Detection Transformer with Multi-Scale Fusion Attention Mechanism for Aero-Engine Turbine Blade Cast Defect Detection Considering Comprehensive Features.

Casting defects in turbine blades can significantly reduce an aero-engine's service life and cause secondary damage to the blades when exposed to harsh environments. Therefore, casting defect detection plays a crucial role in enhancing aircraft performance. Existing defect detection methods face challenges in effectively detecting multi-scale defects and handling imbalanced datasets, leading to unsatisfactory defect detection results. In this work, a novel blade defect detection method is proposed. This method is based on a detection transformer with a multi-scale fusion attention mechanism, considering comprehensive features. Firstly, a novel joint data augmentation (JDA) method is constructed to alleviate the imbalanced dataset issue by effectively increasing the number of sample data. Then, an attention-based channel-adaptive weighting (ACAW) feature enhancement module is established to fully apply complementary information among different feature channels, and further refine feature representations. Consequently, a multi-scale feature fusion (MFF) module is proposed to integrate high-dimensional semantic information and low-level representation features, enhancing multi-scale defect detection precision. Moreover, R-Focal loss is developed in an MFF attention-based DEtection TRansformer (DETR) to further solve the issue of imbalanced datasets and accelerate model convergence using the random hyper-parameters search strategy. An aero-engine turbine blade defect X-ray (ATBDX) image dataset is applied to validate the proposed method. The comparative results demonstrate that this proposed method can effectively integrate multi-scale image features and enhance multi-scale defect detection precision.

Modifying effects of green space on the relationships between air pollution and ischemic cerebrovascular event recurrence in Tianjin, China.

This study aimed to explore how air pollution and green space influence ICE recurrence and whether they might interact with each other. A case-cross design was used in this study, which was carried out in Tianjin, China. A total of 8306 patients with recurrent ICE were collected from 2019 to 2020. The maximum effects of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO were 1.012 (95%CI: 1.004, 1.019), 1.010 (95%CI: 1.004, 1.016), 1.035 (95%CI: 0.982, 1.091), 1.067 (95%CI: 1.043, 1.091) and 1.012 (95%CI: 1.004, 1.021) , respectively, and the risk was higher in males and in the 50-60 age group. In the stratification of greening, it was found that air pollution except O3 had the highest risk of ICE recurrence for those with lower green space. Our study found that air pollution (except O3) can increase the risk of ICE recurrence, and this risk can be reduced by increasing green space.

Modification Effects of Temperature on the Ozone-Mortality Relationship: A Nationwide Multicounty Study in China.

Both ozone exposure and extreme temperatures are found to be significantly associated with mortality; however, inconsistent results have been obtained on the modification effects of temperature on the ozone-mortality association. In the present study, we conducted a nationwide time-series analysis in 128 counties from 2013-2018 to examine whether temperature modifies the association between short-term ozone exposure with nonaccidental and cause-specific mortality in China. First, we analyzed the effects of ozone exposure on mortality at different temperature levels. Then, we calculated the pooled effects through a meta-analysis across China. We found that high-temperature conditions (>75th percentile in each county) significantly enhanced the effects of ozone on nonaccidental, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality, with increases of 0.44% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.36 and 0.51%), 0.42% (95% CI: 0.32 and 0.51%) and 0.50% (95% CI: 0.31 and 0.68%), respectively, for a 10 µg/m3 increase in ozone at high temperatures. Stronger effects on nonaccidental and cardiovascular mortality were observed at high temperatures among elderly individuals aged 65 years and older compared with the younger people. Our findings provide evidence that health damage because of ozone may be influenced by the impacts of increasing temperatures, which point to the importance of mitigating ozone exposure in China under the context of climate change to further reduce the public health burden.

cDNA isolation and functional characterization of UDP-glucose 4-epimerase from Davallia divaricate.

UDP-glucose 4-epimerase (UGE) is a universal enzyme responsible for interconversion of UDP-glucose and UDP-galactose. However, the gene encoding UGE from Davallia divaricate is elusive. In this study, two UGE genes, ddUGE1 and ddUGE2, were isolated and cloned from D. divaricate using a transcriptome-guided search strategy. Two unigenes sharing high sequence identity with UGE homologous genes were selected from transcriptome assembly. The enzymes, further functionally expressed in Escherichia coli, exhibit narrow substrate specificity. The biochemical characterization assays of DdUGE1 and DdUGE2 showed good thermal and pH stability, and metal ion independence, which provides a meaningful feature for biotechnological applications.[Formula: see text].

