ABSTRACT In order to explore the effect of estrogen receptor (ESR) gene polymorphism on the egg production performance of quails, the polymorphisms of exon 1, exon 4 and exon 8 of the ESR gene in three Laying Quail Populations of Chinese Yellow quail, Korean quail and Beijing white quail were detected by PCR-RFLP, and their association with the egg production performance of quails was analyzed. The results showed that three genotypes were detected in exon 1, exon 4 and exon 8 of the ESR gene in three quail populations, namely TT, CC and CT genotypes. Among them, the frequency of CC genotype in exon 1 of the ESR gene was the highest in Chinese Yellow quail, Beijing white quail and Korean quail (0.515, 0.600 and 0.723); Exon 4 of the ESR gene had the highest frequency of TT genotype (0.409, 0.617) in Chinese yellow and Korean quails, while CC genotype was the highest in Beijing white quails (0.667).The frequency of TT genotype in exon 8 of the ESR gene was the highest in Beijing white quail and Korean quail (0.708, 0.500), while the frequency of CT gene was the highest in Chinese yellow quail (0.521). The results of association analysis showed that there was no correlation between exon 1 of the ESR gene and quail egg production performance (p>0.05). Exon 4 of the ESR gene was significantly correlated with laying traits such as feed-egg ratio, egg laying number, laying rate and starting weight of quails (p<0.05). Exon 8 of the ESR gene was significantly correlated with feed-egg ratio, egg laying number and egg laying rate of quails (p<0.05).In conclusion, the research shows that the ESR gene can be used as a candidate gene for marker assisted selection of egg production performance of Laying Quails, which provides a theoretical basis for cultivating new egg laying quail lines with better egg production performance.

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus (TAC) combined with corticosteroids in treating patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). One hundred seventy-seven biopsy-proven IMN patients were recruited in this retrospective clinical study. Sixty patients received TAC (target blood concentration of 4–8 ng/mL) and 117 patients received daily cyclophosphamide (CYC, 100 mg) combined with prednisone. Remission rates at the end of the first, second and third month in the TAC group were significantly higher than that in the CYC group (1st: 35.0 vs 19.7%, P<0.05; 2nd: 56.7 vs 38.5%, P<0.05; 3rd: 76.7 vs 59.0%, P<0.05). In the first 3 months, daily urinary protein and serum albumin in the TAC group obtained a better improvement than that in the CYC group (P<0.05). At the end of the sixth and the twelfth month, the remission rates, daily urinary protein and serum albumin were all comparable between the two groups (P>0.05). No significant difference of relapse rate between the groups was found (16.3 vs 12.0%, P>0.05). Patients were more likely to develop glucose intolerance in the TAC group. The TAC regimen obtained more benefits in treating IMN patients, especially in the first 3 months, than the CYC regimen.

The performance of microemulsified diesel and conventional diesel collectors in coal flotation was compared by flotation indicators, including combustible recovery, ash content of the clean coal, and the flotation index. An efficient separation with lower dosage was obtained using the microemulsified diesel collector. Under optimum separation conditions, the microemulsion consumption was 100 g/t less compared with diesel. The saving in diesel consumption using the microemulsion reached about 70%, disregarding the consumption of the surfactant and cosurfactant. Frothing tests showed that the frother dosage was decreased by using the microemulsion collector, because of the surfactant and cosurfactant added during preparation. The microemulsified diesel collector is superior to the conventional diesel collector in terms of diesel consumption and separation efficiency, but the selectivity requires further improvement.

The efficacy of endothelin receptor antagonists in protecting against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is controversial, and the mechanisms remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of CPU0123, a novel endothelin type A and type B receptor antagonist, on myocardial I/R injury and to explore the mechanisms involved. Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200-250 g were randomized to three groups (6-7 per group): group 1, Sham; group 2, I/R + vehicle. Rats were subjected to in vivo myocardial I/R injury by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery and 0.5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (1 mL/kg) was injected intraperitoneally immediately prior to coronary occlusion. Group 3, I/R + CPU0213. Rats were subjected to identical surgical procedures and CPU0213 (30 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally immediately prior to coronary occlusion. Infarct size, cardiac function and biochemical changes were measured. CPU0213 pretreatment reduced infarct size as a percentage of the ischemic area by 44.5% (I/R + vehicle: 61.3 ± 3.2 vs I/R + CPU0213: 34.0 ± 5.5%, P < 0.05) and improved ejection fraction by 17.2% (I/R + vehicle: 58.4 ± 2.8 vs I/R + CPU0213: 68.5 ± 2.2%, P < 0.05) compared to vehicle-treated animals. This protection was associated with inhibition of myocardial inflammation and oxidative stress. Moreover, reduction in Akt (protein kinase B) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) phosphorylation induced by myocardial I/R injury was limited by CPU0213 (P < 0.05). These data suggest that CPU0123, a non-selective antagonist, has protective effects against myocardial I/R injury in rats, which may be related to the Akt/eNOS pathway.