Characterizing Manure and Litter Properties and Their Carbon Dioxide Production in an Aviary Laying-Hen Housing System

Contribution of carbon dioxide (CO2) production from manure or litter can be significant relative to animal metabolic CO2 production in housing systems with less frequent excretion removal. Such CO2 contribution should be accounted for in order to improve the accuracy of estimating building ventilation rate (VR) and animal bioenergetics based on CO2 mass balance. The objective of this study was to investigate the thermal conditions (temperature and relative humidity, or RH), production, moisture content (MC), and CO2 production of laying-hen manure on collection belts and on litter in an aviary house. Hens spent about 15.25 h day-1 in the aviary colony where their manure was deposited on the belts, and the remaining 8.75 h day-1 on the litter floor where manure was deposited on belt or litter. Manure belts were operated 1/3 of their length each day. Results show that temperature and RH were, respectively, 1.8 ± 9.3˚C (mean ± standard deviation) and 79 ± 14% for ambient air, 18.5 ± 1.7˚C and 76 ± 16% for air near manure on belt, and 19.8 ± 1.5˚C and 80 ± 17% for air near the litter. The overall daily manure production was 35.8 ± 1.4 g hen-1 day-1 on dry basis, with 90.9% deposited on manure belt and 9.1% on litter floor. MC of manure on belt was 66.4 ± 5.8%, which was significantly higher than 14.6 ± 2.4% for the litter. The combined moisture production from manure on belt and litter was estimated to be 22.6 g day-1 hen-1. The CO2 production from as-is manure was 0.10 ± 0.06 ml s-1 kg-1 (or 0.32 ± 0. 20 ml s-1 kg-1 on dry basis), whereas CO2 production from as-is litter was much lower, 0.02 ± 0.02 ml s-1 kg-1 (or 0.03 ± 0.02 ml s-1 kg-1 on dry basis). Without litter removal, CO2 production from manure and litter could amount to as high as 8.1% of the hen’s respiration CO2 at 60 week of age. This potentially significant contribution should be considered when estimating VR or animal bioenergetics using CO2 mass balance method in aviary housing systems

Ectodomain Architecture Affects Sequence and Functional Evolution of Vertebrate Toll-like Receptors

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are crucial components of innate immunity that specifically recognize diverse pathogen-associated molecular patterns from pathogens. The continuous hydrogen-bond network (asparagine ladder) formed among the asparagine residues on the concave surfaces of neighboring leucine-rich repeat modules assists in stabilizing the overall shape of TLR ectodomains responsible for ligand recognition. Analysis of 28 types of vertebrate TLRs showed that their ectodomains possessed three types of architectures: a single-domain architecture with an intact asparagine ladder, a three-domain architecture with the ladder interrupted in the middle, and a trans-three-domain architecture with the ladder broken in both termini. Based on a phylogenetic analysis, the three vertebrate TLR architectures arose during early evolution. The 1428 vertebrate TLRs can be divided into eight families based on sequence and structural differences. TLRs ligand specificities are affected by their ectodomain architectures. Three-domain TLRs bind hydrophobic ligands, whereas single-domain and trans-three-domain TLRs mainly recognize hydrophilic ligands. Analysis of 39 vertebrate genomes suggested that the number of single-domain TLR genes in terrestrial vertebrate genomes decreased by half compared to aquatic vertebrate genomes. Single-domain TLR genes underwent stronger purifying selective pressures than three-domain TLR genes in mammals. Overall, ectodomain architecture influences the sequence and functional evolution of vertebrate TLRs

The ROS/NF-κB/NR4A2 Pathway is Involved in H\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Induced Apoptosis of Resident Cardiac Stem Cells via Autophagy

