AIM:To investigate the effect of transgenic expression of kallistatin(Kal) on carbon tetrachloride(CCl 4)induced liver injury by intramuscular(im) electrotransfer of a Kal-encoding plasmid formulated with poly-Lglutam...AIM:To investigate the effect of transgenic expression of kallistatin(Kal) on carbon tetrachloride(CCl 4)induced liver injury by intramuscular(im) electrotransfer of a Kal-encoding plasmid formulated with poly-Lglutamate(PLG).METHODS:The pKal plasmid encoding Kal gene was formulated with PLG and electrotransferred into mice skeletal muscle before the administration of CCl 4.The expression level of Kal was measured.The serum biomarker levels of alanine aminotransferase(ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),malonyldialdehyde(MDA),and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α were monitored.The extent of CCl 4-induced liver injury was analyzed histopathologically.RESULTS:The transgene of Kal was sufficiently expressed after an im injection of plasmid formulated with PLG followed by electroporation.In the Kal gene-transferred mice,protection against CCl 4-induced liver injury was reflected by significantly decreased serum ALT,AST,MDA and TNF-α levels compared to those in control mice(P < 0.01 to 0.05 in a dose-dependent manner).Histological observations also revealed that hepatocyte necrosis,hemorrhage,vacuolar change and hydropic degeneration were apparent in mice after CCl 4 administration.In contrast,the damage was markedly attenuated in the Kal gene-transferred mice.The expression of hepatic fibrogenesis marker transforming growth factor-β1 was also reduced in the pKal transferred mice.CONCLUSION:Intramuscular electrotransfer of plasmid pKal which was formulated with PLG significantly alleviated the CCl 4-induced oxidative stress and inflammatory response,and reduced the liver damage in a mouse model.展开更多
Improving the efficiency and production of grazing ruminants to support food and fiber production,while reducing the environmental footprint and meeting the welfare needs of the animals,is important for sustainable li...Improving the efficiency and production of grazing ruminants to support food and fiber production,while reducing the environmental footprint and meeting the welfare needs of the animals,is important for sustainable livestock production systems.Development of new technologies that can improve the efficiency of nitrogen(N)utilization in ruminants,and that are effective and safe,has important implications for ruminant livestock production.N-carbomoylglutamate(NCG)is a functional micronutrient that stimulates endogenous synthesis of arginine,which can improve survival,growth,lactation,reproductive performance,and feed efficiency in mammals.There is a growing body of evidence to support the potential of dietary NCG supplementation to improve the productive capacity and N utilization efficiency of ruminants.This review summarizes the current literature on the effects of dietary supplementation with NCG in ruminants and impacts on production and potential to reduce the environmental footprint of farmed ruminant livestock.The current literature highlights the potential for commercial application in ruminant livestock to improve productivity and N utilization efficiency.展开更多
This study investigated the impacts of the degree of unsaturation （unsaturity） of long-chain fatty acids on volatile fatty acid （VFA） profiles of rumen fermentation in vitro. Six types of long-chain fatty acids, i...This study investigated the impacts of the degree of unsaturation （unsaturity） of long-chain fatty acids on volatile fatty acid （VFA） profiles of rumen fermentation in vitro. Six types of long-chain fatty acids, including stearic acid （C18：0, control group）, oleic acid （C18：1, n-9）, linoleic acid （C18：2, n-6）, a-linolenic acid （C18：3, n-3）, arachidonic acid （C20：4, n-6） and eicosapentaenoic acid （C20：5, n-3）, were tested. Rumen fluid from three goats fitted with ruminal fistulae was used as inoculum and the inclusion rate of long-chain fatty acid was at 3% （w/w） of substrate. Samples were taken for VFA analysis at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 h of incubation, respectively. The analysis showed that there were significant differences in the total VFA among treatments, sampling time points, and treatment×time point interactions （P〈0.01）. a-Linolenic acid had the highest total VFA （P〈0.01） among different long-chain fatty acids tested. The molar proportion of acetate in total VFA significantly differed among treatments （P〈0.01） and sampling time points （P〈0.01）, but not treatment×time point interactions （P〉0.05）. In contrast, the molar proportion of propionate did not differ among treatments during the whole incubation （P〉0.05）. However, for butyrate molar proportions, significant differences were found not only among sampling time points but also among treatments and treatment×time point interactions （P〈0.01）, with eicosapentaenoic acid having the highest value （P〈0.01）. Additionally, no statistically significant differences were found in the acetate to propionate ratios among treatments groups （P〉0.05）, even the treatments stearic acid and a-linolenic acid were numerically higher than the others. The inclusion of 3% long-chain unsaturated fatty acids differing in the degree of unsaturation brought out a significant quadratic regression relation between the total VFA concentration and the double bond number of fatty acid. In conclusion, the a-linolenic acid with 3 double bonds appeared better for improving rumen microbial fermentation and the total VFA concentration.展开更多
