The research progress of genomic selection in livestock.

With the development of gene chip and breeding technology, genomic selection in plants and animals has become research hotspots in recent years. Genomic selection has been extensively applied to all kinds of economic livestock, due to its high accuracy, short generation intervals and low breeding costs. In this review, we summarize genotyping technology and the methods for genomic breeding value estimation, the latter including the least square method, RR-BLUP, GBLUP, ssGBLUP, BayesA and BayesB. We also cover basic principles of genomic selection and compare their genetic marker ranges, genomic selection accuracy and operational speed. In addition, we list common indicators, methods and influencing factors that are related to genomic selection accuracy. Lastly, we discuss latest applications and the current problems of genomic selection at home and abroad. Importantly, we envision future status of genomic selection research, including multi-trait and multi-population genomic selection, as well as impact of whole genome sequencing and dominant effects on genomic selection. This review will provide some venues for other breeders to further understand genome selection.

[Difference between the cognitive and control ability and the responsibility in forensic psychiatry evaluation].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the difference between the cognitive and control ability and the responsibility in forensic psychiatry evaluation. METHODS: To compare the results of the responsibility evaluation from 2001.1 to 2006.10 (the first period) with that of the cognitive and control ability evaluation from 2006.11 to 2010.10 (the second period). The admissibility opinions on court judgment and evaluation were investigated by return visit. The legal professions' opinions on forensic psychiatric issues from the police office, the procuratorate, the court, and the judiciary were investigated. RESULTS: There was no significant difference of the criminal types between two periods (P > 0.05). There was significant difference of the diagnostic types between two periods (P < 0.05). The proportion of normal range and part loss of the cognitive and control ability in the second period were higher than that in the first period, but the proportion of complete loss of the cognitive and control ability in the second period was lower than that in the first period (P < 0.05). Among the legal professions, 70.5% of them thought that "the evaluation of cognitive and control ability" was different from "the evaluation of criminal responsibility" and 94.9% of them thought that "to confirm the influence of the forensic psychiatric evaluation of mental disorder on the crime behavior" or "to assess of cognitive and control ability" met requirements of normative judicial expertise. CONCLUSION: The evaluation of cognitive and control ability is more aligned with legal requirements and behavioral norms of own subject than the evaluation of responsibility.

An integrated mycotoxin-mitigating agent can effectively mitigate the combined toxicity of AFB1, DON and OTA on the production performance, liver and oviduct health in broiler breeder hens.

This study was to evaluate the efficacy of an integrated mycotoxin-mitigating agent in reducing the adverse effects of co-occurring dietary aflatoxin B1 deoxynivalenol and ochratoxin A on broiler breeder hens. 360 30-week-old Hubbard Efficiency Plus broiler breeder hens were allocated into four groups and received a basal diet (BD; Control), BD added 0.15 mg/kg aflatoxin B1+1.5 mg/kg deoxynivalenol+0.12 mg/kg ochratoxin A (Toxins), BD plus Toxins with 0.1% TOXO-XL (Toxins + XL1), and BD plus Toxins with 0.2% TOXO-XL (Toxins + XL2), respectively, for 8 weeks, and then received the same BD for another 4 weeks. Compared with control, mycotoxins decreased total egg weigh, egg laying rate, settable eggs rate, hatch of total eggs rate, egg quality, but increased feed/egg ratio and mortality rate, and impaired the liver and oviduct health during weeks 1-8 and(or) 9-12. It also increased PC and MDA concentrations, TUNEL-positive cells and IL-1ß and IL-6 expression, and decreased T-AOC, GPX and CAT activities in liver and/or oviduct. Notably, most of these negative changes were mitigated by both dosages of TOXO-XL. Generally, 0.2% TOXO-XL displayed better mitigation effects than 0.1% TOXO-XL. Conclusively, these findings revealed that TOXO-XL could mitigate the combined mycotoxins-induced toxicity on the performance, liver and oviduct health, through the regulation of redox, immunity, and apoptosis in broiler breeder hens.

Surface IgM on DT40 cells may be a component of the putative receptor complex responsible for the binding of infectious bursal disease virus.

