Picosecond Spin Current Generation from Vicinal Metal-Antiferromagnetic Insulator Interfaces.

We report the picosecond spin current generation from the interface between a heavy metal and a vicinal antiferromagnet insulator Cr_{2}O_{3} by laser pulses at room temperature and zero magnetic field. It is converted into a detectable terahertz emission in the heavy metal via the inverse spin Hall effect. The vicinal interfaces are apparently the source of the picosecond spin current, as evidenced by the proportional terahertz signals to the vicinal angle. We attribute the origin of the spin current to the transient magnetic moment generated by an interfacial nonlinear magnetic-dipole difference-frequency generation. We propose a model based on the in-plane inversion symmetry breaking to quantitatively explain the terahertz intensity with respect to the angles of the laser polarization and the film azimuth. Our work opens new opportunities in antiferromagnetic and ultrafast spintronics by considering symmetry breaking.

Ultrafast optical observation of spin-pumping induced dynamic exchange coupling in ferromagnetic semiconductor/metal bilayer.

Spin angular momentum transfer in magnetic bilayers offers the possibility of ultrafast and low-loss operation for next-generation spintronic devices. We report the field- and temperature- dependent measurements on the magnetization precessions in Co2FeAl/(Ga,Mn)As by time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect. Analysis of the effective Gilbert damping and phase shift indicates a clear signature of an enhanced dynamic exchange coupling between the two ferromagnetic (FM) layers due to the reinforced spin pumping at resonance. The temperature dependence of the dynamic exchange-coupling reveals a primary contribution from the ferromagnetism in (Ga,Mn)As.

Long-term chemically protected sodium butyrate supplementation in broilers as an antibiotic alternative to dynamically modulate gut microbiota.

Chemically protected sodium butyrate (CSB) is a new kind of sodium butyrate. Our previous study found that 1,000 mg/kg of CSB had the potential capacity of improving growth performance and promoting early development of small intestine in broilers. This study aimed to investigate the effect of long-term antibiotics or CSB supplementation for intestinal microflora dynamical regulation in broilers. One hundred ninety-two 1-day-old Arbor Acres male broilers were randomly allocated into 3 dietary treatment (8 replicates per treatment) and fed with a basal diet (CON), a diet supplemented with the antibiotics (enramycin, 8 mg/kg and aureomycin, 100 mg/kg) (ANT), or a diet supplemented with 1,000 mg/kg of CSB, respectively. Results showed that dietary supplementation of CSB or ANT treatment elevated the weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR; P < 0.05), as compared with control (CON) group. Additionally, CON, CSB, or ANT administration dynamically altered the gut microbiota composition as time goes on. The increased presence of potential pathogens, such as Romboutsia and Shuttleworthia, and decreased beneficial bacteria such as Alistipes, Akkermansia, and Bacteroides were verified in new gut homeostasis reshaped by long-term antibiotics treatment, which has adverse effects on intestinal development and health of broilers. Conversely, CSB supplementation could dynamically enhance the relative abundance of Bacteroides, and decrease Romboutsia and Shuttleworthia in new microflora, which has positive effects on intestinal bacteria of broilers compared with CON group. Meanwhile, CSB supplementation was significantly increased the concentration of propionic acid and total short chain fatty acids (total SCFA; P < 0.05) in comparison with CON and ANT groups. Moreover, CSB treatment significantly increased anti-inflammatory and antioxidative capacities (P < 0.05) of broilers compared with ANT group. Taken together, we revealed characteristic structural changes of gut microbiota throughout long-term CSB or ANT supplementation in broilers, which provided a basic data for evaluating the mechanism of action affecting intestinal health by CSB or ANT administration and CSB as an alternative to antibiotics in the broilers industry.

Large ultrafast-modulated Voigt effect in noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn3Sn.

