habits, as well as to propose research findings and directions in terms of further exploring the habit construct and its impact on higher epistemological level phenomena (for instance organizational routines, which is a domain inherently multilevel in nature). To realize this aim, the following sections have been developed: (1) habits’ origins, (2) habits – cognitive constellations, (3) interrelationships between habits and mental representations, intentions, (4) habits and organizational routines, and (5) habits and routines linkages with adaptation. The conclusions that have been made support recent and current studies linking the level of individual heterogeneous agents with the level of macro (organizational) outcomes

Nutritional modification of <i>SCD</i>, <i>ACACA</i> and <i>LPL</i> gene expressions in different ovine tissues

Fatty acid composition is one of the main factors affecting health benefits of food. Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD), acetyl-CoA carboxylase alpha (ACACA) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) have been considered as the rate-limiting enzymes in the biosynthesis of different fatty acids critical in lipid metabolism. The aim of our study was the analysis of differences in expression profiles of three ovine genes related to lipid metabolism (LPL, ACACA, SCD) depending on feeding system and tissue type. The gene expression measurement was performed using a real-time PCR method on 60 old-type Polish Merino Sheep, which were divided into three feeding groups (I – complete pellet mixture, n =  12; II – complete mixture with addition of fresh grass, n =  24; III – complete mixture with addition of fresh red clover, n =  24). From all lambs, tissue samples – subcutaneous fat, perirenal fat and liver – were collected immediately after slaughter and LPL, ACACA and SCD expression was estimated based on two endogenous controls (RPS2 – ribosomal protein S2; ATP5G2 – H(+)-transporting ATP synthase). Our research indicated that supplementation of diet with an addition of fresh grass or red clover significantly (P &lt; 0.05) decreased the expression of SCD, ACACA and LPL genes in fat tissue compared to standard complete pelleted mixture. On the other hand, the highest expression of ACACA was detected in liver tissue collected from sheep fed a diet with an addition of fresh red clover (P &lt; 0.05). In turn, the highest expression of the SCD gene was detected in animals fed with grass supplementation (P &lt; 0.05). Regardless of diet supplementation, the highest SCD transcript abundance was detected in perirenal fat, while LPL and ACACA expression was the highest in both perirenal and subcutaneous fat. The ability of nutrigenomic regulation of transcription of analyzed genes confirmed that these genes play a critical role in regulation of lipid metabolism processes in sheep and could be associated with fatty acid profiles in milk and meat