Abstract Cobalt metal is considered as an essential trace element for the animals. Present investigation was undertaken in the peri-urban area to analyze the cobalt availability in animal food chain by using different indices. Cow, buffalo and sheep samples along with forage and soil samples were collected from the three different sites of District Jhang and analyzed through atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Cobalt values differed in soil samples as 0.315-0.535 mg/kg, forages as 0.127-0.333 mg/kg and animal samples as 0.364-0.504 mg/kg. Analyzed cobalt concentration in soil, forage and animal samples was found to be deficient in concentration with respect to standard limits. Soil showed the minimum cobalt level in Z. mays while maximum concentration was examined in the forage C. decidua samples. All indices examined in this study has values lesser than 1, representing the safer limits of the cobalt concentration in these samples. Enrichment factor (0.071-0.161 mg/kg) showed the highly deficient amount of cobalt enrichment in this area. Bio-concentration factor (0.392-0.883) and pollution load index (0.035-0.059 mg/kg) values were also lesser than 1 explains that plant and soil samples are not contaminated with cobalt metal. The daily intake and health risk index ranged from 0.00019-0.00064 mg/kg/day and 0.0044-0.0150 mg/kg/day respectively. Among the animals, cobalt availability was maximum (0.0150 mg/kg/day) in the buffaloes that grazed on the C. decidua fodder. Results of this study concluded that cobalt containing fertilizers must be applied on the soil and forages. Animal feed derived from the cobalt containing supplements are supplied to the animals, to fulfill the nutritional requirements of livestock.

Resumo O metal cobalto é considerado um oligoelemento essencial para os animais. A presente investigação foi realizada na área periurbana para analisar a disponibilidade de cobalto na cadeia alimentar animal usando diferentes índices. Amostras de vacas, búfalos e ovelhas, juntamente com amostras de forragem e solo foram coletadas em três locais diferentes do Distrito Jhang e analisadas por meio de espectrofotômetro de absorção atômica. Os valores de cobalto diferiram em amostras de solo como 0,315-0,535mg/kg, forragens como 0,127-0,333 mg/kg e amostras de animais como 0,364-0,504 mg/kg. A concentração de cobalto analisada no solo, forragem e amostras de animais foi considerada deficiente em relação aos limites padrão. O solo apresentou o teor mínimo de cobalto em Z. mays enquanto a concentração máxima foi examinada nas amostras de forragem C. decidua. Todos os índices examinados neste estudo possuem valores menores que 1, representando os limites mais seguros da concentração de cobalto nestas amostras. O fator de enriquecimento (0,071-0,161 mg/kg) mostrou a quantidade altamente deficiente de enriquecimento de cobalto nesta área. Os valores do fator de bioconcentração (0,392-0,883) e do índice de carga de poluição (0,035-0,059 mg/kg) também foram menores que 1, o que explica que as amostras de plantas e solo não estão contaminadas com cobalto metálico. A ingestão diária e o índice de risco à saúde variaram de 0,00019-0,00064 mg/kg/dia e 0,0044-0,0150 mg/kg/dia, respectivamente. Entre os animais, a disponibilidade de cobalto foi máxima (0,0150 mg/kg/dia) nos búfalos que pastaram na forragem de C. decidua. Os resultados deste estudo concluíram que fertilizantes contendo cobalto devem ser aplicados no solo e nas forragens. A ração animal derivada dos suplementos contendo cobalto é fornecida aos animais, para atender às necessidades nutricionais do gado.

ABSTRACT Chicken abdominal fat (AF) is an economically important trait, and many studies have been conducted on genetic selection for AF. However, previous studies have focused on detecting functional chromosome mutations or regions using gene chips. The present study used the specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) technology to perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on purebred Wengshang Barred chicken. A total of 1,286,715 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected, and 175,211 SNPs were selected as candidate SNPs for genome-wide association analysis using TASSEL general linear models. Two SNPs markers reached genome-wide significance. Of these, rs7943847, rs127627362 were significantly associated with AF at 120 days. These SNPs are close to eight genes (SLC16A6, ARSG, WIPI1, PRKAR1A, FAM20A, ABCA8, ABCA9, CPQ,). These results would enrich the studies on AF and promote the use of Chinese chicken, especially the Wenshang Barred chicken.