The time-resolved magneto-optical (MO) Voigt effect can be utilized to study the Néel order dynamics in antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials, but it has been limited for collinear AFM spin configuration. Here, we have demonstrated that in Mn3Sn with an inverse triangular spin structure, the quench of AFM order by ultrafast laser pulses can result in a large Voigt effect modulation. The modulated Voigt angle is significantly larger than the polarization rotation due to the crystal-structure related linear dichroism effect and the modulated MO Kerr angle arising from the ferroic ordering of cluster magnetic octupole. The AFM order quench time shows negligible change with increasing temperature approaching the Néel temperature (TN), in markedly contrast with the pronounced slowing-down demagnetization typically observed in conventional magnetic materials. This atypical behavior can be explained by the influence of weakened Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction rather than the smaller exchange splitting on the diminished AFM order near TN. The temperature-insensitive ultrafast spin manipulation can pave the way for high-speed spintronic devices either working at a wide range of temperature or demanding spin switching near TN.

[Characteristics of primary cutaneous rare nasal extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma: a clinicopathological study of 15 cases].

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological features and differential diagnosis of primary cutaneous nasal extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma (pcENKTCL-NT). Methods: Fifteen cases of pcENKTCL-NT were collected at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2016 to December 2019. The clinical characteristics, morphological features, immunophenotypes, and results of in situ hybridization and gene detection were analyzed. Results: Among the 15 patients, 7 were male and 8 were female, with a male to female ratio of 1.0∶1.1. Their ages ranged from 29 to 86 years, and the median age was 59.3 years. All patients were hospitalized for skin lesions, including skin ulcers, scattered patchy red papules, and local blisters. The skin lesion might be a hard nodular mass, and part of it was a confluent patchy erythema; it could be manifested as multiple scattered nodules of different sizes, and some lesions were like round ulceration. There were 8 cases of lower limbs, 4 cases of chest (1 case with upper limb lesions), 2 cases of trunk and 1 case of neck. Most of the patients were sensitive to GGDP regimen (cisplatin, dexamethasone, gemcitabine and pemostatin). Histologically, most lesions showed tumor cells invading the epidermis and skin appendages, dermal infiltration, diffuse distribution, vascular and peritubular destruction, and some subcutaneous adipose tissue involvement. Morphologically, most of the tumor cells were mixed with small-to medium-size lymphocytes, and some were large cells, mixed cells or small cells. Immunohistochemistry showed that CD3, CD3 ε and TIA-1 were expressed in all cases, but not CD20 and CD8. CD56 and granzyme B were expressed in most of the cases, and CD5 was not expressed. Ki-67 positive index was about 50%-90%. EBV in situ hybridization was positive in all cases. The clonal rearrangement of T cell receptor gene was found in some CD56 negative cases. The 15 patients were followed up for 5-45 months, and one of them was lost to follow-up. Five patients died within 5-13 months after the diagnosis, accounting for 35.7% (5/14) of the 14 patients. The average survival time of the deceased patients was 8.6 months. Conclusions: The incidence rate of pcENKTCL-NT is relatively low, but its biological behavior is aggressive and its prognosis is overall poor. Its skin lesions and histopathological features are relatively diverse. The diagnosis should be determined with using clinical data, histological morphology, immunophenotype and EB virus in situ hybridization. At the same time, attention should be paid to differential diagnosis from other cutaneous lymphoma with cytotoxic phenotype to avoid missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis.

SOCS3 overexpression enhances ADM resistance in bladder cancer T24 cells.

The article "SOCS3 overexpression enhances ADM resistance in bladder cancer T24 cells, by M.-Z. Li, D.-H. Lai, H.-B. Zhao, Z. Chen, Q.-X. Huang, J. Situ, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2017; 21 (13): 3005-3011-PMID: 28742207" has been withdrawn due to misunderstandings among some authors (Dr. Dehui Lai and Dr. Haibo Zhao) concerning the submission of the article. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/13067.

[Gastric adenocarcinoma with enteroblastic differentiation and elevated serum alpha fetoprotein].

