The effect of feeding excess arginine on lipogenic gene expression and growth performance in broilers

1. Reducing excess fat accretion is important for both human health and animal production. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of arginine (Arg) on the regulation of lipogenic gene expression and on growth performance.

2. One-d-old female broiler chicks (Ross, n = 192) were used in a completely randomised design with 4 dietary treatments in which diets included 100% (CTL), 153% (LArg), 168% (MArg) and 183% (HArg) of the recommended concentration of digestible Arg.

3. Results showed that high concentrations of Arg improved body weight gain, feed efficiency, meat production, fat and crude protein content of breast muscle and plasma thyroid hormones. Conversely, abdominal fat, cholesterol, triglyceride and urea were lower with higher concentrations of Arg. Dietary arginine increased lipogenic gene expression in muscles, while decreasing those in adipose tissue and liver.

4. It was conclded that increasing Arg in the diet reduced abdominal fat content, enhanced intramuscular fat and increased muscle and protein gain. Furthermore, Arg supplementation at the MArg concentration improved growth performance, and at HArg had the greatest effect on fat reduction.     

Androgenesis in a Lolium multiflorum × Festuca arundinacea hybrid to generate genotypic variation for drought resistance

The pentaploid hybrid of Lolium multiflorum and Festuca arundinacea (2n = 5x = 35) combines the high growth rate of L. multiforum with the drought resistance and freezing-tolerance of F. arundinacea. Unfortunately, it also displays the deleterious traits associated with Festuca, namely those associated with high leaf fibre content giving rise to poor palatability and digestibility. To access different combinations of these characters, anther cultures were initiated and regenerated into single embryo derived plants. The anther culture method was very productive since out of a total of 2349 androgenic plants derived from the same parent plant, 57% were green plantlets, although only 507 (22%) subsequently established into plants following transfer to soil. Chromosome counts of randomly selected lines showed that plants with euploid chromosome numbers (14, 21, and 28) would appear to have selective advantage during regeneration. There was wide variation between mature androgenic plants grown under field conditions in plant height, leaf length, leaf width, tiller number and herbage dry matter. The variation between genotypes in response to drought stress was assessed by placing replicate clones under rain-out shelters or under irrigated control conditions in the field. Herbage dry matter under drought was higher in a number of androgenic lines than either parents, but not higher than the pentaploid hybrid. Androgenesis was shown to be a highly effective procedure to expose diverse phenotypic variation all derived from the same Lolium × Festuca hybrid genotype. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Acute erythroid leukemia with multilineage dysplasia in a cat

Dysplastic features of erythroid and megakaryocytic lineages were observed in a cat with acute erythroid leukemia. We demonstrated that flow cytometry analysis of the expression of glycophorin A and CD71 by neoplastic cells can be helpful in the diagnosis of this type of feline leukemia.     

Optimization of Ram Semen Cryopreservation Using a Chemically Defined Soybean Lecithin‐Based Extender

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of a chemically defined soybean lecithin‐based semen extender as a substitute for egg yolk‐based extenders in ram semen cryopreservation. In this study, 28 ejaculates were collected from four Zandi rams in the breeding season and then pooled together. The pooled semen was divided into six equal aliquots and diluted with six different extenders: (i) Tris‐based extender (TE) containing 0.5% (w/v) soybean lecithin (SL0.5), (ii) TE containing 1% (w/v) soybean lecithin (SL1), (iii) TE containing 1.5% (w/v) soybean lecithin (SL1.5), (iv) TE containing 2% (w/v) soybean lecithin (SL2), (v) TE containing 2.5% (w/v) soybean lecithin (SL2.5) and (vi) TE containing 20% (v/v) egg yolk (EYT). After thawing, sperm motility and motion parameters, plasma membrane and acrosome integrity, apoptosis status and mitochondrial activity were evaluated. The results shown that total and progressive motility (54.43 ± 1.33% and 25.43 ± 0.96%, respectively) were significantly higher in SL1.5 when compared to other semen extenders. Sperm motion parameters (VAP, VSL, VCL, ALH and STR) were significantly higher in SL1.5 compared to other extender, with the exception of SL1 extender. Plasma membrane integrity (48.86 ± 1.38%) was significantly higher in SL1.5 when compared to other semen extenders. Also, percentage of spermatozoa with intact acrosome in SL1.5 (85.35 ± 2.19%) extender was significantly higher than that in SL0.5, SL2.5 and EYT extenders. The results showed that the proportion of live post‐thawed sperm was significantly increased in SL1.5 extender compared to SL0.5, SL2 and EYT extenders. In addition, SL1, SL1.5 and SL2.5 extenders resulted in significantly lower percentage of early‐apoptotic sperm than that in EYT extender. There were no significant differences in different semen extenders for percentage of post‐thawed necrotic and late‐apoptotic spermatozoa. Also, the results indicated that there are slight differences for percentage of live spermatozoa with active mitochondria between extenders. In conclusion, SL1.5 extender was better than other extenders in most in vitro evaluated sperm parameters.     