The properties and deterioration in strength of cemented tailings backfill (CTB )in the underground acidic environment under oxidizing conditions were studied. X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy of the surface of the CTB was carried out, and the sulphuric acid corrosion mechanism elucidated. The properties tested included compressive strength, elastic modulus, cohesion, internal friction angle, variation in the hydrogen ion concentration, and stress-strain relationship in different corrosion periods. The damage model of the CTB was established considering the effects of parameters such as corrosion time and strain on the damage evolution. It was found that the compressive strength, elastic modulus, cohesion (binder effect), and internal friction angle increased at first and then decreased with exposure time. In the long term, the peak stress decreased with corrosion time while the peak strain increased; elastic modulus, and deformation modulus also decreased. The damage caused by corrosion and by load were related by means of a mathematical model, which revealed the relationships between sulphuric attack, load, and damage to backfill in complex underground environments. During corrosion, the expansion of gypsum and ettringite caused microfractures in the CTB. With increasing corrosion time, micro-cracks developed and proliferated. The mechanism of corrosion damage was found to be the dissolution of hydrogen ions and a sulphate ion reaction that produces an expansive substance, resulting in deterioration of the strength of CTB.

ABSTRACT The effects of plant essential oil (PEO) on the production performance and immune function of laying hens were evaluated to provide theoretical basis for promoting the natural plant extracts. Eight thousand 1-day-old healthy laying hens were randomly divided into a control group or PEO group, with four replicates per treatment and 1000 hens per replicate. The PEO diet was supplemented with 3g/kg plant extract. Diets were fed for 56 days. The tibia length and keel length were detected on an empty stomach at the end of the trial. Blood samples were collected on the 28th and 56th days to detect the level of C3, C4, IL-1, IL-2, IL-17 and immunoglobulin in the serum. The results showed that, compared with the control, PEO supplementation significantly increased the weight gain rate (WGR) at the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th week (p<0.05), and decreased the WGR at the 3rd and 6th week. The tibial length was significantly increased at the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th week (p<0.01), and also the keel length at the 5th and 7th week in PEO group. The concentration of IgG and IgM also significantly influenced with PEO supplementation, but there was no significant difference in the complements, C3 and C4, and the IL levels between days 28 and 56. Moreover, no significant difference was observed in body weight and immune organ on day 56. Therefore, we conclude that the addition of PEO could improve the production performance and immune function in laying hens.

Abstract To ensure safety standards of drinking water, it is essential to perform NO3 remediation in groundwater. Owing to the lack of organic carbon in groundwater, heterotrophic denitrification is not quite effective in groundwater. Few studies have reported how Chinese lignite can be used as an organic carbon source for denitrification. In simulated conditions of groundwater, we determined whether the four lignite types (Lignite was obtained from Sanjitun, Lingshi, Wangniutan, and Zhaotong in China.) could be used as a solid-phase organic carbon source for denitrification; the analyses were performed in a test water column. For denitrification, the most effective carbon source was the lignite obtained from Wangniutan. It showed the highest efficacy of 34% in nitrate (NO3) removal for an influent NO3-N concentration of 30 mg· L−1. The effluent NO3-N concentrations below 20 mg L−1 and the water samples showed no acute toxicity when they were subjected to luminescent bacteria test. We performed static carbon release test and infrared spectral analysis on all the four lignite types, and we found that there was a direct relation between NO3 removal and the lignite’s ability for static carbon release. When NO3 concentrations were high and the rate of static carbon release was low, the efficacy of denitrification was greater. This effect was achieved when the molecular structure of lignite contained small molecular organic compounds in free states; these compounds primarily included the following functional groups: alcohols, phenols, and organic acids. These compounds were primarily used by the denitrifying bacteria.