Sentiment analysis of online reviews and other user generated content is an important research problem for its wide range of applications.In this paper,we propose a feature-based vector model and a novel weighting alg...Sentiment analysis of online reviews and other user generated content is an important research problem for its wide range of applications.In this paper,we propose a feature-based vector model and a novel weighting algorithm for sentiment analysis of Chinese product reviews.Specifically,an opinionated document is modeled by a set of feature-based vectors and corresponding weights.Different from previous work,our model considers modifying relationships between words and contains rich sentiment strength descriptions which are represented by adverbs of degree and punctuations.Dependency parsing is applied to construct the feature vectors.A novel feature weighting algorithm is proposed for supervised sentiment classification based on rich sentiment strength related information.The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method compared with a state of the art method using term level weighting algorithms.展开更多
AIM: To investigate the role that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter of the tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene play in the risk of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) in a New Zealand popula...AIM: To investigate the role that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter of the tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene play in the risk of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) in a New Zealand population, in the context of international studies. METHODS: DNA samples from 388 patients with Crohn's disease (CD), 405 ulcerative colitis (UC), 27 indeterminate colitis (IC) and 201 randomly selected controls, from Canterbury, New Zealand were screened for 3 common polymorphisms in the TNF-α receptor: -238 G→A, -308 G→A and -857C→T, using a TaqmanR assay. A meta-analysis was performed on the data obtained on these polymorphisms combined with that from other published studies. RESULTS: Individuals carrying the -308 G/A allele had a significantly (OR = 1.91, χ2 = 17.36, P < 0.0001) increased risk of pancolitis, and a 1.57-fold increased risk (OR = 1.57, χ2 = 4.34, P = 0.037) of requiring a bowel resection in UC. Carrying the -857 C/T variant decreased the risk of ileocolonic CD (OR = 0.56, χ2 =4.32, P = 0.037), and the need for a bowel resection (OR = 0.59, χ2 = 4.85, P = 0.028). The risk of UC was reduced in individuals who were smokers at diagnosis, (OR = 0.48, χ2 = 4.86, P = 0.028). CONCLUSION: TNF-α is a key cytokine known to play a role in inflammatory response, and the locus for the gene is found in the IBD3 region on chromosome 6p21, known to be associated with an increased risk for IBD. The -308 G/A SNP in the TNF-α promoter is functional, and may account in part for the increased UC risk associated with the IBD3 genomic region. The -857 C/T SNP may decrease IBD risk in certain groups. Pharmaco- or nutrigenomic approaches may be desir- able for individuals with such affected genotypes.展开更多
Maternal photoperiodic response is a key factor that affects offspring diapause in migratory locust,Locusta migratoria L.(Orthoptera:Acridoidea).Although many aspects of insect diapause have been studied,little is kno...Maternal photoperiodic response is a key factor that affects offspring diapause in migratory locust,Locusta migratoria L.(Orthoptera:Acridoidea).Although many aspects of insect diapause have been studied,little is known about the molecular mechanisms of maternal photoperiodic response that influence diapause regulation.To gain insight into the possible mechanisms of maternal photoperiod influence on diapause regulation,proteomics data by label-free quantification analysis were generated from non-diapause and diapause eggs.A total of 175 proteins were differentially expressed between diapause and non-diapause eggs.Among them,24 proteins were upregulated,and 151 proteins were downregulated.Gene Ontology(GO)analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichments were performed on all differentially expressed proteins(DEPs)and showed that peroxisome,insect hormone biosynthesis,and longevity regulating pathway may be related to diapause of migratory locust.Furthermore,we used qRT-PCR to verify some results of the proteomic analysis.Proteins such as hexamerin-like protein 4,juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolase 1(JHEH1),cytochrome P450 and heat shock protein(HSP)20.7 were predicted to be involved in diapause.This study provides an important reference for future research that will explore the mechanisms of diapause induced by maternal effects in migratory locust.展开更多
基金新西兰恒天然-中国科学院国际合作项目International Collaborative Research on Dairy Farm Waste application to land supported by Fonterra(Beijing)Farm Management Consulting Co.Ltd
基金Supported by The State High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program),No.2008AA02Z135the Important National Science and Technology Specific Projects,No.2009ZX09103-643the Natural Science Foundation of China,No.30973591