Objective: To study the proportion and clinicopathological characteristics of gastric adenocarcinoma with enteroblastic differentiation (GAED) in gastric cancers showing an elevated serum alpha fetoprotein(AFP). Methods: A total of 724 resected gastric adenocarcinomas were collected from 2008 to 2018 at the 904 Hospital of Joint Service Support Force, and cases with pre-operative serum AFP>10 µg/L were screened. From the cases with elevated serum AFP, GAED cases were further evaluated based on morphology. Then the clincopathological features and immunohistochemical phenotypes of GAED were reviewed. In addition, the amplification of HER2 gene was detected with fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH). When overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of GAED were analyzed, 289 cases ordinary gastric adenocarcinoma with normal serum AFP were employed as a control. Results: The percentage of GAED was 44% (11/25) in gastric cancers with elevated serum AFP. GAED was histologically tubular or papillary with clear cytoplasm, and some GAED cases showed cystadenoid structure similar to embryo sac (5 cases), homogeneous eosinophilic granules (4 cases) and intragland ulareosinophilic material (6 cases). All 11 GAED cases had lymph node metastasis. Liver metastasis and vascular thrombus were observed in 2 cases and 5 cases respectively. GAED was immunohistochemically positive for CDX2 (11/11), CD10 (8/11) and MUC2(3/11), which were intestinal epithelium differentiation markers. Meanwhile, primitive markers SALL4 (8/11), GPC3 (7/11) and AFP (5/11) were also expressed in GAED, and HER2 gene amplification was found in 3 cases (3/11) of GAED. Lastly, the PFS of GAED were significantly shorter than that of the control group (P=0.02), while OS was not statistically different between these two groups (P=0.99). Conclusions: Patients with GAED usually have a higher rate of elevated serum AFP in gastric adenocarcinoma, and the cancer exhibites features of both intestinal and primitive differentiation. As GAED is highly invasive, the prognosis of GAED may be poor. For GAED, the diagnosis of well-differentiated or moderately-differentiated adenocarcinoma should be avoided, because this diagnosis leads to underestimated malignant potential.

MicroRNA-221 regulates proliferation of bovine mammary gland epithelial cells by targeting the STAT5a and IRS1 genes.

MicroRNAs (miRNA) play an essential role in mammary gland development and lactation. Previous studies in cattle have shown that miR-221 is highly expressed in peak compared with early lactation. However, the functions of miR-221 in bovine mammary gland epithelial cells and the mechanisms by which this miRNA affects cell proliferation and milk synthesis remain unclear. We hypothesized that miR-221 targets and modulates the expression of specific genes in the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-proteinkinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K-Akt/mTOR) signaling pathways, which have crucial roles in lactation in cattle. Following transfection of miR-221 into cultured bovine mammary gland epithelial cells, inhibition of cell proliferation and reduced viability of these cells were observed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and flow cytometry analysis. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the effects of miR-221 on cell proliferation, we selected potential candidate genes that can be targeted by miR-221 using bioinformatics prediction tools. The dual luciferase assay revealed that STAT5a, STAT3, and IRS1 interact with miR-221 by its direct binding to the 3'-untranslated regions (UTR) of these genes. Subsequent analysis showed that transfection of a miR-221 mimic resulted in significantly decreased expression of STAT5a and IRS1 at both the RNA and protein levels using quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot analyses. Furthermore, expression levels of the downstream genes SOCS3, AKT3, and mTOR that are regulated by STAT5a and IRS1 in the JAK-STAT and PI3K-Akt/mTOR signaling pathways, were also altered after miR-221 transfection. This is the first study to reveal the mechanisms by which miR-221 inhibits mammary gland epithelial cell proliferation by targeting STAT5a and IRS1, key genes in the PI3K-Akt/mTOR and JAK-STAT signaling pathways.

[Comparison of clinical outcomes of frozen-thawed blastocysts derived from non-pronucleus or two pronucleus zygotes].

