The liver is one of the target organs damaged by septic shock, wherein the spread of endotoxins begins. This study aimed to investigate the effects of exogenous normal lymph (ENL) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced liver injury in rats. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham, LPS, and LPS+ENL groups. LPS (15 mg/kg) was administered intravenously via the left jugular vein to the LPS and LPS+ENL groups. At 15 min after the LPS injection, saline or ENL without cell components (5 mL/kg) was administered to the LPS and LPS+ENL groups, respectively, at a rate of 0.5 mL/min. Hepatocellular injury indices and hepatic histomorphology, as well as levels of P-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and Na+-K+-ATPase, were assessed in hepatic tissues. Liver tissue damage occurred after LPS injection. All levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in plasma as well as the wet/dry weight ratio of hepatic tissue in plasma increased. Similarly, P-selectin, ICAM-1, and MPO levels in hepatic tissues were elevated, whereas Na+-K+-ATPase activity in hepatocytes decreased. ENL treatment lessened hepatic tissue damage and decreased levels of AST, ALT, ICAM-1, and MPO. Meanwhile, the treatment increased the activity of Na+-K+-ATPase. These results indicated that ENL could alleviate LPS-induced liver injury, thereby suggesting an alternative therapeutic strategy for the treatment of liver injury accompanied by severe infection or sepsis.

A long-term experimental site was built to study effects of the nitrification inhibitor 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on a bacterial population's diversity and activity in a Cambisol in northern China. Treatments included no fertilization (CK), application of urea alone (U), and application of urea plus DMPP (UD). The annual application rate for the urea was 180 kg N ha-1, and that of the DMPP was 1.8 kg ha-1. The diversity and composition of the overall soil bacterial community were analyzed using pyrosequencing, and the abundances of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) were analyzed using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. The dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Gemmatimonadetes, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, and Planctomycetes in all of the samples. However, compared with treatment U, the relative abundance and identities of the dominant phyla that were increased in treatment UD were more similar to those of the CK treatment. DMPP significantly reduced the targeted ammonia oxidizing bacterial abundance, and the soil potential nitrification rate had a significant positive correlation with the amoA gene copy number of the AOB (r=0.685, n=9, p<0.05) but not of the AOA. The results suggested that long-term application of DMPP to this agricultural soil was relatively beneficial for both urea application and soil bacterial ecosystem reversion.

This study describes the effects of balanced versus nutrient-deficient fertilisation on soil nutrient content and selected oxidoreductase activity and kinetic parameters in a long-term (28 years) field experiment conducted using a phaeozem type soil in the Jilin Province of northeast China. As compared to no or unbalanced fertilisation, balanced fertilisation improved the overall chemical fertility of the soil and significantly increased the activities and Vmax values of soil dehydrogenase and catatase. Compared with control (CK), unbalanced fertilisation (with the exception of P deficiency) significantly increased the total carbon content and soil dehydrogenase activity but had less of an effect on the Vmax of the enzyme, whereas the soil catalase activity and its Vmax were less affected under unbalanced fertilisation conditions. The Km value of soil dehydrogenase increased with the application of chemical NPK combined with farmyard manure but decreased under the application of NPK, NP, and PK. The Km value of soil catalase decreased under the application of NK and showed little difference between CK and the other fertilisation treatments. The variations in the activities and kinetic parameters of the enzymes revealed the benefits of long-term balanced fertilisation, particularly the combined application of chemical and organic fertilisers, by improving the chemical and biological fertility of phaeozem. The results also indicated that unbalanced fertilisation with P deficiency (NK) could enhance phaeozem quality, but this effect was limited.

The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of different land uses on soil glycosidase activities (a- and (β-glucosidase, α- and (β-galactosidase), water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and their relationships. Glycosidase activities showed significant differences under different land use types, the highest one was woodland. (β-glucosidase had the highest activity among the four glycosidases. The activities of these glycosidases decreased with increasing soil depth, being all significantly affected by change of soil depth. Except grassland, the four glycosidase activities intercorrelated each other. Woodland had the highest content of WSOC in the soil depth of 0-20 cm and at increasing soil depth, WSOC content decreased sharply under woodland and grassland. Glycosidase activities had positive and significant relationships with WSOC. Glycosidase activities and WSOC all had significant correlations with soil total organic carbon (TOC) and pH, which were sensitive to different land use types. We found that glycosidase activity indirectly impacts on nutrient recycling and energy flow in soil under different land use types.

Prolactin (PRL), a polypeptide hormone synthesized and secreted by the animal's anterior pituitary gland, plays an important role in the regulation of mammalian lactation and avian reproduction. Considering the significant association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 5'-flanking region of PRL and reproduction traits in the chicken, the objective of this study was to screen for SNP in the 5'-proximal region of PRL in geese and to evaluate the association between SNP and reproduction traits in geese. Chinese Wan-xi White geese (n = 200) and European Rhine geese (n = 80) were used for phenotyping. SNP was screened by comparing sequences of PCR products, and the single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) protocol was adopted for genotyping. Three SNPs (A-401G, G-268A and T-266A) in the 5'-proximal region of goose PRL were identified in both breeds. Statistical analysis suggested that the genotype AA characterized by A-401, G-268 and T-266 had a positive genetic effect on egg production. Therefore, these polymorphisms have the potential to be utilized in molecular breeding for egg production in geese.