文摘AIM:To investigate the effect of transgenic expression of kallistatin(Kal) on carbon tetrachloride(CCl 4)induced liver injury by intramuscular(im) electrotransfer of a Kal-encoding plasmid formulated with poly-Lglutamate(PLG).METHODS:The pKal plasmid encoding Kal gene was formulated with PLG and electrotransferred into mice skeletal muscle before the administration of CCl 4.The expression level of Kal was measured.The serum biomarker levels of alanine aminotransferase(ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),malonyldialdehyde(MDA),and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α were monitored.The extent of CCl 4-induced liver injury was analyzed histopathologically.RESULTS:The transgene of Kal was sufficiently expressed after an im injection of plasmid formulated with PLG followed by electroporation.In the Kal gene-transferred mice,protection against CCl 4-induced liver injury was reflected by significantly decreased serum ALT,AST,MDA and TNF-α levels compared to those in control mice(P < 0.01 to 0.05 in a dose-dependent manner).Histological observations also revealed that hepatocyte necrosis,hemorrhage,vacuolar change and hydropic degeneration were apparent in mice after CCl 4 administration.In contrast,the damage was markedly attenuated in the Kal gene-transferred mice.The expression of hepatic fibrogenesis marker transforming growth factor-β1 was also reduced in the pKal transferred mice.CONCLUSION:Intramuscular electrotransfer of plasmid pKal which was formulated with PLG significantly alleviated the CCl 4-induced oxidative stress and inflammatory response,and reduced the liver damage in a mouse model.
基金funded by Ballance AgriNutrients and the Ministry of Primary Industries“Future Ready Farms-Together,creating a lower emissions Future”Sustainable Farming Futures Fund program.
文摘Improving the efficiency and production of grazing ruminants to support food and fiber production,while reducing the environmental footprint and meeting the welfare needs of the animals,is important for sustainable livestock production systems.Development of new technologies that can improve the efficiency of nitrogen(N)utilization in ruminants,and that are effective and safe,has important implications for ruminant livestock production.N-carbomoylglutamate(NCG)is a functional micronutrient that stimulates endogenous synthesis of arginine,which can improve survival,growth,lactation,reproductive performance,and feed efficiency in mammals.There is a growing body of evidence to support the potential of dietary NCG supplementation to improve the productive capacity and N utilization efficiency of ruminants.This review summarizes the current literature on the effects of dietary supplementation with NCG in ruminants and impacts on production and potential to reduce the environmental footprint of farmed ruminant livestock.The current literature highlights the potential for commercial application in ruminant livestock to improve productivity and N utilization efficiency.
基金financially supported by the Graduate Student Innovation Project of Jiangsu Province,China (KYLX15_1377)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province,China (BK20151312)the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD),China
文摘This study investigated the impacts of the degree of unsaturation （unsaturity） of long-chain fatty acids on volatile fatty acid （VFA） profiles of rumen fermentation in vitro. Six types of long-chain fatty acids, including stearic acid （C18：0, control group）, oleic acid （C18：1, n-9）, linoleic acid （C18：2, n-6）, a-linolenic acid （C18：3, n-3）, arachidonic acid （C20：4, n-6） and eicosapentaenoic acid （C20：5, n-3）, were tested. Rumen fluid from three goats fitted with ruminal fistulae was used as inoculum and the inclusion rate of long-chain fatty acid was at 3% （w/w） of substrate. Samples were taken for VFA analysis at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 h of incubation, respectively. The analysis showed that there were significant differences in the total VFA among treatments, sampling time points, and treatment×time point interactions （P〈0.01）. a-Linolenic acid had the highest total VFA （P〈0.01） among different long-chain fatty acids tested. The molar proportion of acetate in total VFA significantly differed among treatments （P〈0.01） and sampling time points （P〈0.01）, but not treatment×time point interactions （P〉0.05）. In contrast, the molar proportion of propionate did not differ among treatments during the whole incubation （P〉0.05）. However, for butyrate molar proportions, significant differences were found not only among sampling time points but also among treatments and treatment×time point interactions （P〈0.01）, with eicosapentaenoic acid having the highest value （P〈0.01）. Additionally, no statistically significant differences were found in the acetate to propionate ratios among treatments groups （P〉0.05）, even the treatments stearic acid and a-linolenic acid were numerically higher than the others. The inclusion of 3% long-chain unsaturated fatty acids differing in the degree of unsaturation brought out a significant quadratic regression relation between the total VFA concentration and the double bond number of fatty acid. In conclusion, the a-linolenic acid with 3 double bonds appeared better for improving rumen microbial fermentation and the total VFA concentration.