Objective: To evaluate the application value of the blastocysts derived from non-pronucleus (0PN) zygotes by the good quality blastocyst formation rate and the clinical outcomes of frozen-thawed blastocyst transfers. Methods: The good quality blastocyst formation rate derived from 0PN zygotes was compared with that derived from2 pronucleus (2PN) zygotes in in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles from January 2015 to December 2016. In addition, the clinical pregnancy, embryo implantation and live birth rates of frozen-thawed blastocyst transfers with blastocysts derived from 0PN and 2PN zygotes were analyzed on corresponding dates. Results: (1) In IVF cycles, the high quality blastocysts formation rate of 2PN embryos was significantly higher than that of 0PN (46.64% versus 42.42%, P<0.01) . In ICSI cycles, the high quality blastocysts formation rate of 2PN embryos was markedly higher than that of 0PN (41.96% versus 21.73%, P<0.01) . (2) In frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles for IVF, the clinical pregnancy, implantation and live birth rates of D5 0PN blastocysts were significantly higher than those of D6 2PN (52.64% versus 46.78%, 49.91% versus 41.20%, 46.54% versus 39.56%, all P<0.05) , however, the abortion and newborn abnormal rates of D5 0PN blastocysts were lower than those of D6 2PN blastocysts (17.37% versus 23.36%, 1.31% versus 4.21%, both P<0.05) ; the clinical pregnancy, implantation and livebirth rates of D5 2PN blastocysts were significantly higher than those of D5 0PN (59.73% versus 52.64%, 55.95% versus 49.91%, 53.03% versus 46.54%, all P<0.05) , but newborn abnormal rate was a little higher than that of D5 0PN (3.90% versus 1.31%, P<0.05) ; the clinical pregnancy, implantation and live birth rates of D5 2PN blastocysts were significantly higher than those of D6 2PN (59.73% versus 46.78%, 55.95% versus 41.20%, 53.03% versus 39.56%, all P<0.05) , and the abortion rate of D5 2PN blastocysts was lower than that of D6 2PN blastocysts (18.23% versus 23.36%, P<0.05) . Conclusions: Although the blastocysts derived from 0PN could be transffered, the blastocysts derived from 2PN zygotes are preferred in all cycles. In IVF cycles, the good quality blastocysts derived from 2PN or 0PN zygotes will be transferred.

SOCS3 overexpression enhances ADM resistance in bladder cancer T24 cells.

OBJECTIVE: JAK-STAT3 signaling pathway widely participates in cell proliferation and apoptosis. Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) is a negative regulator of JAK-STAT3. SOCS3 downregulation is associated with drug resistance in breast cancer and leukemia. However, its role in bladder cancer drug resistance is still unclear. This study established ADM resistant bladder cancer cell model to investigate the role of SOCS3-JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway ADM resistance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ADM drug resistant cell line T24/ADM was established. SOCS3, p-JAK2, p-JAK3, and Bcl-2 expressions in T24/ADM, T24, and HBEC cells were compared. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry. T24/ADM cells were divided into five groups, including control, pSicoR-blank, pSicoR-SOCS3, FLLL32, and pSicoR-SOCS3 + FLLL32 groups. Cell proliferation was determined by EdU staining. RESULTS: SOCS3 was reduced, while p-JAK2, p-STAT3, and Bcl-2 expressions upregulated in T24 cells compared with HBEC cells. T24/ADM cells exhibited lower SOCS3, higher p-JAK2, p-STAT3, and Bcl-2 levels than T24 cells. Cell apoptosis was higher, whereas cell proliferation was weaker in T24 cells compared with T24/ADM cells. SOCS3 overexpression and/or FLLL32 treatment significantly downregulated p-JAK2, p-STAT3, and Bcl-2 expressions, attenuated cell proliferation, and elevated sensitivity to ADM induced cell apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: SOCS3 reduction was associated with bladder cancer sensitivity to ADM. SOCS3 overexpression decreased JAK-STAT3 signaling pathway activity, declined Bcl-2 expression, inhibited cell proliferation, elevated cell apoptosis, and enhanced ADM sensitivity in T24 cells.

Identification of the interaction between bta-miR-370 and OLR1 gene in bovine adipocyte.