ABSTRACT Heat stress induces oxidative stress, and reduces body antioxidant metabolite levels, which can affect poultry production performance. Dietary antioxidants protect birds against the adverse effects of heat stress. The effects of increasing concentrations of dietary curcumin on the antioxidant parameters of layers maintained under high-temperature conditions for nine weeks were evaluated. Roman laying hens (n = 336, 22 weeks old, 1420 g BW) were divided into three treatment groups. The first group served as a thermoneutral control (kept at 25 ± 1 °C). The second group was exposed to high temperatures (32 ± 1 °C, 6 h/d), given a basal diet. The third group was further divided into five treatment groups (100, 150, 200, 250, 300 mg/kg Curcumin) fed a basal diet (treatments H1, H2, H3, H4, H5) under high temperatures conditions (32 ± 1 °C, 6 hours/day). As a result of this study, total superoxide dismutase activity was significantly higher in H2 and H3 groups, and total antioxidant capacity was higher in H2, H3, and H5 groups. Catalase and glutathione peroxidase activity was significantly higher in the H3 group. Malondialdehyde concentration was lowered in curcumin supplemented hens compared with control groups hens. Laying hens in all curcumin treatment groups had slightly higher activities of CAT, SOD, GSH-Px, and T-AOC in the liver, heart, and lungs, compared with heat stressed control group. It was concluded that dietary curcumin given to laying hens under heat stress may enhance their antioxidant status, and alleviate the detrimental effects of stressful environmental conditions.

Effects of oxytetracycline (OTC) on soil enzyme activity and structural diversity of soil microbial communities were investigated. The low and moderate OTC inputs of less than 15 mg/kg enhanced microbial growth and increased the total and bacterial and fungal biomasses in the receiving soils. The antibiotic toxicity of OTC although targeted the bacteria in the soils proportionally resulted in greater harmed against the soil fungi than the bacteria and the Gram-negative bacteria fared significantly better than the Gram-positive bacteria. Collectively, the high OTC inputs lowered of soil enzymatic activities and the low and moderate OTC inputs did not have any adverse impact on the soil enzyme activities.

We report a case of multiple myeloma associated with light-chain amyloidosis in a 62-year old woman. The patient came to hospital with the main complaint of epigastric pain and gastroscopy showed gastric retention. The patient had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma associated with light-chain amyloidosis after biopsy of the gastric mucosa and bone marrow aspirate. A review of the literature was also performed.

Se reporta el caso de un mieloma múltiple asociado con amiloidosis de cadenas ligeras en una mujer de 62 años de edad. La paciente acudió al hospital aquejada principalmente por un dolor epigástrico y la gastroscopía mostró retención gástrica. A la paciente le había sido diagnosticado un mieloma múltiple asociado con una amiloidosis de cadenas ligeras luego de practicársele una biopsia de la mucosa gástrica y aspirado de la médula ósea. También se realizó una revisión de la literatura.

The relationship between the aspect ratio and physical fields in aluminium reduction cells wase studied numerically. The aspect ratio was firstly defined and 7 kinds of 320 kA cells with different aspect ratios were put forward. By using numerical simulation, the relationship between the aspect ratio and the electric-magnetic flow fields, magnetohydrodynamic stabilities, and thermal stability was discussed. It is concluded that the electric-magnetic flow field distributions are greatly affected by the aspect ratio. From the perspective of magnetohydrodynamics stability, the larger the aspect ratio is, the more stable the cell will be. A larger aspect ratio is more beneficial for the thermal stability under the same current density.

