This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of ferulic acid (FA) on the growth, nutrient digestibility, digestive enzyme activities, immunity and antioxidant status of broilers. Ninety-six one-day-old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly divided into two groups with six replicates of eight birds each, including control group (CON) and FA group (80 mg/kg diet). The experiment included starter (days 1-21) and finisher (days 22-42) phases. Compared with CON, FA group had higher average daily weight gain (ADWG) and lower feed to gain ratio (F:G) in the starter phase, and higher average daily feed intake (ADFI) in the finisher phase. The digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and ether extract (EE) were higher in FA-fed broilers in days 19-21, but DM, OM and EE digestibility were lower in days 40-42. Ferulic acid treatment increased duodenal trypsin and jejunal amylase activity on day 21, but decreased duodenal trypsin, chymotrypsin activities and jejunal lipase activity on day 42. FA supplementation increased serum immunoglobulin M (IgM) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) concentrations on day 21. Ferulic acid-fed broilers had greater hepatic glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity and lower serum malondialdehyde (MDA) level on day 21. On day 42, the serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, hepatic SOD and GSH-Px activities was decreased in FA group. In conclusion, FA as an exogenous antioxidant at dosage of 80 mg/kg diet enhanced growth performance via improvement of digestive enzyme activities, immunity and antioxidant status of broilers in starter phase.

ABSTRACT The feasibility of Laminaria japonica powder (LJP) combined with cecropin as a dietary supplement to enhance broiler growth performance and immune function was evaluated in this study. In total, 648 one-day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly distributed into nine numerically-equal treatment groups: T1 (control group; fed a basal diet); T2 (fed the basal diet supplemented with 1% LJP);T3 (fed the basal diet supplemented with 300mg cecropin/kg); and T4,T5,T6,T7,T8 and T9, individually fed with the dietary supplemented with varying levels of LJP and cecropin). Compared with the control, dietary of LJP or cecropin supplementation slightly improved feed conversion ratio (FCR). However, the dietary supplementation of LJP combined with cecropin significantly improved broiler growth performance during the periods of 1-21,21-42, and 1-42 days (p<0.05).The dietary supplementation of 3% LJP combined with 300 mg/kg cecropin significantly increased FCR, and serum Newcastle disease antibody titers and lymphocyte numbers during the periods of 1-21, 21-42, and 1-42 days (p<0.05). Cecal microorganisms were cultivated and the number of Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus colonies were counted. The dietary supplementation of LJP combined with cecropin remarkably inhibited E. coli growth and increased Lactobacillus growth. The results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of using LJP and cecropin as feed supplement for improving the growth performance and enhancing the immune function of broilers.

ABSTRACT This study is a family survey based on a typical patient with seborrhoeic keratosis (SK). Family members comprised 47 people of four generations, including 22 affected members (12 males and 10 females). The 17 people of the fourth generation were aged less than 26 years old. The proband in this study had typical clinical manifestations and pathology of SK, and all affected members of the family had characteristic skin rash that was easy to be identified. The pattern is consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance and SK is indicated to have a certain age onset.

RESUMEN Este estudio es una encuesta familiar basada en un paciente típico con queratosis seborreica (QS). Los miembros de la familia comprendían 47 personas de cuatro generaciones, incluyendo a 22 miembros afectados (12 varones y 10 hembras). Las 17 personas de la cuarta generación tenían menos de 26 años de edad. El probando (caso índice) en este estudio tenía manifestaciones clínicas típicas y patología de QS, y todos los miembros afectados de la familia presentaban la erupción de la piel característica, fácil de identificar. El patrón concuerda con la herencia autosómica dominante, y se indica que QS tiene su inicio a una cierta edad.

In a greenhouse experiment, Medicago sativa was grown in iron-rich soil inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Funelliformis mosseae, FM) and/or iron (Fe) -reducing bacteria (IRB, Klebsiella pneumoniae strain L17) with three exogenous labile C input forms (no C source, as a single dose, and as a pulse) at rates of P0 and P5 (0 and 5 mg P2O5 kg-1, KH2PO4), which is to understand the role of IRB in enhancing the Fe-P utilization with exogenous labile C in subtropical soil. The results showed when inoculated with IRB, labile C as a pulsed input significantly improved the mycorrhiza colonization and hyphal length density, and increased the shoot P content, microbial biomass C and glomalin content at P5 rate; meanwhile, the labile C input also promoted the Fe (II) production, when inoculated with IRB, labile C as a pulsed input increased the C/A extractable Fe (II), oxalate-extractable P and microbial biomass P content. These facts suggested that application of labile C as a pulsed input enhanced the ability of IRB in improving the Fe reduction and Fe-P utilization in subtropical soil.