It has been shown that the oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor 1 (OLR1) gene plays an important role in the degradation of oxidized low density lipoprotein. Previous studies found a SNP in the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of the OLR1 gene associated with milk production traits in different dairy cattle populations and with loin eye area and marbling depth in beef cattle. MicroRNAs can regulate gene expression by binding the 3'-UTR of target genes to degrade or to repress the translation of target genes. Bioinformatics have shown that there is a binding site of bta-miR-370 in the 3'-UTR of the OLR1 gene, and a previous luciferase reporter assay system showed that the A/C mutation occurring in the 3'-UTR of this gene caused the binding sites of bta-miR-370 to disappear in HEK293 cells. To further validate whether OLR1 was the target gene of bta-miR-370, the over-expression and interference expression of bta-miR-370 were determined by transfecting bta-miR-370 mimics and inhibitor supplementations into bovine adipocyte. The qRT-PCR result showed that the relative expression of OLR1 gene significantly decreased in the mimics group compared to the control, whereas the expression level in inhibitor group was higher than its control group. The above results were further verified by a Western blot at the protein level. In addition, lipid formation analysis of bovine adipocytes was performed via oil red O staining, and we found that cytoplasm lipid droplets in the inhibitor group showed a tendency to increase compared to the control group, whereas in the mimics group, we observed an obvious decrease of cytoplasm lipid droplets compared to the control and inhibitor groups. Taken together, our data here suggest that bta-miR-370 has a negative regulation role for OLR1 both at the gene expression and protein levels and bovine adipocytes cytoplasm lipid droplets formation, which provides a reference for illustrating how the OLR1 gene affects milk production and beef quality traits in cattle.

Migration and invasion enhancer 1 (MIEN1) is overexpressed in breast cancer and is a potential new therapeutic molecular target.

Migration and invasion enhancer 1 (MIEN1) is a membrane-anchored protein that is highly expressed in various types of cancer, and is correlated with the PI3K/AKT pathway. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of MIEN1 and its clinical pathological significance in breast cancer. We used immunohistochemical staining to examine the expression of MIEN1 in 40 samples of human breast cancer tissue and 10 samples taken from regions adjacent to normal breast tissue. The rate of detection of MIEN1 protein was 67.5%, which was significantly higher than that in adjacent non-cancerous breast tissue (0%, P < 0.05). The expression of MIEN1 correlated with age, World Health Organization grade, and lymph node metastasis, but not with tumor size or family history of cancer. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with positive MIEN1 protein expression had a lower overall survival rate than patients who did not express MIEN1. Downregulation of MIEN1 suppressed the expression of matrix metallopeptidase 9 by downregulating the expression of protein kinase B (also known as AKT) in breast cancer cells. Our results indicate that MIEN1 overexpression may facilitate migration and invasion in breast cancer, and MIEN1 is a potential molecular target for cancer chemotherapy.

Comparison of the expression of human equilibrative nucleotide transporter 1 (hENT1) and ribonucleotide reductase subunit M1 (RRM1) genes in seven non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines.

We investigated the variability in the expression of human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) and ribonucleotide reductase subunit M1 (RRM1) in non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines. hENT1 and RRM1 mRNA expression levels in natural killer (NK) cells and seven non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines (YTS, SNK-6, Jeko-1, ly-1, Raji, Karpas, and Jurket) were studied using reverse-transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and the results were compared using the Student t-test. mRNA expression of hENT1 was detectable in YTS, SNK-6, Jeko-1, ly-1, Raji, Karpas, Jurket, and NK cells, which revealed variability in gene expression. There were significant differences in the mRNA expression values of hENT1 (P = 0.021) and RRM1 (P = 0.002) compared to those in NK cells. mRNA expression of both hENT1 and RRM1 was closely associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell proliferation. Differential expression analysis of hENT1 and RRM1 in non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines may provide novel drug leads for precision medicine.

Novel Rechargeable M3V2(PO4)3//Zinc (M = Li, Na) Hybrid Aqueous Batteries with Excellent Cycling Performance.

