Effect of Controlling Light on Cashmere Growth and Harmful Gas Parameters in Shanbei White Cashmere Goats.

The quality and yield of cashmere closely affect the economic benefits of cashmere goat farming. Studies have shown that controlling light can have an important impact on cashmere but can also affect the concentration of harmful gases. In order to explore the impact of a short photoperiod on the growth of cashmere and harmful gases in goat houses, 130 female (non-pregnant) Shanbei white cashmere goats, aged 4-5 years with similar body weights, were randomly divided into a control group and a treatment group, with 65 goats in each group. The dietary nutrition levels of the experimental goats were the same, and completely natural light was used in the control group; the light control group received light for 7 h every day (9:30-16:30), and the rest of the time (16:30-9:30 the next day) they did not receive light. The light control treatment was carried out in a control house, and the gas content was analyzed. It was found that a shortened period of light exposure could increase the annual average cashmere production by 34.5%. The content of each gas has a certain functional relationship with the measurement time period, but at the same time, we found that the content of NH3 also changes seasonally. In summary, the use of shortened light periods when raising cashmere goats can significantly increase cashmere production and quality, but at the same time, it will increase the concentration of harmful gases in the goat barn, and ventilation should be increased to ensure the health of the goats and the air quality in the barn.

Silencing Kif2a induces apoptosis in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue through inhibition of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Previous studies have demonstrated that the overexpression of Kif2a is involved in the progression, invasion and metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue (SCCOT). Few studies have reported the correlation between Kif2a and apoptosis of tumor cells and which signaling pathways Kif2a is involved in remains unclear. The phosphatidylinositol­3­kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) pathway is frequently activated in many types of human cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of downregulation of Kif2 expression on the P13K/Akt pathway in Tca8113 cells to determine whether silencing of Kif2 inhibits the P13K/Akt pathway, resulting in cell apoptosis. siRNA vector was constructed, western blot analysis was used to determine RNA interference and flow cytometry was used to determine promotion of Tca8113 cell apoptosis. The results revealed that silencing Kif2a induces apoptosis and decreases the mRNA and protein level of PI3K, Akt and B­cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl­2) in Tca8113 cells. The PI3K-specific agonist insulin­like growth factor 1 (IGF­1) eliminated the upregulation of apoptosis of Tca8113­Kif2a cells by phosphorylation of Akt. The results suggest that silencing Kif2a induces tumor cell apoptosis, at least partially, through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.