Metatranscriptome analysis of the intestinal microorganisms in Pardosa pseudoannulata in response to cadmium stress.

Cadmium (Cd) generates a variety of physiological and ecological toxicity to spiders. However, little is known about the effects of Cd on symbiotic bacteria of spiders. Metatranscriptomics is increasing our knowledge of microorganisms in environment. To better understand the impact of Cd on the symbiotic bacteria of spiders, we generated and compared the metatranscriptomes of the intestinal microorganisms of Pardosa pseudoannulata with and without Cd stress. The community structure of intestinal microorganisms in P. pseudoannulata was composed of 4 kingdoms, namely bacteria, viruses, eukaryotes and archaea, including 46 phyla, 97 classes, 184 orders, 339 families, 470 genera, and 598 species. The abundance of eukaryotes, bacteria and viruses was decreased by 0.14%, 1.22% and 2.52% respectively while the archaea was increased by 99.16% when under Cd stress. We identified 1519 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 770 up-regulated and 749 down-regulated genes. The results of KEGG annotation revealed that the expression of genes that are involved in the carbon metabolism, protein and amino acid metabolism and synthesis, glucose metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and glutathione metabolism were influenced by Cd. Collectively, these findings showed that Cd significantly impacted the community structure and expression of related functional genes of intestinal microorganisms in P. pseudoannulata.

Complete Chloroplast Genome of Medicinal Plant Lonicera japonica: Genome Rearrangement, Intron Gain and Loss, and Implications for Phylogenetic Studies.

The complete chloroplast (cp) genome of Lonicera japonica, a common ornamental and medicinal plant in North America and East Asia, was sequenced and analyzed. The length of the L. japonica cp genome is 155,078 bp, contains a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb), of 23,774 bp each, as well as large (LSC, 88,858 bp) and small (SSC, 18,672 bp) single-copy regions. A total of 129 genes were identified in the cp genome, 16 of which were duplicated within the IR regions. Relative to other plant cp genomes, the L. japonica cp genome had a unique rearrangement between trnI-CAU and trnN-GUU. In L. japonica cpDNA, rps19, rpl2, and rpl23 move to the LSC region, from the IR region. The ycf1 pesudogene in the IR region is lost, and only one copy locates in the SSC region. Comparative cp DNA sequence analyses of L. japonica with other cp genomes reveal that the gene order, and the gene and intron contents, are slightly different. The introns in ycf2 and rps18 genes are found for the first time. Four genes (clpP, petB, petD, and rpl16) lost introns. However, its genome structure, GC content, and codon usage were similar to those of typical angiosperm cp genomes. All preferred synonymous codons were found to use codons ending with A/T. The AT-rich sequences were less abundant in the coding regions than in the non-coding ones. A phylogenetic analysis based on 71 protein-coding genes supported the idea that L. japonica is a sister of the Araliaceae species. This study identified unique characteristics of the L. japonica cp genome that contribute to our understanding of the cpDNA evolution. It offers valuable information for the phylogenetic and specific barcoding of this medicinal plant.

[Research progress in natural allopyranosides].

The pharmacological activities of natural glycosides are closely related to the polyfunctional sugar moieties. Modification of active natural products by glycosylation can change the stereochemical configuration, improve the solubility, tune up the activities and change pharmacokinetic properties for higher efficacy and better selectivity. Compared with the common D-glucose, D-allose, a C-3 epimer of D-glucose rarely exists in nature, but it plays an important role in food, health, medicine, and so on. It is not easily metabolized in the living organisms, but can be used as a safe and low-calorie sweetener. The natural allopyranosides are absolute conjugation forms which are same as other glucopyranosides and rhamnopyranosides with a broad array of biological activities. This article summarizes the major progresses made in phytochemistry and biological activity studies of these compounds. Structure-activity relationship analyses of partial anti-tumor and anti-diabetic allopyranosides were performed regarding the data reported in the literatures. These insights may provide a theoretical and experimental reference for the discovery of new drug and drug design based on allopyranosides.

Effects of lung resection on heart structure and function: A tissue Doppler ultrasound survey of 43 cases.