A rechargeable hybrid aqueous battery (ReHAB) containing NASICON-type M3V2(PO4)3 (M = Li, Na) as the cathodes and Zinc metal as the anode, working in Li2SO4-ZnSO4 aqueous electrolyte, has been studied. Both of Li3V2(PO4)3 and Na3V2(PO4)3 cathodes can be reversibly charge/discharge with the initial discharge capacity of 128 mAh g(-1) and 96 mAh g(-1) at 0.2C, respectively, with high up to 84% of capacity retention ratio after 200 cycles. The electrochemical assisted ex-XRD confirm that Li3V2(PO4)3 and Na3V2(PO4)3 are relative stable in aqueous electrolyte, and Na3V2(PO4)3 showed more complicated electrochemical mechanism due to the co-insertion of Li(+) and Na(+). The effect of pH of aqueous electrolyte and the dendrite of Zn on the cycling performance of as designed MVP/Zn ReHABs were investigated, and weak acidic aqueous electrolyte with pH around 4.0-4.5 was optimized. The float current test confirmed that the designed batteries are stable in aqueous electrolytes. The MVP//Zn ReHABs could be a potential candidate for future rechargeable aqueous battery due to their high safety, fast dynamic speed and adaptable electrochemical window. Moreover, this hybrid battery broadens the scope of battery material research from single-ion-involving to double-ions -involving rechargeable batteries.

Substitution of Wheat for Corn in Beef Cattle Diets: Digestibility, Digestive Enzyme Activities, Serum Metabolite Contents and Ruminal Fermentation.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of diets containing different amounts of wheat, as a partial or whole substitute for corn, on digestibility, digestive enzyme activities, serum metabolite contents and ruminal fermentation in beef cattle. Four Limousin×LuXi crossbred cattle with a body weight (400±10 kg), fitted with permanent ruminal, proximal duodenal and terminal ileal cannulas, were used in a 4×4 Latin square design with four treatments: Control (100% corn), 33% wheat (33% substitution for corn), 67% wheat (67% substitution for corn), and 100% wheat (100% substitution for corn) on a dry matter basis. The results showed that replacing corn with increasing amounts of wheat increased the apparent digestibility values of dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein (p<0.05). While the apparent digestibility of acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber were lower with increasing amounts of wheat. Digestive enzyme activities of lipase, protease and amylase in the duodenum were higher with increasing wheat amounts (p<0.05), and showed similar results to those for the enzymes in the ileum except for amylase. Increased substitution of wheat for corn increased the serum alanine aminotransferase concentration (p<0.05). Ruminal pH was not different between those given only corn and those given 33% wheat. Increasing the substitution of wheat for corn increased the molar proportion of acetate and tended to increase the acetate-to-propionate ratio. Cattle fed 100% wheat tended to have the lowest ruminal NH3-N concentration compared with control (p<0.05), whereas no differences were observed among the cattle fed 33% and 67% wheat. These findings indicate that wheat can be effectively used to replace corn in moderate amounts to meet the energy and fiber requirements of beef cattle.

Effect of Bacillus subtilis Natto on Meat Quality and Skatole Content in TOPIGS Pigs.

This study investigated the effect of Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) natto on meat quality and skatole in TOPIGS pigs. Sixty TOPIGS pigs were randomly assigned to 3 groups (including 5 pens per group, with 4 pigs in each pen) and fed with basic diet (control group), basic diet plus 0.1% B. subtilis natto (B group), and basic diet plus 0.1% B. subtilis natto plus 0.1% B. coagulans (BB group), respectively. All pigs were sacrificed at 100 kg. Growth performance, meat quality, serum parameters and oxidation status in the three groups were assessed and compared. Most parameters regarding growth performance and meat quality were not significantly different among the three groups. However, compared with the control group, meat pH24, fat and feces skatole and the content of Escherichia coli (E. Coli), Clostridium, NH3-N were significantly reduced in the B and BB groups, while serum total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, the levels of liver P450, CYP2A6, and CYP2E1, total antioxidant capability (T-AOC) and glutathione peroxidase and Lactobacilli in feces were significantly increased in the B and BB groups. Further, the combined supplementation of B. subtilis natto and B. coagulans showed more significant effects on the parameters above compared with B. subtilis, and Clostridium, and NH3-N. Our results indicate that the supplementation of pig feed with B. subtilis natto significantly improves meat quality and flavor, while its combination with B. coagulans enhanced these effects.

