Effects of dietary oat supplementation on carcass traits, muscle metabolites, amino acid profiles, and its association with meat quality of Small-tail Han sheep.

Oat supplementation of the ruminant diet can improve growth performance and meat quality traits, but the role of muscle metabolites has not been evaluated. This study aimed to establish whether oat grass supplementation (OS) of Small-tail Han sheep improved growth performance and muscle tissue metabolites that are associated with better meat quality and flavor. After 90-day, OS fed sheep had higher live-weight and carcass-weight, and lower carcass fat. Muscle metabolomics analysis showed that OS fed sheep had higher levels of taurine, l-carnitine, inosine-5'-monophospgate, cholic acid, and taurocholic acid, which are primarily involved in taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, purine metabolism, and bile acid biosynthesis and secretion, decreased fat accumulation and they promote functional or flavor metabolites. OS also increased muscle levels of amino acids that are attributed to better quality and flavorsome mutton. These findings provided further evidence for supplementing sheep with oat grass to improve growth performance and meat quality.

Oleandrin induces apoptosis via activating endoplasmic reticulum stress in breast cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in women. Due to limited treatment outcome and high rate of metastasis, the prognosis is especially poor for triple-negative breast cancer. It is urgent to discover and develop novel agents for treatment of breast cancer. Herein, we investigated the potential mechanisms of Oleandrin's (a cardiac glycoside) cytotoxic activity against breast cancer cells. METHODS: Cell proliferation was assessed by xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analyzer (RTCA)-MP system. Apoptotic cells were detected by using Annexin V/PI staining and nuclear fragments observation. The effect of oleandrin on ATP1B3 expression and markers of ER stress were determined by western blot. A primary cell sensitivity assay was performed via a collagen gel droplet-embedded culture drug sensitivity method (CD-DST). RESULTS: Oleandrin suppressed cell proliferation and colony formation in the three breast cancer cell lines but did not affect normal mammary epithelial cells. Additionally, the expression of ATP1B3 was higher in the three breast cancer cell lines compared to MCF10A cells. Treatment with oleandrin increased the number of apoptotic cells and led to nuclear pyknosis, fragmentation, and apoptotic body formation in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, oleandrin treatment increased expression of Bax and Bim but decreased that of Bcl-2. Treatment with oleandrin also upregulated the expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress associated proteins, including eIF2α, ATF4, and CHOP, but not PERK. oleandrin treatment also induced the phosphorylation of PERK and eIF2α. Of note, oleandrin exhibited antitumor effects on patient-derived breast cancer cells under three-dimensional culture conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results suggest that oleandrin induces mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis by activating endoplasmic reticulum stress in breast cancer. Moreover, oleandrin may be an effective strategy for the treatment of breast cancer.

Effects of Betaine Aldehyde Dehydrogenase-Transgenic Soybean on Phosphatase Activities and Rhizospheric Bacterial Community of the Saline-Alkali Soil.

The development of transgenic soybean has produced numerous economic benefits; however the potential impact of root exudates upon soil ecological systems and rhizospheric soil microbial diversity has also received intensive attention. In the present study, the influence of saline-alkali tolerant transgenic soybean of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase on bacterial community structure and soil phosphatase during growth stages was investigated. The results showed that, compared with nontransgenic soybean as a control, the rhizospheric soil pH of transgenic soybean significantly decreased at the seedling stage. Compared to HN35, organic P content was 13.5% and 25.4% greater at the pod-filling stage and maturity, respectively. The acid phosphatase activity of SRTS was significantly better than HN35 by 12.74% at seedling, 14.03% at flowering, and 59.29% at podding, while alkaline phosphatase achieved maximum activity in the flowering stage and was markedly lower than HN35 by 13.25% at pod-filling. The 454 pyrosequencing technique was employed to investigate bacterial diversity, with a total of 25,499 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) obtained from the 10 samples. Notably, the effect of SRTS on microbial richness and diversity of rhizospheric soil was marked at the stage of podding and pod-filling. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria were the dominant phyla among all samples. Compared with HN35, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria was lower by 2.01%, 2.06%, and 5.28% at the stage of seedling, at pod-bearing, and at maturity. In genus level, the relative abundance of Gp6, Sphingomonas sp., and GP4 was significantly inhibited by SRTS at the stage of pod-bearing and pod-filling.