Changes in heart structure and function after lung resection in patients with lung cancer are challenging to manage. Therefore, a non-invasive and reliable measurement tool to gauge such changes is critical. The purpose of the present study was to compare cardiological changes before and after lung resection using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). A total of 43 patients (19 men and 24 women) with primary non-small cell lung cancer (n=37) and metastatic cancer in the lungs (n=6) were enrolled in the study.nTDI was used to determine the thickness of the ascending aorta, the open size of the ascending valve, the anterior-oposterior diameters of the left atrium and left ventricle, and the thickness of the ventricular septum and right ventricle before and after lung resection. Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF), pulmonary valve flow rate, tricuspid annular or mitral leaflet tip early (E) peak/late (A) diastolic blood flow velocities, tricuspid regurgitation flow, the lateral mitral annulus early (e') diastolic velocity and mitral E/e' ratio were used to determine LV filling pressure. Results revealed no significant differences between male and female patients in terms of the open size of the ascending valve, the anterior-posterior diameter of the left ventricle and the mitral E/e' ratio. Significant differences were found in the width of the ascending aorta, anterior-posterior diameter of the left atrium, width of the LV septum and right ventricular (RV) diameter before and after lung resection. Finally, there were significantchanges in EF and tricuspid pressure. The results indicated that TDI was useful as a non-invasive method for assessing left and right heart function following lung resection. The LV and RV dimensions were affected, but LV filling pressure was preserved after lobectomy.

Single-cell transcriptome profiling reveals the spatiotemporal distribution of triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis and transposable element activity in Gynostemma pentaphyllum shoot apexes and leaves.

Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino is an important producer of dammarene-type triterpenoid saponins. These saponins (gypenosides) exhibit diverse pharmacological benefits such as anticancer, antidiabetic, and immunomodulatory effects, and have major potential in the pharmaceutical and health care industries. Here, we employed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to profile the transcriptomes of more than 50,000 cells derived from G. pentaphyllum shoot apexes and leaves. Following cell clustering and annotation, we identified five major cell types in shoot apexes and four in leaves. Each cell type displayed substantial transcriptomic heterogeneity both within and between tissues. Examining gene expression patterns across various cell types revealed that gypenoside biosynthesis predominantly occurred in mesophyll cells, with heightened activity observed in shoot apexes compared to leaves. Furthermore, we explored the impact of transposable elements (TEs) on G. pentaphyllum transcriptomic landscapes. Our findings the highlighted the unbalanced expression of certain TE families across different cell types in shoot apexes and leaves, marking the first investigation of TE expression at the single-cell level in plants. Additionally, we observed dynamic expression of genes involved in gypenoside biosynthesis and specific TE families during epidermal and vascular cell development. The involvement of TE expression in regulating cell differentiation and gypenoside biosynthesis warrant further exploration. Overall, this study not only provides new insights into the spatiotemporal organization of gypenoside biosynthesis and TE activity in G. pentaphyllum shoot apexes and leaves but also offers valuable cellular and genetic resources for a deeper understanding of developmental and physiological processes at single-cell resolution in this species.

Rosemary leaf powder improves egg quality, antioxidant status, gut barrier function, and cecal microbiota and metabolites of late-phase laying hens.

This study sought to determine the effects of rosemary leaf powder (RP) on laying performance, egg quality, serum indices, gut barrier function, and cecal microbiota and metabolites of late-phase laying hens. A total of 84 "Jing Tint 6" laying hens at 65-week old were randomly divided into 2 groups and fed either a basal diet (CON) or a basal diet supplemented with 0.3% RP. Our study revealed that RP improved the Haugh unit and decreased yolk n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) ratio of laying hens, increased serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), jejunal activities of SOD and catalase (CAT), and jejunal zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) expression, as well as decreased serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) level and jejunal TNF-α mRNA expression. Rosemary leaf powder markedly enhanced (P < 0.05) cecal abundances of Rikenellaceae, Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group, and Turicibacter, tended to promote (P = 0.076) butyrate concentration, and reduced (P < 0.05) cecal abundances of Erysipelatoclostridiaceae, Sutterellaceae, Fusobacteriaceae, Campylobacteraceae, Sutterella, Campylobacter, and Fusobacterium, which were closely linked with Haugh unit, yolk n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio, serum SOD and TNF-α. In addition, RP altered the metabolic functions of cecal microbiota and enhanced the abundances of butyrate-synthesizing enzymes, including lysine 2,3-aminomutase, ß-lysine 5,6-aminomutase, and 3-oxoacid CoA-transferase. Together, 0.3% RP has the potential to enhance egg quality by partially modulating serum antioxidant status, jejunal barrier function, and cecal microbiota structure and metabolites, indicating that RP could be considered a promising feed additive to promote the production performance of late-phase laying hens.