基金This work was supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants No.60970052，the Beijing Natural Science Foundation under Grants No.4133084，the Beijing Educational Committee Science and Technology Development Planned under Grants No.KM201410028017 and the Beijing Key Disciplines of Computer Application Technology
文摘Sentiment analysis of online reviews and other user generated content is an important research problem for its wide range of applications.In this paper,we propose a feature-based vector model and a novel weighting algorithm for sentiment analysis of Chinese product reviews.Specifically,an opinionated document is modeled by a set of feature-based vectors and corresponding weights.Different from previous work,our model considers modifying relationships between words and contains rich sentiment strength descriptions which are represented by adverbs of degree and punctuations.Dependency parsing is applied to construct the feature vectors.A novel feature weighting algorithm is proposed for supervised sentiment classification based on rich sentiment strength related information.The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method compared with a state of the art method using term level weighting algorithms.
基金Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, C02X0403: Gene-specific Foods
文摘AIM: To investigate the role that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter of the tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene play in the risk of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) in a New Zealand population, in the context of international studies. METHODS: DNA samples from 388 patients with Crohn's disease (CD), 405 ulcerative colitis (UC), 27 indeterminate colitis (IC) and 201 randomly selected controls, from Canterbury, New Zealand were screened for 3 common polymorphisms in the TNF-α receptor: -238 G→A, -308 G→A and -857C→T, using a TaqmanR assay. A meta-analysis was performed on the data obtained on these polymorphisms combined with that from other published studies. RESULTS: Individuals carrying the -308 G/A allele had a significantly (OR = 1.91, χ2 = 17.36, P < 0.0001) increased risk of pancolitis, and a 1.57-fold increased risk (OR = 1.57, χ2 = 4.34, P = 0.037) of requiring a bowel resection in UC. Carrying the -857 C/T variant decreased the risk of ileocolonic CD (OR = 0.56, χ2 =4.32, P = 0.037), and the need for a bowel resection (OR = 0.59, χ2 = 4.85, P = 0.028). The risk of UC was reduced in individuals who were smokers at diagnosis, (OR = 0.48, χ2 = 4.86, P = 0.028). CONCLUSION: TNF-α is a key cytokine known to play a role in inflammatory response, and the locus for the gene is found in the IBD3 region on chromosome 6p21, known to be associated with an increased risk for IBD. The -308 G/A SNP in the TNF-α promoter is functional, and may account in part for the increased UC risk associated with the IBD3 genomic region. The -857 C/T SNP may decrease IBD risk in certain groups. Pharmaco- or nutrigenomic approaches may be desir- able for individuals with such affected genotypes.
基金funded by the earmarked fund of China Agriculture Research System (CARS-34-07)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31672485)
文摘Maternal photoperiodic response is a key factor that affects offspring diapause in migratory locust,Locusta migratoria L.(Orthoptera:Acridoidea).Although many aspects of insect diapause have been studied,little is known about the molecular mechanisms of maternal photoperiodic response that influence diapause regulation.To gain insight into the possible mechanisms of maternal photoperiod influence on diapause regulation,proteomics data by label-free quantification analysis were generated from non-diapause and diapause eggs.A total of 175 proteins were differentially expressed between diapause and non-diapause eggs.Among them,24 proteins were upregulated,and 151 proteins were downregulated.Gene Ontology(GO)analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichments were performed on all differentially expressed proteins(DEPs)and showed that peroxisome,insect hormone biosynthesis,and longevity regulating pathway may be related to diapause of migratory locust.Furthermore,we used qRT-PCR to verify some results of the proteomic analysis.Proteins such as hexamerin-like protein 4,juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolase 1(JHEH1),cytochrome P450 and heat shock protein(HSP)20.7 were predicted to be involved in diapause.This study provides an important reference for future research that will explore the mechanisms of diapause induced by maternal effects in migratory locust.