Transepithelial Transport of Curcumin in Caco-2 Cells Is significantly Enhanced by Micellar Solubilisation

Curcumin, the active constituent of Curcuma longa L. (family Zingiberaceae), has gained increasing interest because of its anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and anti-rheumatic properties associated with good tolerability and safety up to very high doses of 12 g. Nanoscaled micellar formulations on the base of Tween 80 represent a promising strategy to overcome its low oral bioavailability. We therefore aimed to investigate the uptake and transepithelial transport of native curcumin (CUR) vs. a nanoscaled micellar formulation (Sol-CUR) in a Caco-2 cell model. Sol-CUR afforded a higher flux than CUR (39.23 vs. 4.98 μg min^?1 cm^?2, respectively). This resulted in a higher P_app value of 2.11 × 10^?6 cm/s for Sol-CUR compared to a P_app value of 0.56 × 10^?6 cm/s for CUR. Accordingly a nearly 9.5 fold higher amount of curcumin was detected on the basolateral side at the end of the transport experiments after 180 min with Sol-CUR compared to CUR. The determined 3.8-fold improvement in the permeability of curcumin is in agreement with an up to 185-fold increase in the AUC of curcumin observed in humans following the oral administration of the nanoscaled micellar formulation compared to native curcumin. The present study demonstrates that the enhanced oral bioavailability of micellar curcumin formulations is likely a result of enhanced absorption into and increased transport through small intestinal epithelial cells.     

Effects of various salts on the germination of two cultivars of Medicago sativa

The germination responses of Medicago sativa (Yazdi and Hamedani cultivars) seeds to salinity stress by different salt solutions were studied in this project. To evaluate salt tolerance during germination, 25 seeds of each cultivar were placed on filter paper in 9 cm petri dishes containing distilled water (control), 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, 270, and 300 mmol · L^?1 saline solutions of NaCl, CaCl₂, and KCl, respectively. The results indicated that the effects of salinity levels were significant (P < 0.05) for percent seed germination, seed germination rate, mean time to germination, length of the stem, and radical and seed vigor. Seed germination decreased significantly by increasing salinity levels. These two cultivars of alfalfa were more resistant to KCl than NaCl and CaCl₂ salts, respectively. In addition, the results showed that the Hamedani cultivar was more tolerant than Yazdi cv. against salinity.     

Simultaneous application of silver nanoparticles with different crease resistant finishes

Textiles, especially those made of natural fibers, are suitable medium for the growth of microorganisms which causes disease transmission, stink, colorful spots, and reduction in fabric strength. This research focuses on the antimicrobial finishing of cotton fabrics using colloidal solution of silver nanoparticles. Due to the difficulties of adding a new step to the finishing process of cotton textiles, efforts have been made to combine the antimicrobial treatment with the conventional finishing processes. For this purpose two chemical finishes of Fixapret ECO as a crosslinking agent and Cellofix ME as a resin former have been used in anti crease finishing of cotton fabric and their effects were evaluated. The properties of the samples have been investigated by measuring the resistant of samples against bacteria, crease recovery angle, abrasion, and washing fastness. The results showed that treated samples by pad-dry method have the best antibacterial effect with a direct relation between the increase in drying temperature and antibacterial properties. However, the washing and abrasion fastness were not at the acceptable level. Co-application of the colloidal solution of silver nanoparticles with the crease resistant materials improved both fastness properties while at the same time limited the direct contact between the nanoparticles and the bacteria so the antibacterial efficiency was reduced. Subsequently, it was concluded that the antibacterial finishing method should be selected according to the end uses. In addition, antibacterial treatment could be one of the multi-purpose finishes for cotton fabric.     

Optimization of fiber distribution in spunbond non-woven structure

The mechanical properties of thin spunbond tissues depend on the distribution of fibers in tissues structure. The optimum fiber distribution leads to the fiber mass uniformity spreading in the tissue structure. The present research defines an optimum model of fiber distribution in the tissue structure by using genetic algorithm. To find the applicability of the presented optimization method, some samples have been prepared from Polypropylene fibers (1.5 Den). The mechanical tests have been performed on tissue samples. The results confirmed that the developed model using genetic algorithm can be applied as a reliable method to determine optimum fiber distribution strongly.     

60Co-γ辐照对库尔勒香梨枝条当代诱变效应初报

[目的]探讨60Co-γ辐照处理对库尔勒香梨的诱变效应.[方法]以香梨一年生休眠枝和萌动枝为试材,采用不同剂量的60Co-γ射线进行辐照,并观察与测试两种枝条的当代性状表现.[结果]一定范围的小剂量辐照促进嫁接枝条的成活率,大剂量辐照降低嫁接成活率;辐照引起枝叶发生多种变异,叶片易出现缺刻、波状叶缘、条形窄叶等,枝梢易出现多叉枝、扁化枝和丛状矮枝;辐照对枝梢、叶片的生长产生不规律的影响.[结论]辐照在一定程度上对香梨一年生枝条造成了诱变效应.