Magnetic Field Assisted Enhanced Sensitivity of Nonferromagnetic Materials Boosting the Carrier Transfer: Mechanistic Studies.

The performance of semiconductor sensors is determined by reaction kinetics, conductivity, and electron mobility, which are undoubtedly closely related to the electron motion behavior. Therefore, the effective regulation of electronic states is crucial for improving gas sensing properties. Previous methods of enhancing the gas-sensing performance have induced complex material modifications, and the extent of performance improvement is usually very limited. Further optimization of the gas sensing performance requires continuous efforts to advance new technologies. Toward this issue, a novel magnetic field-induced strategy is adopted to boost the carrier transfer efficiency of nonferromagnetic semiconductors. The gas sensing investigation results manifest that the applied magnetic field can effectively enhance the sensitivity and reduce the baseline resistance. The In2O3 NC-2 (In2O3 nanocubes) with an applied magnetic field have a greatly enhanced response of 161.4 toward 100 ppm formaldehyde, which is 2.5 times higher than that without magnetic field. The enhanced gas sensing properties can be mainly attributed to magnetization of reactive materials, which makes the orientation of electronic magnetic moments consistent, thus greatly contributing to reactivity. This work introduces a practical approach to effectively improve gas sensing performance without further morphology optimization, noble metal catalysis, structural modification, and material cladding. The results of this study provide new insights for designing novel gas sensors to improve the gas sensing performance.

Nearest-neighbor interactions, habitat fragmentation, and the persistence of host-pathogen systems.

Spatial interactions are known to promote stability and persistence in enemy-victim interactions if instability and extinction occur in well-mixed settings. We investigate the effect of spatial interactions in the opposite case, where populations can persist in well-mixed systems. A stochastic agent-based model of host-pathogen dynamics is considered that describes nearest-neighbor interactions in an undivided habitat. Contrary to previous notions, we find that in this setting, spatial interactions in fact promote extinction. The reason is that, in contrast to the mass-action system, the outcome of the nearest-neighbor model is governed by dynamics in small "local neighborhoods." This is an abstraction that describes interactions in a minimal grid consisting of an individual plus its nearest neighbors. The small size of this characteristic scale accounts for the higher extinction probabilities. Hence, nearest-neighbor interactions in a continuous habitat lead to outcomes reminiscent of a fragmented habitat, which is underlined further with a metapopulation model that explicitly assumes habitat fragmentation. Beyond host-pathogen dynamics, axiomatic modeling shows that our results hold for generic enemy-victim interactions under specified assumptions. These results are used to interpret a set of published experiments that provide a first step toward model testing and are discussed in the context of the literature.

Complex spatial dynamics of oncolytic viruses in vitro: mathematical and experimental approaches.

Oncolytic viruses replicate selectively in tumor cells and can serve as targeted treatment agents. While promising results have been observed in clinical trials, consistent success of therapy remains elusive. The dynamics of virus spread through tumor cell populations has been studied both experimentally and computationally. However, a basic understanding of the principles underlying virus spread in spatially structured target cell populations has yet to be obtained. This paper studies such dynamics, using a newly constructed recombinant adenovirus type-5 (Ad5) that expresses enhanced jellyfish green fluorescent protein (EGFP), AdEGFPuci, and grows on human 293 embryonic kidney epithelial cells, allowing us to track cell numbers and spatial patterns over time. The cells are arranged in a two-dimensional setting and allow virus spread to occur only to target cells within the local neighborhood. Despite the simplicity of the setup, complex dynamics are observed. Experiments gave rise to three spatial patterns that we call "hollow ring structure", "filled ring structure", and "disperse pattern". An agent-based, stochastic computational model is used to simulate and interpret the experiments. The model can reproduce the experimentally observed patterns, and identifies key parameters that determine which pattern of virus growth arises. The model is further used to study the long-term outcome of the dynamics for the different growth patterns, and to investigate conditions under which the virus population eliminates the target cells. We find that both the filled ring structure and disperse pattern of initial expansion are indicative of treatment failure, where target cells persist in the long run. The hollow ring structure is associated with either target cell extinction or low-level persistence, both of which can be viewed as treatment success. Interestingly, it is found that equilibrium properties of ordinary differential equations describing the dynamics in local neighborhoods in the agent-based model can predict the outcome of the spatial virus-cell dynamics, which has important practical implications. This analysis provides a first step towards understanding spatial oncolytic virus dynamics, upon which more detailed investigations and further complexity can be built.

