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Background: Bird is important in maintaining biodiversity and its lifestyles and behaviors will pose an important impact on the ecological environment. Birds are also inseparable for ecological stability. Birds’ movement and living habits are a widely studied topic. Methods: Two economic valuable birds, Lonchura striata and Copsychus saularis, were selected in this study. It aims at investigating the characteristics of muscle fiber tissues and comparing the differences between male and female species. Histological techniques were used to determine the characteristics of the muscle fiber (diameter, area and density) in leg and pectoral muscles. Result: There were differences in the muscle fiber characteristics of the Lonchura striata and the Copsychus saularis. The characteristics of muscle fibers between males and females of the same species were significantly different and there were also significant differences in the same parts of different species. The diameter and area of muscle fibers are correlated to the density of muscle fibers. This study suggested that the characteristics of muscle fibers are related to their living habits and population characteristics.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and osteoporosis (OP) are progressive degenerative diseases caused by multiple factors, placing a huge burden on the world. Much evidence indicates that OP is a common complication in AD patients. In addition, there is also evidence to show that patients with OP have a higher risk of AD than those without OP. This suggests that the association between the two diseases may be due to a pathophysiological link rather than one disease causing the other. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have also proved their common pathogenesis. Based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, some classic and specific natural Chinese medicines are widely used to effectively treat AD and OP. Current evidence also shows that these treatments can ameliorate both brain damage and bone metabolism disorder and further alleviate AD complicated with OP. These valuable therapies might provide effective and safe alternatives to major pharmacological strategies.

The files containthe body-wave arrival time data and surface-wave dispersion data that are used in the joint inversion of the Vs modelfor the manuscript entitled " High-resolution Vs tomography of South China by joint inversion of body wave and surface wave". For surface-wave dispersion data, it includes both Rayleigh wave phase and group velocity data. For phase velocity data at different periods, they are stored in files with names starting with crayl. For example, crayl_8.txt stores Rayleigh wave phase velocity data at period of 8 s. For Rayleigh wave group velocity data at different periods, they are stored in files with names starting with urayl. For example, urayl_8.txt stores group velocity at period of 8 s. For each file, it contains three columns: longitude, latitude and the corresponding velocity. For body-wave arrival time data, it includes three files. The first file is event.dat that contains the event catalog information in 11 eleven columns. The second file (station.dat) contains station name and coordinates ( latitude, longitude and elevation in meters). The third file (absolute.dat) contains absolute arrival times used in the inversion. The line starting with " # " has the event ID and its origin time information can be found in event,dat. For each event, the followed lines have travel times at each station and its quality. For detailed formats for these files, please refer to manuals for hypoDD and tomoDD. The relocated eventfile is named as event.reloc. Please refer to hypoDD manual for detailed formats of this file. The final S wave velocity model is stored in Vs.xyz, it contains four columns, which are longitude, latitude, depth (unit: km) and velocity, respectively.

Eight healthy multiparous Saanen dairy goats (41.50 ± 1.84 kg) were assigned to a double 4 × 4 Latin square design. The four treatment diets were: (i) negative control, rice straw (NC); (ii) first positive control, sticky corn stover silage (PC1); (iii) second positive control, PC1 with 1 g/d commercial purple corn pigment (PC2); and (iv) anthocyanin-rich purple corn stover silage (PSS; AR). DMI did not differ (P > 0.05) among the treatments. Goats receiving the NC tended (P < 0.05) to reduce nutrient apparent digestibility, nitrogen (N) absorption, N retention, and volatile fatty acid production relative to the other groups. The levels of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in plasma were greater (P < 0.05) in goats fed PC2 and AR compared with NC and PC1. The inclusion of PC2 and AR increased (P < 0.05) the abundance of nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NFE2L2), but decreased (P < 0.05) the level of tumor necrosis factor in the mammary gland. Moreover, goats receiving AR tended to increase (P < 0.05) the levels of SOD2, GPX1, and GPX2 mRNA expression in the mammary gland. There were significant (P < 0.05) positive correlations between DPPH scavenging activity, total antioxidant capacity, SOD, catalase enzymes in plasma, and the abundance of NFE2L2 in the mammary gland. In addition, stronger (P < 0.05) positive correlations were noted between the expression of several inflammation related and antioxidant genes. Collectively, the results from the current study indicated that the consumption of anthocyanin-rich PSS by dairy goats had the potential to enhance antioxidant potential by improving antioxidant capacity in plasma and by modulating the abundance of several inflammation related and antioxidant genes in the mammary gland.

Tan Yue, Wen Xiaosa, Qi Ruirui, Shi Wencai, Xin Hailiang, and Li Min. The effects of Portulaca oleracea on hypoxia-induced pulmonary edema in mice. High Alt Med Biol 16:43–51, 2015—Portulaca oleracea L. (PO) is known as “a vegetable for long life” due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other pharmacological activities. However, the protective activity of the ethanol extract of PO (EEPO) against hypoxia-induced pulmonary edema has not been fully investigated. In this study, we exposed mice to a simulated altitude of 7000 meters for 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 h to observe changes in the water content and transvascular leakage of the mouse lung. It was found that transvascular leakage increased to the maximum in the mouse lung after 6 h exposure to hypobaric hypoxia. Prophylactic administration of EEPO before hypoxic exposure markedly reduced the transvascular leakage and oxidative stress, and inhibited the upregulation of NF-kB in the mouse lung, as compared with the control group. In addition, EEPO significantly reduced the levels of proinflammatory cytokines and cell adhesion molecules in the lungs of mice, as compared with the hypoxia group. Our results show that EEPO can reduce initial transvascular leakage and pulmonary edema under hypobaric hypoxia conditions.