To investigate the host-pathogen interactions between infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) and target B-lymphocytic cells, a cDNA T7 phage display library from the chicken bursa of Fabricius was constructed and screened for virus binding. Surface immunoglobulin M (sIgM) was isolated as a putative candidate binding site and its interactions with IBDV were further investigated using a chicken bursal lymphoma-derived cell line DT40. The results showed that the λ light chain of sIgM specifically interacted with IBDV in a virulence-independent manner in vitro, and most of the binding of IBDV to DT40 cells was inhibited by sIgM-specific monoclonal antibodies. Further, the infectivity of IBDV in vitro was reduced by sIgM-specific monoclonal antibodies. Our data provided evidence that sIgM may participate as one of the putative membrane binding sites responsible for IBDV infection.

[An examination of the self-reported scale of brief psychopathological symptoms to detect malingering in forensic psychiatric subjects].

OBJECTIVE: To examine the self-reported scale of brief psychopathological symptoms (SBPS) to detect malingering in forensic psychiatric cases. METHODS: Two hundred and six cases with different types of psychiatric problems were tested by SBPS. All cases were separately evaluated by two experts. RESULTS: About 34.5% cases (71/206) were classified as malingering by the cut-off 13 scores of SBPS. Compared with expert's evaluation, SBPS showed a false negative rate of 19.8% and a false positive rate of 1.7%, respectively, with a total accuracy rate of 90.8%. Cases involved in compensations including working injury and traffic accidence showed the highest rate of malingering (51%). CONCLUSION: SBPS is useful for detecting malingering psychopathological symptoms.

Development and evaluation of an immunochromatographic strip for trichinellosis detection.

In the present study, an immunochromatographic strip was developed for the serological detection of trichinellosis in swine. In the strip, the excretory-secretory (ES) antigens of Trichinella labelled with colloidal gold was used as the detector, and the staphylococcal protein A (SPA) and goat anti-ES antibody were blotted on the nitrocellulose membrane for the test and control lines, respectively. The evaluation of the strip was performed by comparing 60 clinical positive blood samples detected by the artificial digestion method with 46 serum samples from pigs infected with parasites other than Trichinella and 30 serum samples of parasite-free healthy pigs. The strip was shown to be of high specificity and sensitivity that were closely correlated with those of ELISA. Furthermore, the dipstick assay based on the strip is rapid (10 min) and easy to perform with no requirement of special skill, reagent or equipment. This suggests the immunochromatographic strip is an acceptable alternative to be used in clinical laboratories lacking specialized equipment as well as for field diagnosis.

Identification of neutralizing epitopes on the VP2 protein of infectious bursal disease virus by phage-displayed heptapeptide library screening and synthetic peptide mapping.

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is the causative agent of infectious bursal disease, which is one of the most important and widespread infectious diseases in commercial chickens. Conformational epitopes have been reported in the highly variable region of the VP2 protein of IBDV. In the present study, a random heptapeptide library was screened by using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), YNW17 and YNW29, directed to the VP2 of IBDV and two peptide motifs, D-X-P-R and A-R-G, were identified. The motifs are present on the N and C terminal sequences of the highly variable region of VP2. Synthetic overlapping peptides covering the motifs on VP2 were analyzed by Dot- ELISA with the mAbs and two epitopes 197CDSSDRPRVYTIT209 and 329ARGSLAVTI337 identified. The above epitopes were also recognized by chicken anti-IBDV sera and shown to inhibit the binding of their mAbs to recombinant VP2. Both mAbs and sera from mice immunized with the conjugated epitope-peptides were able to neutralize serotype I IBDV. These results indicated that the epitopes are two neutralizing linear B-cell epitopes and would be useful for the development of peptide-based IBD vaccines.

Development of a one-step strip test for the diagnosis of chicken infectious bursal disease.