Effects of Three Feeding Systems on Production Performance, Rumen Fermentation and Rumen Digesta Particle Structure of Beef Cattle.

The effects of three different feeding systems on beef cattle production performance, rumen fermentation, and rumen digesta particle structure were investigated by using 18 Limousin (steers) with a similar body weight (575±10 kg) in a 80-d experiment. The animals were equally and randomly divided into three treatment groups, namely, total mixed ration group (cattle fed TMR), SI1 group (cattle fed concentrate firstly then roughage), and SI2 group (cattle fed roughage firstly then concentrate). The results showed that the average daily gain was significantly higher in cattle receiving TMR than in those receiving SI1 and SI2 (p<0.05). Consumption per kg weight gain of concentrate, silage, and combined net energy (NEmf) were significantly decreased when cattle received TMR, unlike when they received SI1 and SI2 (p<0.05), indicating that the feed efficiency of TMR was the highest. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was significantly decreased when cattle received TMR compared with that in cattle receiving SI1 (p<0.05), whereas there was no difference compared with that in cattle receiving SI2. Ammonia nitrogen concentration was significantly lower in cattle receiving TMR than in those receiving SI1 and SI2 (p<0.05). The rumen area of cattle that received TMR was significantly larger than that of cattle receiving SI1 (p<0.05), but there was no difference compared with that of cattle receiving SI2. Although there was no significant difference among the three feeding systems in rumen digesta particle distribution, the TMR group trended to have fewer large- and medium-sized particles and more small-sized particles than those in the SI1 and SI2 groups. In conclusion, cattle with dietary TMR showed increased weight gain and ruminal development and decreased BUN. This indicated that TMR feeding was more conducive toward improving the production performance and rumen fermentation of beef cattle.

Ultrafast spin exchange-coupling torque via photo-excited charge-transfer processes.

Optical control of spin is of central importance in the research of ultrafast spintronic devices utilizing spin dynamics at short time scales. Recently developed optical approaches such as ultrafast demagnetization, spin-transfer and spin-orbit torques open new pathways to manipulate spin through its interaction with photon, orbit, charge or phonon. However, these processes are limited by either the long thermal recovery time or the low-temperature requirement. Here we experimentally demonstrate ultrafast coherent spin precession via optical charge-transfer processes in the exchange-coupled Fe/CoO system at room temperature. The efficiency of spin precession excitation is significantly higher and the recovery time of the exchange-coupling torque is much shorter than for the demagnetization procedure, which is desirable for fast switching. The exchange coupling is a key issue in spin valves and tunnelling junctions, and hence our findings will help promote the development of exchange-coupled device concepts for ultrafast coherent spin manipulation.

Relationship of EGFR DNA methylation with the severity of non-small cell lung cancer.

The aim of this study was to study the relationship of EGFR DNA methylation with the severity of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We enrolled 54 patients with NSCLC between March 2013 and June 2014 from Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in our hospital. The methylation levels in the promoter region of the EGFR gene in cancerous and pericarcinomatous tissue were tested by pyrosequencing. EGFR mRNA expression levels were detected by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. The SPSS software was used for data analysis. We found that EGFR gene methylation levels showed no significant differences among patients of different gender, age, or smoking status. EGFR DNA methylation levels significantly increased (P < 0.05) following NSCLC malignancy upgrading, and showed negative correlation with mRNA expression (P = 0.041). DNA methylation levels of cancerous tissues were significantly higher compared to the corresponding pericarcinomatous tissues (P < 0.05) at stages I, II, and IIIA. The methylation levels at loci 3, 6, 9 among the detected CpG islands were higher in the cancer tissues at each stage (P < 0.05). In summary, our results suggest that the DNA methylation levels of EGFR can be used as an important indicator for the stage of cancer tissue malignancy.