Transarterial chemoembolization versus hepatic resection in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A number of cohort studies have compared the outcomes of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and hepatic resection (HR) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the effect of TACE versus HR remains controversial. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness of TACE and HR in HCC treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Cochrane library were searched from their inception until February 27, 2015 for relevant studies. The literature search was updated on May 25, 2015. Eligible studies were cohort studies comparing the survival outcomes between HCC patients undergoing TACE and HR. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS). Secondary outcomes were the recurrence rate and prognostic factors for OS. The risk ratio (RR) was used for the meta-analysis and was expressed with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: This meta-analysis included eleven cohort studies with 6,297 patients, all treated with TACE or HR. Pooled estimates showed that, compared with TACE, HR significantly improved the 3-year OS (RR =0.77; 95% CI, 0.63-0.93; P=0.009). TACE and HR had similar effects on OS after 1 year (RR =0.94; 95% CI, 0.86-1.01; P=0.103), 2 years (RR =0.50; 95% CI, 0.21-1.19; P=0.114), 4 years (RR =0.61; 95% CI, 0.58-1.10; P=0.174), and 5 years (RR =0.77; 95% CI, 0.59-1.01; P=0.06). There was no significant difference between the 3-year (RR =1.31; 95% CI, 0.65-2.64; P=0.457) and 5-year recurrence rates (RR =1.14; 95% CI, 0.69-1.89; P=0.597) in the TACE and HR groups. Age (>65 vs ≤65 years; hazard ratio =0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1.00; P=0.000), sex (male vs female; hazard ratio =0.79; 95% CI, 0.65-0.96; P=0.02), treatment method (TACE vs HR; hazard ratio =1.90; 95% CI, 1.46-2.46; P=0.000), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance score (≥1 vs 0; hazard ratio =1.69; 95% CI, 1.22-2.33; P=0.002) were independent predictors for OS. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggests that the TACE and HR likely have similar effects in the treatment of HCC patients in terms of OS and recurrence rate. However, this conclusion should be interpreted cautiously due to the presence of further subgroup analyses with respect to outcomes in patients with different liver statuses (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage A or stage B).

[Comparison of sustainable development status in Heilongjiang Province based on traditional ecological footprint method and emergy ecological footprint method].

By using traditional ecological footprint method and its modification, emergy ecological footprint method, the sustainable development status of Heilongjiang Province in 2005 was analyzed. The results showed that the ecological deficits of Heilongjiang Province in 2005 based on emergy and conventional ecological footprint methods were 1.919 and 0.6256 hm2 x cap(-1), respectively. The ecological footprint value based on the two methods both exceeded its carrying capacity, which indicated that the social and economic development of the study area was not sustainable. Emergy ecological footprint method was used to discuss the relationships between human's material demand and ecosystem resources supply, and more stable parameters such as emergy transformity and emergy density were introduced into emergy ecological footprint method, which overcame some of the shortcomings of conventional ecological method.

[Treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome using pressure and volume controlled ventilation with lung protective strategy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the significance and effect of pressure controlled ventilation (PCV) as well as volume controlled ventilation (VCV) by lung protective strategy on respiratory mechanics, blood gas analysis and hemodynamics in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). METHODS: Fifty patients with ARDS were randomly divided into PCV and VCV groups with permissive hypercapnia and open lung strategy. Changes in respiratory mechanics, blood gas analysis and hemodynamics were compared between two groups. RESULTS: Peak inspiration pressure (PIP) in PCV group was significantly lower than that in VCV group, while mean pressure of airway (MPaw) was significantly higher than that in VCV after 24 hours mechanical ventilation. After 24 hours mechanical ventilation, there were higher central venous pressure (CVP) and slower heart rate (HR) in two groups, CVP was significantly higher in VCV compared with PCV, and PCV group had slower HR than VCV group, the two groups had no differences in mean blood pressure (MBP) at various intervals. All patients showed no ventilator-induced lung injury. Arterial blood oxygenations were obviously improved in two groups after 24 hours mechanical ventilation, PCV group had better partial pressure of oxygen in artery (PaO2) than VCV group. CONCLUSION: Both PCV and VCV can improve arterial blood oxygenations, prevent ventilator-induced lung injury, and have less disturbance in hemodynamic parameters. PCV with lung protective ventilatory strategy should be early use for patients with ARDS.