A rapid diagnostic strip for chicken infectious bursal disease (IBD) was developed based on membrane chromatography using high-affinity monoclonal antibodies directed to chicken infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). The diagnostic strip has high specificity for detection of chicken IBDV antigen and recognizes a variety of the virus isolates, including virulent and attenuated strains, with no cross-reactivity to other viruses, such as Newcastle disease virus, Marek's disease virus, infectious bronchitis virus, infectious laryngotracheitis virus, and egg-drop-syndrome virus. The results showed that its specificity was highly consistent with the agar-gel precipitation test (AGP). The diagnostic strip detected as low as 800 median egg lethal dose (ELD50) viruses in the IBDV BC6/85-infected sample, which was comparable with AC-ELISA (400 ELD50) and 32 times more sensitive than the AGP test (2.56 x 10(4) ELD50). In experimental infection, IBDV was detected in the bursa as early as 36 hr postinfection with the diagnostic strip before the clinical signs and gross lesions appeared. It takes only 1-2 min to do a strip test to detect chicken IBDV antigen after the specimen is grounded in a whirl pack with finger massage.

[Randomized controlled trial on haiguiyuyang capsule in the treatment of duodenal ulcer].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of haiguiyuyang capsule in the treatment of duodenal ulcer (also diagnosed as weiwan pain and hanrecuoza syndrome according to the theory of TCM). METHODS: This is a multi-center clinical trial cooperatively conducted from May 2003 to March 2004 in accordance to the principle of informed consent, to the criteria for subject inclusion, exclusion, discontinuation, and to the relevant guidelines for evaluating the therapeutic effects of new TCM drugs. The design of double-blind, double-dummy and randomized controlled trial was adopted. 438 patients were randomized to the Test group (n = 330, treated with haiguiyuyang capsule) and to the Control group (n = 108, treated with ranitidine). The therapeutic course for both groups was 6 weeks. RESULTS: Regarding the efficacy in treating duodenal ulcer, in the Test group, the Marked Efficacy Rate was 66.37% and the Total Efficacy Rate was 82.13%; in the Control group, the Marked Efficacy Rate was 68.61% and the Total Efficacy Rate was 93.34%; there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). Regarding the efficacy in treating the syndrome diagnosed by TCM, in the Test group, the Marked Efficacy Rate was 70.31% and the Total Efficacy Rate was 93.34%; in the control group, the rates were 71.29% and 91.66% respectively; there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). Besides, regarding the abatement of distention and fullness of stomach after treatment, the haiguiyuyang capsule was better than ranitidine (P<0.05). No adverse side-effect was observed. CONCLUSION: The efficacy of haiguiyuyang capsule in treating duodenal ulcer is similar to that of ranitidine. No obvious adverse effect of it was observed in this trial.

[Comparative study of electro-acupuncture and maprotiline in treating depression].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) and maprotiline (Map) in treating depression. METHODS: Thirty patients of depression were treated with EA and 31 patients with Map orally taken respectively. The therapeutic effect and side-effect were evaluated by measurement of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Self-Rating Scale for Depression (SDS), Self-Rating Scale for Anxiety (SAS), Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) and Asberg Rating Scale for side-effects (ARS) before treatment and on the day 14, 28 and 42 of the therapeutic course. RESULTS: After treatment, the scores of HAMD and SDS lowered significantly (P < 0.01) than before treatment, and with insignificant difference between the group (P > 0.05). For patients with somatic syndrome, the HAMD score decrease rate was obviously higher in the Map group than that in the EA group. However, for the patients with anxiety somatization syndrome, the score of SAS, ARS in the EA group were significantly lower than those in the Map group (P < 0.05). Moreover, the efficacy index was higher in the EA group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Both EA and Map are effective in treating depression.

[Advances of clinical studies of acupuncture and moxibustion for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis].

OBJECTIVE: To summarize recent development of studies on acupuncture and moxibustion for prevention and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, so as to provide a basis and thinking for clinical scientific studies. METHODS: More than 60 papers about clinical and experimental studies were reviewed, choosing clinically commonly-used acupoints and introducing mainly different therapeutic methods. RESULTS: Acupuncture and moxibustion can prevent and cure rheumatoid arthritis with outstanding results. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture and moxibustion have vast vistas for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.