EPS364, a Novel Deep-Sea Bacterial Exopolysaccharide,Inhibits Liver Cancer Cell Growth and Adhesion

The prognosis of liver cancer was inferior among tumors. New medicine treatments are urgently needed. In this study, a novel exopolysaccharide EPS364 was purified from Vibrio alginolyticus 364, which was isolated from a deep-sea cold seep of the South China Sea. Further research showed that EPS364 consisted of mannose, glucosamine, gluconic acid, galactosamine and arabinose with a molar ratio of 5:9:3.4:0.5:0.8. The relative molecular weight of EPS364 was 14.8 kDa. Our results further revealed that EPS364 was a β-linked and phosphorylated polysaccharide. Notably, EPS364 exhibited a significant antitumor activity, with inducing apoptosis, dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Huh7.5 liver cancer cells. Proteomic and quantitative real-time PCR analyses indicated that EPS364 inhibited cancer cell growth and adhesion via targeting the FGF19-FGFR4 signaling pathway. These findings suggest that EPS364 is a promising antitumor agent for pharmacotherapy.     

Introduction to the International Symposium on Lipid Science and Health and research progress in lipid science and health

The International Symposium on Lipid Science and Health (ISLSH), which was organized annually by Oil Crops Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (OCRI-CAAS) since 2016, has gained a strong reputation and attracted hundreds of delegates from around the world for discussion of lipid research trends and advances every year, to promote research and academic exchanges in the fields of lipid science and health. The 5th International Symposium on lipid Science and Health was successfully held in Wuhan, China, from October 23rd to 25th, 2020, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of OCRI-CAAS. The two-day symposium gathered well-known experts specialized in lipid science to share the current state of lipid research with emphasis on aspects covering: (1) lipid profiling and characterization, (2) lipid preparation and modification, (3) lipid improvement and regulation, and (4) lipid nutrition and health. The symposium was conducted by a combination of on-site and network meeting. More than 250 distinguished delegates from academia and industry participated in the on-site multidisciplinary meeting, and thousands of scholars attended the virtual event. This paper is as a record of the symposium proceedings and a brief summary of the advances and trends in 4 aspects of lipid science and health.     

橡胶园酸性、中性土壤交换性钙、镁测定方法研究

为了获得简单、易操作、准确度高的橡胶园酸性、中性土壤交换性钙、镁测定方法,本试验通过响应面优化试验,建立称样量、提取液体积、提取方式与交换性钙测定结果之间的数学模型。结果表明：在25℃条件下,以1 mol/L的乙酸铵为土壤浸提液,称样量为2 g、提取液体积175 mL、振荡36 min,为橡胶园酸性、中性土壤的最佳提取条件。将上述条件下得到的结果与标准方法条件下得到的结果相对比,两结果的相对误差在1.25~3.04之间,均属合理范围。利用标准样品对优化方法进行试验验证,结果与推荐值相符。改进后的方法分析成本低、操作简便、测定结果准确、稳定性好,可用于橡胶园酸性、中性土壤交换性钙、镁的测定。     

富锗酵母培养物对下笼蛋鸡肉品质、肠道菌群及结构的影响

本试验旨在研究富锗酵母培养物对下笼蛋鸡肉品质及肠道的影响。选取505日龄健康的海兰褐壳蛋鸡480只,随机分为4组,每组5个重复,每个重复24只鸡。对照组饲喂基础日粮,试验组在基础日粮中分别添加12、16、20 mg/kg的富锗酵母菌培养物。预试期7 d,正试期为42 d。结果表明:与对照组相比,12、16、20 mg/kg组腿肉的蒸煮损失分别降低45.2%、33.6%、39.7%(P<0.01),pH均高于对照组(P<0.01);16mg/kg组腿肌的亮度(L~*)低于对照组(P<0.05);12、16、20 mg/kg组腿肌的剪切力分别比对照组低44.13%、56.07%、50.60%(P<0.01);各试验组胸肌pH均高于对照组(P<0.01),16mg/kg组的pH高于12、20mg/kg组(P<0.05);与对照组相比,16mg/kg组乳酸菌数量升高(P<0.05);空肠中,各试验组的绒毛长度高于对照组(P<0.01);16、20 mg/kg组绒毛长度/隐窝深度高于对照组(P<0.01)。结果显示,日粮中添加富锗酵母培养物可以改善下笼蛋鸡小肠的形态结构和肠道菌群平衡,提高鸡肉品质,建议添加量为16 mg/kg。     

闽南山地卷荚相思家系造林试验

为了筛选出适合闽南北部山地栽培的优良卷荚相思家系,华安金山国有林场优选9个卷荚相思家系进行造林试验,对不同家系林分的生长性状、适应性和抗逆性进行对比分析。结果表明,参试家系均表现出较强的抗风性和抗寒性,可以适应闽南北部区域环境。但不同家系的树高、胸径、材积和枝下高差异显著或极显著,其中Z5和Z7家系的生长表现优于其他家系,其树高、胸径、材积、枝下高比群体均值分别提高10.80%～11.59%、11.85%～15.05%、35.62%～41.78%和10.98%～13.41%。Z5和Z7家系初步评价为优良家系,可作为卷荚相思在闽南北部推广造林的推荐材料。     