[Discussion on the botanical origin of Isatidis radix and Isatidis folium based on DNA barcoding].

This paper aimed to investigate the botanical origins of Isatidis Radix and Isatidis Folium, and clarify the confusion of its classification. The second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of ribosomal DNA, the chloroplast matK gene of 22 samples from some major production areas were amplified and sequenced. Sequence assembly and consensus sequence generation were performed using the CodonCode Aligner. Phylogenetic study was performed using MEGA 4.0 software in accordance with the Kimura 2-Parameter (K2P) model, and the phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor-joining methods. The results showed that the length of ITS2 sequence of the botanical origins of Isatidis Radix and Isatidis Folium was 191 bp. The sequence showed that some samples had several SNP sites, and some samples had heterozygosis sites. In the NJ tree, based on ITS2 sequence, the studied samples were separated into two groups, and one of them was gathered with Isatis tinctoria L. The studied samples also were divided into two groups obviously based on the chloroplast matK gene. In conclusion, our results support that the botanical origins of Isatidis Radix and Isatidis Folium are Isatis indigotica Fortune, and Isatis indigotica and Isatis tinctoria are two distinct species. This study doesn't support the opinion about the combination of these two species in Flora of China.

Perilla frutescens: A traditional medicine and food homologous plant.

Perilla frutescens, an annual herb of the Labiatae family, has been cultivated in China for more than 2000 years. P. frutescens is the one of the first medicinal and edible plant published by the Ministry of Health. Its leaves, stems and seeds can be used as medicine and edible food. Because of the abundant nutrients and bioactive components in this plant, P. frutescens has been studied extensively in medicine, food, health care and chemical fields with great prospects for development. This paper reviews the cultivation history, chemical compositions and pharmacological activities of P. frutescens, which provides a reference for the development and utilization of P. frutescens resources.

Rosemary extract improves egg quality by altering gut barrier function, intestinal microbiota and oviductal gene expressions in late-phase laying hens.

BACKGROUND: Rosemary extract (RE) has been reported to exert antioxidant property. However, the application of RE in late-phase laying hens on egg quality, intestinal barrier and microbiota, and oviductal function has not been systematically studied. This study was investigated to detect the potential effects of RE on performance, egg quality, serum parameters, intestinal heath, cecal microbiota and metabolism, and oviductal gene expressions in late-phase laying hens. A total of 210 65-week-old "Jing Tint 6" laying hens were randomly allocated into five treatments with six replicates and seven birds per replicate and fed basal diet (CON) or basal diet supplemented with chlortetracycline at 50 mg/kg (CTC) or RE at 50 mg/kg (RE50), 100 mg/kg (RE100), and 200 mg/kg (RE200). RESULTS: Our results showed that RE200 improved (P < 0.05) Haugh unit and n-6/n-3 of egg yolk, serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) compared with CON. No significant differences were observed for Haugh unit and n-6/n-3 of egg yolk among CTC, RE50, RE100 and RE200 groups. Compared with CTC and RE50 groups, RE200 increased serum SOD activity on d 28 and 56. Compared with CON, RE supplementation decreased (P < 0.05) total cholesterol (TC) level. CTC, RE100 and RE200 decreased (P < 0.05) serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) content compared with CON. CTC and RE200 increased jejunal mRNA expression of ZO-1 and Occludin compared with CON. The biomarkers of cecal microbiota and metabolite induced by RE 200, including Firmicutes, Eisenbergiella, Paraprevotella, Papillibacter, and butyrate, were closely associated with Haugh unit, n-6/n-3, SOD, IL-6, and TC. PICRUSt2 analysis indicated that RE altered carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism of cecal microbiota and increased butyrate synthesizing enzymes, including 3-oxoacid CoA-transferase and butyrate-acetoacetate CoA-transferase. Moreover, transcriptomic analysis revealed that RE200 improved gene expressions and functional pathways related to immunity and albumen formation in the oviductal magnum. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary supplementation with 200 mg/kg RE could increase egg quality of late-phase laying hens via modulating intestinal barrier, cecal microbiota and metabolism, and oviductal function. Overall, RE could be used as a promising feed additive to improve egg quality of laying hens at late stage of production.

Exercise is the dominant factor affecting the development of teenagers' eyesight-Based on the Bayesian model averaging.

