ABSTRACT Chicken coccidiosis is a common and severe parasitic disease caused by infection from Eimeria spp., which affects the integrity of the intestinal mucosa. TGF-β has been shown to play an important role in the healing of intestinal mucosas, immunity, and the maintenance of bowel mucosa integrity. Very little is known about the presence of the components of TGF-β/Smads signaling pathway of chicken at different times following coccidian infection. In the present study, we measured the levels of TGF-β2, 3, 4, receptor TβRI, II, down-stream Smad 2, 3, 7 in cecum and spleen of chicken at different times after inoculation with Eimeria tenella using quantitative real-time PCR. The results showed that the TGF-β/Smads signaling pathway was not activated in cecum in the early stage of infection. However, on the 8th day, the expression of TGF-β2, 4, down-stream protein Smad 2, 7 were significant up-regulated in the spleen, which indicated that the TGF-β/Smads signaling was changed in the E. tenella infection and was differentially expressed in various tissues in the early stages of infection.

ABSTRACT To investigate the hypothesis that APS can attenuate E. coli-induced microvascular dysfunction in chicken intestine, 60 0-day old male chickens were divided into three groups with 5 replications of 4 chicks. Chicken in the APS group were treated with 15 mg APS daily while the others were given 0 mg APS for 6 days. Then all 7-day old chicken were injected intraperitoneally by E. coli, except for the chicken in the control group. After 4 h, all chicken’s intestinal samples were collected to detect gene expressions involved in inflammatory factors and adhesion molecules. Results showed that APS attenuated the signs of edema and hemorrhage in 7-day old chicken intestinal mucosa which were induced by E. coli injection. Consistently, APS significantly reduced the increasing mRNA levels of inflammatory factors such as Tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), interleukin (IL) -1β and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) (p<0.05), the same results were observed in vascular adhesion molecules such as E-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1). Moreover, we observed that APS supplementation in water suppressed significantly (p<0.05) the decline of reparative factors such as epithelial growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in E. coli injected group. Furthermore, supplementation with APS substantially blocked (p<0.05) the increase in Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) and Nuclear factor (NF)-κB mRNA abundance (p=0.087) induced by E. coli infection. This study indicated that microvascular injured chicken intestine induced by E. coli would be attenuated with feeding APS, and the mechanism of repairing were probably mediated through TLR4-NF-κB signal pathways.

ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate whether resveratrol (RES) could inhibit NF-κB activity and protect in vitro cultured chicken lymphocytes from apoptosis induced by continuous LPS stimulation. Blood lymphocytes of chickens were collected and cultured. LPS was added to the samples of treatment group, while the same volume of normal saline (NS) was supplemented to those of the control group. In the treatment groups, four different concentrations of RES (0, 20, 40, and 80 µg/ml) were admixed. Then, the following indicators were tested: lymphocyte apoptotic rate, lymphocyte viability, NF-κB activity, TNF-a level, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and expression of apoptosis-related proteins (Fas/FasL and Caspase-8). The results indicated that the application of different concentrations of RES could significantly increase the viability of lymphocytes and decrease the apoptotic rate (p<0.05) after continuous stimulations by LPS. The activity of NF-κB levels of TNF-a and ROS in the RES treatment subgroups was significantly decreased in comparison with that in the RES-blank subgroup (p<0.05). The cells in the treatment group that had been treated with 20, 40 and 80 μl/ml of RES exhibited a significantly lower Fas and Caspase-8 expression level than that in the RES-blank subgroup (p<0.05). These findings revealed that RES could substantially diminish the concentrations of ROS and TNF-a, down-regulate NF-κB activity, decrease the expression of Fas and Caspase-8, stimulate the activity of peripheral lymphocytes, and lower the rate of their apoptosis, induced by continuous LPS stimulation in chicken lymphocyte cultures.

The response of hybrid tomato cultivars (Solanum lycopersicumL. Cvs. TSS7 and TCAV10) inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Claroideoglomus etunicatum(AMF-1) and Funneliformis mosseae(AMF-2) under 2% saline stress was evaluated with regard to growth, yield, quality, nutrient acquisition, AMF colonization, relative permeability and soil properties in two potted plant experiments. Inoculation with AMF-2 caused a significant increase (~30%) in the fruit yield of TCAV10, particularly under saline stress. The highest tomato juice extraction ratio was achieved for TCAV10 treated with AMF-2. Under saline stress, TCAV10 inoculated with AMF-2 demonstrated significantly enhanced N, P, K and Ca content in fruits; N, K and Mg content in roots; and N, P and Ca content in shoots. Fruits of TSS7 and TCAV10 grown under saline stress coupled with AMF-2 treatment showed a significant decrease in Na content (23.6 and 31.1%, respectively) as compared with fruits of non-inoculated hybrid cultivars grown under saline stress. Residual Na in soil, AMF-2 colonization ratios and relative permeability were higher in TCAV10 inoculated with AMF-2 under saline condition compared with the non-inoculated treatments. TCAV10 inoculated with AMF-2 achieved higher fruit yield, quality and nutrient acquisition compared with the non-inoculated TCAV10. The results of this study are important for the selection of appropriate cultivars and microbial species for sustaining yield and quality under saline stress.

We report a case of successful treatment with erlotinib of a patient with non-small cell lung cancer (stage IV) and meningeal metastasis. Combined treatment with whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) and erlotinib mitigated neurologic symptoms of the patient. Magnetic resonance imaging showed reduction of the brain metastasis. Partial remission was observed by chest computed tomography (CT) scan after six months of erlotinib therapy.

Reportamos un caso de tratamiento exitoso con el erlotinib de un paciente con cáncer pulmonar de células no pequeñas (fase IV) y metástasis meníngea. El tratamiento combinado con la radioterapia total del cerebro (WBRT) y erlotinib mitigaron los síntomas neurológicos del paciente. Las imágenes de resonancia magnética mostraron una reducción de la metástasis del cerebro. La remisión parcial fue observada mediante CT scan de tórax tras seis meses de terapia con erlotinib.

The seismic moment cycle at plate boundaries may be imaged by the Moment-Ratio Method (MRM). In this exploratory technique the fluctuation of cumulative moment deficiency is used as an indicator of the cycle of degradation and recovery of free energy along an active tectonic region. A 20-year half-life is assumed for the healing process of earthquake ruptures along the Pacific plate boundary. Using the Pacheco-Sykes Catalog of large shallow earthquakes (M>7), we estimate the moment ratio for Japan and Mexico at 20-year intervals during the 20th century. Moment-ratio peaks for 1980 correlate with subsequent earthquakes of magnitude M>7 during the following 20-year period in Mexico and Japan.

El Método de Momentos Residuales (MRM) puede servir para monitorear en forma gráfica el ciclo del momento sísmico en un borde de placa. Es una técnica exploratoria que permite observar las deficiencias del valor acumulado de los momentos sísmicos para evaluar el ciclo de degradación y recuperación de la energía libre en una región sísmica activa. Se adopta una vida media de 20 años en el proceso de cicatrización de las rupturas sísmicas en el borde de la Placa del Pacífico. Se estima el momento residual para las regiones de Japón y México a intervalos de veinte años con el Catálogo de Pacheco y Sykes de sismos someros de magnitud M>7 en el siglo 20. Los picos de MRM tienden a mostrar alguna correlación con sismos de magnitud mayor que 7 que ocurrieron en el intervalo siguiente de 20 años.