Cardiac stem cells (CSCs)-based therapy provides a promising avenue for the management of ischemic heart diseases. However, engrafted CSCs are subjected to acute cell apoptosis in the ischemic microenvironment. Here, stem cell antigen 1 positive (Sca-1+) CSCs proved to own therapy potential were cultured and treated with H2O2 to mimic the ischemia situation. As autophagy inhibitor, 3-methyladenine (3MA), inhibited H2O2-induced CSCs apoptosis, thus we demonstrated that H2O2 induced autophagy-dependent apoptosis in CSCs, and continued to find key proteins responsible for the crosstalk between autophagy and apoptosis. Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 4 Group A Member 2 (NR4A2), increased upon cardiomyocyte injury with unknown functions in CSCs, was increased by H2O2. NR4A2 siRNA attenuated H2O2 induced autophagy and apoptosis in CSCs, which suggested an important role of NR4A2 in CSCs survival in ischemia conditions. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and NF- κB (P65) subunit were both increased by H2O2. Either the ROS scavenger, N-acetyl-lcysteine (NAC) or NF-κB signaling inhibitor, bay11-7082 could attenuate H2O2-induced autophagy and apoptosis in CSCs, which suggested they were involved in this process. Furthermore, NAC inhibited NF-κB activities, while bay11-7082 inhibited NR4A2 expression, which revealed a ROS/NF-κB/NR4A2 pathway responsible for H2O2- induced autophagy and apoptosis in CSCs. Our study supports a new clue enhancing the survival rate of CSCs in the infarcted myocardium for cell therapy in ischemic cardiomyopathy

PO-092 Effects of hypoxic exercise on weight loss and lipid metabolism in overweight/obese men

Objective  In recent years, people's diet has undergone tremendous changes. Excessive energy intake combined with insufficient exercise has made obesity a serious social problem. This study aims to achieve different training conditions under hypoxia and normoxia，conducting a six-week exercise training for obese overweight people. Comparing the difference in exercise weight loss between obese and overweight people in the normoxia training environment compared with hypoxia intervention, and the effect of hypoxic intervention on lipid metabolism indicators in overweight and obese people. Methods  A total of 40 male overweight/obese subjects were enrolled in the study, aged 18-47 years, with no abnormal physical examination and no motor contraindications. The overweight standard is BMI≥24, and the obesity standard is BMI≥28.All subjects were randomly matched according to body weight, divided into hypoxia group and normoxia group, and exercised for 6 weeks, training 3 times a week, one time every two days. Sports training includes 30 minutes of strength training and 30 minutes of aerobic endurance training. There are 5 minutes of warm-up and finishing activities before and after training. The strength training tool is dumbbell, and the weight of the corresponding 12RM is selected according to the exercise ability of the subject, and 8 exercises are performed. They are dead lift, upright row, squat, shoulder press, calf Jump, advance lunge, biceps curl and triceps extension. Those 8 movements are divided into two small loop trainings, which complete two large groups (each small loop is completed twice).Aerobic endurance training is done using a treadmill with a slope of 0°and the speed is adjusted according to the range of the target heart rate. The target heart rate is 60%-70% at the maximum heart rate. The maximum heart rate calculation method is (220-age).The hypoxic group is equipped with a suction-type atmospheric hypoxic device and is operated under a low-oxygen environment. The oxygen content of the inhaled mixed gas is 16%, the normoxic group was exercised under normoxic conditions. Nutritional education was given to all subjects prior to the start of exercise intervention, but diet was not restricted during the intervention. Before and after intervention, height and weight were measured, and BMI was calculated. Fasting venous blood was used to detect total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), leptin (LEP) and adiponectin (ADPN). All test results are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Comparison of data between groups, using nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test. Comparison of intra-group data, using non-parametric Wilcoxon matching for symbol level checking, the significance level was P<0.05, and the very significant level was P<0.01. Results (1) After the intervention, the body weight of both groups decreased, and the Δbody weight (P<0.01), body weight change rate (P<0.01) and BMI change rate (P<0.01) in the hypoxic group were significantly higher than normal oxygen group. (2) TG, TC and LDL-C decreased in the hypoxic group, and there was a significant difference between TG and TC before intervention (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in TG, TC and LDL-C between the normoxic group and the intervention group (P>0.05). (3) The TG change rate (P<0.05), TC change rate (P<0.05) and LDL-C change rate (P<0.01) in the hypoxic group were significantly higher than those in the normoxic group. (4) HDL-C in hypoxia group and normoxia group decreased after intervention, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05), and there was no difference between HDL-C(P>0.05). (5) LEP and ADPN in the hypoxic group increased after intervention, but there was no significant difference compared with before intervention (P>0.05). LEP and ADPN in the normoxic group decreased after intervention, and there was no difference between the LEP change rate and the ADPN change rate (P>0.05). Conclusions Under hypoxic intervention, the weight change, rate of change, and BMI change rate of overweight people were larger than those of the normoxic group. Body weight, BMI is a direct indicator of the degree of obesity in individuals. The hypoxic weight loss intervention shows greater advantages than the normoxic group from the intuitive data, which can help overweight and obese people to lose more weight under the same training load and intensity. After six weeks of training, in the hypoxic group, TC, TG and LDL-C decreased, and HDL-C increased. However, in the normoxic control group, these indicators did not show similar significant changes. It shows that through hypoxia intervention combined with exercise training, it can prevent and alleviate various chronic diseases caused by obesity more effectively, such as atherosclerosis. The other two indicators, LEP and ADPN, did not change significantly in both hypoxic and normoxic training. Conjecture there may be other mechanisms affecting the expression levels of these two hormones in the body. In summary, the researchers think the hypoxic exercise to lose weight is better than normal oxygen exercise, and it has a greater impact on most lipid metabolism indicators, which can stimulate most lipid metabolism to produce benign changes