Objective: The model uncertainty may result in inconsistency about the environmental factors of myopia among students, and the Bayesian model average (BMA) is an effective way to eliminate it. We aimed to explore the influencing factors of myopia in primary and middle school students by BMA. Methods: The data came from the 2021 National Surveillance of Common Diseases and Health Influencing Factors of students. By stratified random cluster sampling, the physical and mental health status of students in Tianjin and the factors affecting their physical health, such as diet, exercise, mental stress, school bullying, sleep time, and internet use, were investigated. The sample consisted of 8,457 primary school students, 8,191 junior middle school students, and 5,901 senior middle school students. Besides the physical examination, we used computer optometry (non-ciliary paralysis) to screen myopia. And we used BMA to select the risk factors through the BMS package in R. Results: The exercise was the only factor that affected the eyesight of junior and senior middle schoolers by BMA, with the posterior probability of 0.9736 and 0.9762, but not for the primary students. And we failed to select variables that affected eyesight in grades 4-6 of primary school. Conclusion: The exercise was a strong influencing factor for the eyesight of students in Tianjin's junior and senior middle schools.

Health risks and economic losses from cold spells in China.

BACKGROUND: Cold significantly increases the risk of mortality. However, the health risks associated with cold spells, persistent and extreme cold temperature events, have yet to be investigated in detail. METHODS: Meteorological and mortality data was collated from 280 counties in China from 2013 through 2019. GLM (Generalized Linear Models) was used to calculate county-level exposure-response relationships for nine different cold spell definitions. Next, we estimated the exposure-response associations between cold spells and mortality in national, Southern, and Northern China. Based on exposure-response relationships, along with the population and mortality data, we then calculated the number of excess deaths due to the cold spell of 2839 counties across China in 2018. Then, we calculated the loss of VSL (value of a statistical life) in each province. RESULTS: We identified that P5day7 was the cold spell definition that was associated with the highest health in China. Compared with non-cold spell days, the risk of non-accidental mortality, circulatory mortality, and respiratory mortality, on cold spell days increased by 17.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 15.8%, 19.0%), 20.8% (95%CI: 18.8%, 23.0%), and 22.7% (95%CI: 19.5%, 25.9%) respectively at lag 7 day in the South. In the North, the risk increased by 13.0% (95% CI: 11.0%, 15.0%), 13.8% (95% CI: 11.4%, 16.2%), and 21.0% (95% CI: 16.6%, 25.6%), respectively. The number of related deaths in China were 57,783, 29,827, and 10,922. The corresponding VSLs were 229,195, 118,322, and 43,315 million CNY (Chinese Yuan), thus accounting for 0.25%, 0.13%, and 0.05% of national GDP (Gross Domestic Product). CONCLUSION: Cold spells have caused a severe epidemiological and economic burden in China. South China should pay more attention to the health risks associated with cold spells.

Dietary Oregano Essential Oil Supplementation Influences Production Performance and Gut Microbiota in Late-Phase Laying Hens Fed Wheat-Based Diets.

This study aimed to investigate the potential effects of OEO on production performance, egg quality, fatty acid composition in yolk, and cecum microbiota of hens in the late phase of production. A total of 350 58-week-old Jing Tint Six laying hens were randomly divided into five groups: (1) fed a basal diet (control); (2) fed a basal diet + 5 mg/kg flavomycin (AGP); (3) fed a basal diet + 100 mg/kg oregano essential oil + 20 mg/kg cinnamaldehyde (EO1); (4) fed a basal diet + 200 mg/kg oregano essential oil + 20 mg/kg cinnamaldehyde (EO2); (5) fed a basal diet + 300 mg/kg oregano essential oil + 20 mg/kg cinnamaldehyde (EO3). Compared to the control group, group EO2 exhibited higher (p < 0.05) egg production during weeks 5−8 and 1−8. EO2 had a lower feed conversion ratio than the control group during weeks 1−8. The content of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) in EO2 was higher (p < 0.05) than that of the control and AGP groups. EO2 increased (p < 0.05) the abundance of Actinobacteriota and decreased the abundance of Desulfovibri in the cecum. The abundances of Anaerofilum, Fournierella, Fusobacterium, and Sutterella were positively correlated with egg production, feed conversion ratio, and average daily feed intake, while the abundances of Bacteroides, Desulfovibrio, Lactobacillus, Methanobrevibacter, and Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group were negatively correlated with egg production, feed conversion ratio, and average daily feed intake. Dietary supplementation with 200 mg/kg OEO and 20 mg/kg cinnamaldehyde could improve egg-production performance, decrease feed conversion ratio, and alter the fatty acid and microbial composition of eggs from late-phase laying hens.