The protein of Myc modulator 1 (Mm-1) has been reported to repress the transcriptional activity of the proto-oncogene c-Myc in humans. Moreover, it was shown to be the subunit 5 of human prefoldin (PFD). So far, this gene and its homologs have been isolated and sequenced in many organisms, such as mammals and fish, but has not been sequenced for any amphibian or reptile. In order to better understand the function and evolution of Mm-1, we isolated a full-length Mm-1 cDNA (BgMm-1, GenBank accession no. EF211947) from Bufo gargarizans (Cantor, 1842) using RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) methods. Mm-1 in B. gargarizans is 755 bp long, comprising an open reading frame (ORF) of 459 bp encoding 152 amino acids. The amino acid sequence had a prefoldin α-like domain, partially including a typical putative leucine zipper motif. BgMm-1 showed high similarity to its homolog of Mus musculus Linnaeus, 1758 (82%) and Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 MM-1 isoform a (81%) at the amino acid level. The protein secondary structure modeled with the SWISS MODEL server revealed that there were two α-helices and four b-strands in BgMm-1 as its human orthologue, and both proteins belonged to the a class of PFD family. The phylogenetic relationships of Mm-1s from lower archaea to high mammals was consistent with the evolution of species, meanwhile the cluster result was consistent with the multiple alignment and the sequence identity analysis. RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) analysis demonstrated that BgMm-1 expressed widely in ten tissues of adult toad. These results can be helpful for the further investigation on the evolution of Mm-1.

Sox (SRY-related HMG-box) genes encode a family of transcriptional regulators, which are characterized by a conserved 79-amino acid domain known as HMG-box. They play essential roles in a diverse range of processes including sex determination and the development of the central nervous system (CNS), neural crest and endoderm. In this paper, the HMG domain of ten distinct Sox gene family members (os-Sox2, os-Sox3a, os-Sox3b, os-Sox4, os-Sox11a, os-Sox11b, os-Sox14a, os-Sox14b, os-Sox21a, os-Sox21b) were isolated from both male and female Odorrana schmackeri (Boettger, 1892) using PCR, and no sexual differences were found. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the HMG domain suggested that these ten Sox genes are members of the SoxB and SoxC groups. In addition, sequence analysis suggested that four Sox genes (os-Sox3, os-Sox11, os-Sox14, os-Sox21) were duplicated. The duplication-degeneration-complementation model should be implied to explain the evolution and diversity of the Sox gene family in O. schmackeri.

The type and frequency of bovine GAD1 and GAL alleles have not yet been studied in beef cattle. Initial, partial characterization of several polymorphism sites of GAD1 and GAL genes was reported, and association analyses with feed intake, growth and carcass traits were performed. There was a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 533bp fragment of GAD1 (Accession no. DQ139316), and this fragment revealed a polymorphism Ssp I restriction site caused by a G/A transition, located in 3'-UTR. A polymorphism Pst I restriction site at 102 (A/G transition) and a polymorphism Bsh1236 I restriction site at 837 (C/G transition) in the 2816bp PCR fragment (Accession no. DQ146944) corresponding to the bovine GAL gene were also identified. One hundred and thirty eight unrelated cattle from four breeds (Simmental, Angus, Hereford and Crossed Simmental) were genotyped and their allele frequencies were determined. In a preliminary trait association study, significant associations of GAD1 SNP-409, GAL SNP-102 and SNP-837 were found with average daily feed intake (ADFI). GAD1 and GAL SNPs were found to be good candidates to be used in marker-assisted selection (MAS) for ADFI.

Change in Earth's polar ice sheets is potentially a major source of sea level variability, dramatically affecting global water cycle. One important component in the polar region water balance is the atmospheric moisture transported from lower latitude, which is traditionally estimated from rawinsonde measurements. A method has been developed to estimate moisture transport integrated over the depth of the atmosphere (IMT) by combining the observations by spacebased scatterometers and microwave radiometers. The gridded IMT fields over global oceans have been produced for the period from August 1999 to December 2003, using data from QuikSCAT and the Special Sensor Microwave / Imager (SSM/I). The temporal and geographical variation of IMT into Greenland and Antarctic were characterized and related to sea ice distribution