In vitro and in vivo double-enhanced suicide gene therapy mediated by generation 5 polyamidoamine dendrimers for PC-3 cell line

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One of the most frequently used and efficient suicide gene therapies for prostate cancer is HSV-TK/GCV system, but its application has been limited due to lack of favorable gene vector and the reduction of "bystander effect". We investigated the effect of a novel combination of HSV-TK/GCV fused with Cx43 and gemcitabine using non-viral vector generation 5 polyamidoamine dendrimers (G5-PAMAM-D) on PC-3 cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>RT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect TK and Cx43 expression. Cell viability and proliferation were measured by using MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was detected with double-staining of Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide (PI) by flow cytometry. Nude mice models were established to evaluate the therapeutic effect in vivo.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>G5-PAMAM-D efficiently delivered recombinant plasmids into PC-3 cells and HSV-TK and Cx43 could be expressed successfully. With gemcitabine, G5-PAMAM-D mediated HSV-TK and Cx43 expression effectively inhibited prostate cancer PC-3 cell proliferation, leading to more cellular apoptosis and inhibiting PC-3 tumor growth in nude mice models.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study illustrates that this new suicide gene system mediated by G5-PAMAM-D is effective in decreasing PC-3 cell proliferation and inducing cell apoptosis, and inhibiting tumor growth in vivo. In a word, our study could provide a potential approach for gene therapy of prostate cancer.</p

β-arrestin2/miR-155/GSK3β Regulates Transition of 5\u27-Azacytizine-Induced Sca-1-Positive Cells to Cardiomyocytes

Stem-cell antigen 1-positive (Sca-1+) cardiac stem cells (CSCs), a vital kind of CSCs in humans, promote cardiac repair in vivo and can differentiate to cardiomyocytes with 5\u27-azacytizine treatment in vitro. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. b-arrestin2 is an important scaffold protein and highly expressed in the heart. To explore the function of b-arrestin2 in Sca-1+ CSC differentiation, we used b-arrestin2-knockout mice and overexpression strategies. Real-time PCR revealed that b-arrestin2 promoted 5\u27-azacytizine-induced Sca-1+ CSC differentiation in vitro. Because the microRNA 155 (miR-155) may regulate b-arrestin2 expression, we detected its role and relationship with b-arrestin2 and glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3β), another probable target of miR-155. Real-time PCR revealed that miR-155, inhibited by b-arrestin2, impaired 5\u27-azacytizine-induced Sca-1+ CSC differentiation. On luciferase report assay, miR-155 could inhibit the activity of b-arrestin2 and GSK3β, which suggests a loop pathway between miR-155 and b-arrestin2. Furthermore, b-arrestin2-knockout inhibited the activity of GSK3β. Akt, the upstream inhibitor of GSK3β, was inhibited in b-arrestin2-Knockout mice, so the activity of GSK3β was regulated by b-arrestin2 not Akt. We transplanted Sca-1+ CSCs from b-arrestin2-knockout mice to mice with myocardial infarction and found similar protective functions as in wild-type mice but impaired arterial elastance. Furthermore, low level of b-arrestin2 agreed with decreased phosphorylation of AKT and increased phophorylation of GSK3β, similar to in vitro findings. The β-arrestin2/miR-155/GSK3β pathway may be a new mechanism with implications for treatment of heart disease