In this study, poultry manure compost and organic fertilizer were added to soils derived from basalt, granite, and river alluvial deposits for use as soil parent materials. Following incubation periods of 30 or 60 days at 25 °C, the physical and chemical properties and adsorption characteristics of the soils were studied. The results indicated that the application of poultry manure compost or organic fertilizer increased the available phosphorus (P) and organic matter content in all soils; however, the quantity of P and organic matter decreased with an increase in incubation time. The organic materials added via the treatments reduced the strength of P adsorption by the soil derived from basalt. For soils derived from granite and river alluvial deposits, the strength of P adsorption declined after poultry manure compost was added, but increased after the application of organic fertilizer. All soil treatments derived from basalt fitted well with the three adsorption isotherm equations. For soils derived from granite and alluvial deposit as parent materials, the data conformed to the three adsorption models in the order: Langmuir > Freundlich > Temkin. The maximum phosphate buffering capacity (MPBC) and standard P retention (SPR) of soil derived from basalt decreased following the application of poultry manure or organic fertilizer, whereas changes in MPBC and SPR for soils derived from granite and alluvial deposits were dependent on the organic content and incubation time.

To understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell (PASMC) proliferation and extracellular-matrix accumulation in the development of pulmonary hypertension and remodeling, this study determined the effects of different doses of adrenomedullin (ADM) and adrenotensin (ADT) on PASMC proliferation and collagen synthesis. The objective was to investigate whether extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) signaling was involved in ADM- and ADT-stimulated proliferation of PASMCs in 4-week-old male Wistar rats (body weight: 100-150 g, n=10). The proliferation of PASMCs was examined by 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine incorporation. A cell growth curve was generated by the Cell Counting Kit-8 method. Expression of collagen I, collagen III, and phosphorylated ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2) was evaluated by immunofluorescence. The effects of different concentrations of ADM and ADT on collagen I, collagen III, and p-ERK1/2 protein expression were determined by immunoblotting. We also investigated the effect of PD98059 inhibition on the expression of p-ERK1/2 protein by immunoblotting. ADM dose-dependently decreased cell proliferation, whereas ADT dose-dependently increased it; and ADM and ADT inhibited each other with respect to their effects on the proliferation of PASMCs. Consistent with these results, the expression of collagen I, collagen III, and p-ERK1/2 in rat PASMCs decreased after exposure to ADM but was upregulated after exposure to ADT. PD98059 significantly inhibited the downregulation by ADM and the upregulation by ADT of p-ERK1/2 expression. We conclude that ADM inhibited, and ADT stimulated, ERK1/2 signaling in rat PASMCs to regulate cell proliferation and collagen expression.

The kinetic characteristics of soil urease have attracted great attention, but little information was available on its kinetic and thermodynamic behaviors as affected by urease inhibitors and temperature. With black soil (Pachic Udic Mollisol) in Heilongjiang Province of Northeast China as a test soil, an incubation test was conducted to investigate the effect of urease inhibitors (hydroquinone, HQ; phenyl phosphorodiamidate, PPD; N-(n-Butyl) thiophosphoric triamide, NBPT) on kinetic and thermodynamic behaviors of soil urease at 10°C, 20°C and 30°C. The results showed that all tested inhibitors increased Km and decreased Vmax, behaving as mixed inhibitors to soil urease. With increasing temperature, the Km and Vmax values increased significantly. With incubation time, Km decreased, while Vmax significantly increased. Compared with control, treatment HQ decreased soil urease thermodynamic parameters Ea, AH, and Qi0, but in PPD and NBPT treatments, the parameters increased slightly. The Qio and AH of soil urease decreased slightly with increasing temperature. Among test inhibitors, PPD and NBPT were more effective in influencing the kinetic and thermodynamic behaviors of urease in black soil. The variations in kinetic and thermodynamic parameters indicated that the effects of urease inhibitors on soil urease are greater on kinetic behaviors rather than on thermodynamic ones.

With black soil (Pachic Udic Argiboroll) of Northeastern China as the test object, an incubation test was conducted to investigate the effects of urease inhibitors, hydroquinone (HQ), phenyl phosphorodiamidate (PPD) and N-(n-Butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), on the kinetic characteristics of soil urease under normal moisture and waterlogged conditions, aimed to study the changes of catalytic potential of soil urease and the inhibition mechanisms. The results showed that test urease exhibited typical Michaelis-Menten kinetic behaviors, and all test inhibitors increased the Km and decreased the Vmax of soil urease, behaving as mixed inhibitors to soil urease. Under both normal and waterlogged conditions, compared with HQ, PPD and NBPT made Km increase and Vmax and Vmax and Vmax/Km decrease more greatly, and the duration of these effects was longer (ca. 30 days vs. 10 days). Under water-logging, PPD made more increment of Km and more decrement of Vmax and Vmax/Km than NBPT, compared with that under normal soil moisture condition, suggesting that NBPT was more available under normal soil moisture condition, while PPD was promising under water-logging condition. To apply urease inhibitors and to control soil moisture condition could be a feasible way in increasing fertilizer N use efficiency affected by soil urease.

In this article a lumped-parameter heat transfer model and an air flow model of a typical Axial Flux Permanent Magnet (AFPM) machine is presented. The application of the proposed models to an AFPM generator is described in detail. The calculated results are compared with the measurements taken from a prototype AFPM machine. The advantages and disadvantages of the approach are then outlined and conclusions drawn. The developed thermofluid model is shown to perform thermal analyses with reasonable accuracy.