Impact of Mycotoxin Metabolites Deepoxy-Deoxynivalenol and Beta-Zearalenol on Bovine Preimplantation Embryo Development in the Presence of Acetonitrile.

The quality of animal feed is increasingly affected by weather conditions, high humidity, and damage to grains, which have led to various mycotoxin-producing moulds. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of the combination of deepoxy-deoxynivalenol and beta-zearalenol on the development of preimplantation bovine embryos, the extent to which the presence of both mycotoxin metabolites affects the development of in vitro cultured bovine embryos, or whether the effect of both toxins enhances embryotoxicity. Ovaries were transported from the abattoir to the laboratory and, after maturation and fertilisation, zygotes were placed in an embryo culture medium (IVC) with different mycotoxin metabolite concentrations diluted in acetonitrile. It was found that the blastocyst rate of cleaved embryos was affected by 1 µL acetonitrile in 400 µL medium (0.25%) compared to the group without acetonitrile. For this reason, it was decided to use acetonitrile as a control group, and the desired mycotoxin metabolite concentrations were diluted in the lowest possible amount of acetonitrile (0.5 µL) that could be accurately added to the study groups. There was no statistical difference when the higher mycotoxin metabolite concentrations were added.

High frequency Lunar Penetrating Radar quality control, editing and processing of Chang'E-4 lunar mission.

Chinese lunar landing mission Chang'E-4 reached the far side of the Moon in January 2019 and has been providing unprecedented Lunar Penetrating Radar data able to explore the lunar subsurface down to more than 40 m (with its more resolutive high frequency band). Data are periodically released to the scientific community in raw PDS4 format. Here we provide different versions of the radar dataset after editing (i.e. pre-processing), partial, and full processing in order to provide a complete ready-to-use dataset to end-users (data collected since 4th January 2019 until 27th March 2023) which can be directly exploited for analysis, interpretation, inversion, as well as integration with imagery or other information. In particular, we implemented an efficient and objective way to remove duplicated traces representing more than 90% of original data, as well as a processing flow able to retain all the original data information, while avoiding redundancies. The provided datasets can be implemented with future data releases and straightforwardly exploited for any future analysis.

How do novel and conventional agri-food wastes, co-products and by-products improve soil functions and soil quality?

Agriculture is estimated to generate about 700 million tons of waste annually in the EU. Novel valorization technologies are developing continuously to recover and recycle valuable compounds and nutrients from waste materials. To close the nutrient loop, low-value agri-food wastes, co-products and by-products (AFWCBs) produced during the valorization process, need to be returned to the soil. However, knowledge on their reaction in soils that is needed to allow efficient and environmentally sound recycling is largely lacking. To this end, we set up a series of laboratory incubation experiments using 10 AFWCBs including insect frass residues made from three different feedstocks, anaerobic digestates from two feedstocks, potato-pulp, rice bran compost, duckweed and two reference crop residues (wheat straw and sugar beet) and measured net N release, C mineralization, dehydrogenase activity (DHA), microbial biomass C (MBC) and community structure. The suppressing potential of frasses and digestates against Rhizoctonia solani was determined using bean. The digestates released the highest net mineral N (50-70%) followed by rice bran compost (55%) and duckweed (30%), while frass made from general food waste and potato-pulp immobilized N like the reference straw for 91 days after incubation. All AFWCBs except digestates significantly increased MBC compared to the control while frasses, potato-pulp and duckweed increased DHA. Frasses and digestates significantly suppressed the development of Rhizoctonia solani in bean plants. AFWCBs from emerging valorizing technologies have the potential to improve microbial activities, C sequestration and may play a significant role in closing the nutrient loop.

Improvement of liquid stored boar semen quality by removing low molecular weight proteins and supplementation with α-tocopherol.

Seminal plasma contains low-molecular weight components that can exert a harmful effect on sperm function. We have evaluated the effects of removing low-molecular weight components from seminal plasma and adding α-tocopherol on boar semen quality after 72h of liquid storage. Semen was evaluated on the basis of motility, morphology, acrosome integrity, plasma membrane modifications, mitochondrial activity, DNA fragmentation and lipid peroxidation. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), 8-isoprostane, and antioxidant status (total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and superoxide dismutase activity (SOD)) were measured in seminal plasma. Removal of low-molecular weight components from seminal plasma, together with the addition of α-tocopherol, kept the lipid peroxidation and mitochondrial activity and DNA fragmentation at the same level as in native semen samples. Dialysing semen and adding 200µM of α-tocopherol led to higher progressive motility, a higher proportion of morphologically normal spermatozoa and a significantly lower level of acrosomal reacted spermatozoa compared to non-dialyzed semen samples after 72h of storage. In conclusion, liquid stored boar semen was better preserved, and oxidative stress in the semen was reduced when semen was dialyzed and α-tocopherol was added prior to storage.

Antacid and formula effects on gastric acidity in infants with gastroesophageal reflux.

A variety of peptic diseases are treated with antacids. Antacid dose requirements for young children have not been extensively evaluated. Moreover, the effects of formula feedings on antacid requirements are also unknown. We have investigated the effects of antacids and formula feedings on gastric acidity in infants less than 1 year of age. Small formula feedings of 15 mL/kg per feeding significantly improve antacid buffering of 0.5 mL/kg per dose of standard magnesium-aluminum hydroxide antacids.