High glucose distinctively regulates Ca2+ influx in cytotoxic T lymphocytes upon target recognition and thapsigargin stimulation

In CTLs: High glucose‐culture enhances thapsigargin‐induced SOCE but decreases target recognition‐induced Ca2+ influx. High glucose‐culture regulates expression of ORAIs and STIMs without affecting glucose uptake. More high glucose‐cultured CTLs are prone to necrosis after execution of killing. (...

Free chlorine loss during spray of membrane-less acidic electrolyzed water (MLAEW) and its antimicrobial effect on airborne bacteria from poultry house

Spray-application of membrane-less acidic electrolyzed water (MLAEW) is a novel technique for disinfection in livestock houses. This study investigated the loss of free chlorine (FC, the major germicidal component in MLAEW) over distance during spray, as affected by air temperature and initial FC concentration. The antimicrobial effect of MLAEW on airborne bacteria from an aviary laying-hen house was examined. MLAEW was prepared with two FC concentrations (app. 15 and 60 mg L-1), and was sprayed at three air temperatures (18, 25, 32°C). The original MLAEW solution and MLAEW aerosols collected at 0, 25, and 50 cm from the spray nozzle were analyzed for FC concentrations. Bacteria were immersed into these MLAEW samples and numerated for viable count after 0.5-, 2-, and 5-min treatments. MLAEW aerosols collected at 0 cm lost 11.7 – 13.2% FC as compared to the original MLAEW solution. This initial loss was affected neither by the initial FC concentration (P = 0.13) nor by air temperature (P = 0.57). The rate of FC loss during travelling was 0.79 – 0.87 % per centimeter of aerosol travel distance (% cm-1) at 18°C, 1.08 – 1.15 % cm-1 at 25°C, and 1.35 – 1.49 % cm-1 at 32°C. This travelling loss was affected by air temperature (P = 0.02), but not by initial FC concentration (P = 0.38). Bacteria were completely inactivated in 0.5 min when treated with MLAEW samples with FC \u3e 16.8 mg L-1, in 2 min when FC \u3e 13.8 mg L-1, and in 5 min when FC \u3e 7.2 mg L-1. Airborne bacteria from aviary hen house can be effectively inactivated by MLAEW with adequate FC concentration and contact time. During spray, antimicrobial efficacy of MLAEW aerosols decreased over distance due to FC loss which exacerbates at higher air temperature

Research on the Influence of Traction Load on Transient Stability of Power Grid Based on Parameter Identification

The traction load of electrified railways is a special user of the power system, which will have a significant impact on and pose a challenge to the power system after grid connection. Considering the impact and fluctuation of traction load connected to the power grid, this paper proposed a method to study the influence of traction load on the transient stability of the power grid based on parameter identification. Firstly, according to the operation characteristics of traction load, a comprehensive traction load model based on the measurement-based method of induction motor parallel power function model is selected, and the objective function of parameter identification is determined. Then, the specific steps of using the improved gray wolf optimizer (IGWO) algorithm to achieve the parameter identification of the traction comprehensive load model are introduced, including chaotic map, nonlinear convergence factor, and individual position update. Next, with the IEEE39 bus system as the network background, the load parameters identified by the measured data of a line of the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway are imported into the Power System Analysis Software Package (PSASP) 7.0 for transient simulation to analyze the impact of traction load on the transient stability of the power grid. Finally, three typical load models are compared with the traction load model to draw relevant conclusions, and it is verified that the traction load characteristics are different from the general load model, which provides reference for the connection of electrified railway traction load to the power grid and the economic and technical construction of the power system