施用锌肥和遮阴互作对花生生长发育、抗病性及产量的影响

采用大田裂区试验，研究了施用锌肥和不同遮阴程度互作对花生生长发育、抗病性及产量的影响。结果表明，与不施锌肥相比，施用锌肥能提高花生不同部位锌含量、增加叶片SPAD值，提高花生叶片中可溶性糖、蛋白质和生长素含量，减少花生病害的发生，平均降低7.1个百分点，花生产量平均增加19.4%。相同施锌水平下，随着遮阴程度的增加，花生不同部位锌的含量和不同生育期叶片SPAD值以及花生叶片中可溶性糖、蛋白质和生长素含量呈增加趋势，花生的发病率比不遮阴对照增加4.8、10.2个百分点，花生产量平均降低16.5%、10.0%。在30%、70%的遮阴条件下，施用锌肥的花生产量比不施锌的分别提高21.1%、25.0%。本试验条件下，施用七水硫酸锌30 kg/hm2，使花生具有较强的抗低温寡照能力及抗病性能，增产显著，可在花生产区推广应用。     

蔬菜幼苗叶面积快速测定方法筛选与优化

为得到一种快速且准确测定蔬菜幼苗叶面积的方法,以番茄幼苗为试材,以方格法为对照,研究扫描分析法、叶面积仪法、打孔称重法测定叶面积的准确性、精确性与测定速度,然后采用黄瓜、辣椒叶片及纸片的面积对测定结果进行验证,最后基于不同扫描分辨率对筛选出的方法进行优化。结果表明,相比叶面积仪法和打孔称重法,扫描分析法测定结果更接近真实值,且精度更高,用时更短。扫描分析法不同分辨率下测定结果无显著差异,且扫描分辨率越低所需测定时间越短。扫描分辨率50 dpi下的扫描分析法可作为一种快速准确测定蔬菜幼苗叶面积的方法。     

Measuring trail users’ perception of crowding in a peri-urban nature park: A best-worst scaling experiment

This paper evaluates the perception of crowding, its determinants and relationship with trail users’ experience in a peri-urban nature park. Existing crowding surveys rely heavily on a single-item 9-point crowding scale which was originally developed for backcountry areas. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to test the validity and reliability of this measure in detecting crowding issues and formulating visitor capacity limits. Low validity and reliability raised concerns about the applicability of this scale in similar frontcountry areas. Inability of this simple crowding measure to detect a visitor threshold brings to the fore its another important limitation – ignorance of the complexity of crowding phenomenon. The perception of crowding varies with various social, psychological and situational factors, and a best-worst scaling (BWS) experiment was designed to simultaneously evaluate different aspects of crowding in the Medvednica Nature Park, a peri-urban nature park near Zagreb, Croatia. The findings of BWS experiment revealed that occupancy of mountain huts, number of other hikers on the trail and amount of litter along the trail on average contributed most to the trail users’ sense of crowding. A latent class analysis identified a large heterogeneity in the perception of crowding; while one group of trail users (63%) was more disturbed by the direct social impacts, the others (37%) were more disturbed by the secondary impacts of other visitors, especially by the negative externalities from road traffic in the park. Older visitors had a greater tendency to primarily associate crowding with the environmental conditions. A higher impact of trail use level in the perception of crowding, younger age and more frequent use were associated with a more negative evaluation of crowding. The park management should closely monitor road traffic in the park and visitor activity on highly used trails, especially on those popular among younger trail users.     

Seasonal Changes in the Milt Quality of Waigieu Seaperch,Psammoperca waigiensis: Implications for Artificial Propagation

Milt quality of Waigieu seaperch was sampled at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the spawning season to assess if the sampling season has an effect on milt quality parameters. The milt volume and total sperm production were higher at the middle of the spawning season while the sperm concentration in milt was significantly higher at the beginning and the end of the spawning season. Sperm morphology and the major parameters of seminal plasma (pH, total protein, Mg²⁺, or Ca²⁺ concentrations) did not differ throughout the spawning season. The concentrations of Na⁺ and the osmolality increased throughout the spawning season. The percentage of motile cells did not differ during the spawning season while the duration of sperm motility (swimming duration) and velocity (swimming speed) were significantly different during the spawning season. The fertilization rate (75.7 ± 6.8%) and hatching rate (56.5 ± 3.1%) at the middle of the spawning season were higher than at the beginning and end periods. Results indicated that milt quality parameters and fertility success in the middle of the spawning season were higher compared to earlier and later sampling dates. Thus, we recommend collecting milt during this time for maximal fertilization and hatching success.     

Influence of soil phosphorus status,texture, pH and metal content on the efficacy of amendments to pig slurry in reducing phosphorus losses

Cost‐effective strategies for using chemically amended organic fertilizers need to be developed to minimize nutrient losses in surface and groundwater. Coupling specific soil physical and chemical characteristics with amendment type could increase their effectiveness. This study investigated how water‐extractable phosphorus (P) was affected by chemical amendments added to pig slurry and how this effect varied with soil properties. A 3‐month incubation study was conducted on 18 different mineral soils, stored at 10 °C and 75% humidity and treated with unamended and amended slurry which was incorporated at a rate equivalent to 19 kg total P (TP )/ha. The amendments examined were commercial‐grade liquid alum, applied at a rate of 0.88:1 [Al:TP ], and commercial‐grade liquid poly‐aluminium chloride (PAC ), applied at a rate of 0.72:1 [Al:TP ]. These amendments were previously identified by the authors as being effective in reducing incidental losses of P. The efficacy of the amendments varied with the soil test P, the degree of P saturation (DPS ) and the Mehlich aluminium, iron and calcium, but not soil texture. Chemical amendments were most effective in soils with DPS over approximately 20%. Due to their high cost, the incorporation of amendments into existing management practices can only be justified as part of a holistic management plan where soils have high DPS .