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The purpose of this study is to explore the potential plasma metabolism biomarkers reflecting the maintenance status of growing pigs. The repeated measurement design was used in this experiment, and six barrows (28.6 ± 0.5 kg BW) were selected and kept in metabolism crates. The feeding level in growing pigs close to ad libitum was 2400 kJ ME/kg BW

Nowadays, melatonin, previously considered only as a pharmaceutical product for rhythm regulation and sleep aiding, has shown its potential as a co-adjuvant treatment in intestinal diseases, however, its mechanism is still not very clear. A firm connection between melatonin at a physiologically relevant concentration and the gut microbiota and inflammation has recently established. Herein, we summarize their crosstalk and focus on four novelties. First, how melatonin is synthesized and degraded in the gut and exerts potentially diverse phenotypic effects through its diverse metabolites. Second, how melatonin mediates the activation and proliferation of intestinal mucosal immune cells with paracrine and autocrine properties. By modulating T/B cells, mast cells, macrophages and dendritic cells, melatonin immunomodulatory involved in regulating T-cell differentiation, intervening T/B cell interaction and attenuating the production of pro-inflammatory factors, achieving its antioxidant action via specific receptors. Third, how melatonin exerts antimicrobial action and modulates microbial components, such as lipopolysaccharide, amyloid-β peptides via nuclear factor κ-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) or signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT1) pathway to modulate intestinal immune function in immune-pineal axis. The last, how melatonin mediates the effect of intestinal bacterial activity signals on the body rhythm system through the NF-κB pathway and influences the mucosal epithelium oscillation via clock gene expression. These processes are achieved at mitochondrial and nuclear levels to control the host immune cell development. Considering unclear mechanisms and undiscovered actions of melatonin in gut-microbiome-immune axis, it's time to reveal them and provide new insight for the outlook of melatonin as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment and management of intestinal diseases.

To explore the problem of the slack flow and waterhead having a huge impact on the low point of a pipeline during the water‐filling process of a large‐drop pipeline, the crossing section of the Nujiang China‐Myanmar crude oil pipeline (for which the maximum height difference is 1480 m) is taken as an actual case, and water filling of an oil pipe segment with a large drop is simulated based on an OLGA multiphase flow transient simulation. The maximum velocity, pressure, and corresponding liquid holdup at different low points of the pipeline are studied, and the variations of water flow velocity, pressure, and liquid holdup with time at different low points under different load conditions are obtained. A stress analysis of the pipeline is performed through CAESAR II. The results showed that, when the volume flow rate was 900‐2000 m3/h, the probability of slug flow in pipe could be reduced by 57%. Meanwhile, the tube pressure fluctuation and damage to the pipeline and equipment are reduced and pipeline transportation efficiency is improved, thereby providing an effective basis for engineering practice.

Dietary amino acids (AAs) are not only absorbed and metabolized by enterocytes but also available to the microbiota in the gut in mammals. In addition to serving as the materials for protein synthesis, AAs can act as precursors for numerous metabolic end products in reactions involving the intestinal mucosa and microbiota. After penetrating the epithelial barrier, microbial metabolites can enter and accumulate in the host circulatory system, where they are sensed by immune cells and then elicit a wide range of biological functions via different receptors and mechanisms. Some intestinal bacteria can also synthesize certain AAs, implying that the exchange of AAs between hosts and microorganisms is bidirectional. Changes in AA composition and abundance can affect AA-metabolizing bacterial communities and modulate macrophages and dendritic cells via toll-like receptors (TLRs), autoinducer-2 (AI-2), and NOD-like receptors (NLRs), and also regulate the gut-microbiome-immune axis via aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), serotonin/5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and other signaling pathways, all of which play critical roles in regulating the intestinal mucosal immunity and microbiota directly or indirectly, contributing to intestinal homeostasis. Therefore, the current findings of the effects of certain functional AAs on the gut-microbiome-immune axis are reviewed, illustrating signaling pathways of tryptophan (Trp), glutamine (Gln), methionine (Met), and branched-chain AAs (BCAAs) in the intestinal barrier and regarding immunity via crosstalk with their receptors or ligands. These findings have shed light on the clinical applications of dietary AAs in improving gut microbiota and mucosal immunity, therefore benefiting the gut as well as local and systemic health.

Over the last 27 years (1990-2017), based on the revolutionary progresses of basic nutrition research, novel methods and techniques have been developed which bring a profound technological revolution to pig production from free-range system to intensive farming all over the world. Basic theoretical innovations and feed production studies have provided vital advancements in pig nutrition by developing formula feed, utilizing balanced diets, determining feed energy value, dividing pig physiological stages, enhancing gut health, and improving feed processing technique. Formula feed is the primary contributor of the rise of the mechanized farming industry, and meets comprehensive nutritional needs of the pig. The focuses of the development of a balanced diet by optimizing nutrient levels are the amino acids balance, the balance between amino acids and energy, the balance between calcium and phosphorus. Multiple-site-production and targeted feeding program have been applied extensively. Early weaning of piglets improves production efficiency, but piglets that have not yet fully developed their intestine are prone to diarrhea. Therefore, intestinal health has received special attention in recent years. Feed processing technologies, such as granulation, puffing, fermentation and enzymatic hydrolysis, can improve the utilization of feed nutrients and reduce production cost. However, increasing a sow's potential for production, seeking alternatives to antibiotics, reducing drug treatment in piglets, developing functional additives and improving meat quality remain future challenges. Herein, we outline the important progresses of pig nutrition in the past 27 years, which will shed light on the basic nutrition rules of pig production, and help to push forward its future development. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Recycling of iron ore tailings (IOT) which are by-products of iron ore processing has attracted attention but there have been few studies on their use as fertilizers. In this study, slow-release silicon fertilizers are prepared from iron tailings by solid-phase sintering and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The solubility results acquired from the optimal sample (Si-IOT) indicate that the available SiO2 is 20.77% and that of available K2O is 18.43% in 0.50 mol L−1 HCl. For 10 g of Si-IOT in 200 mL of distilled water at 25°C, the cumulative release of K2O is 4.32% in the first day and 19.4% in 28 days and that of SiO2 is 2.12% in the first day and 16.30% in 28 days. The performance satisfies the Chinese national standard for slow-release fertilizers and Chinese agricultural standard for silicon fertilizers. The results obtained from Si-IOT pertaining to release of heavy metals indicate that heavy metals will not affect the quality of the crops and pakchoi growth is improved. Hence, they are potential raw materials for slow-release silicon fertilizers. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2017

Lipoic acid (LA) is a naturally existing substance which widely distributed in the cellular membranes and cytosol of animal cells. Its intracellular functions include quenching of free radicals and repairing oxidized proteins. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of LA on post-weaning diarrhoea using a rat model. Sixty weaned rats were fed either a basal diet or a LA-supplemented diet, or a zinc oxide (ZnO)-supplemented diet as a positive control. Rats in the LA and ZnO groups had better performance and reduced incidence of diarrhoea (p

The pregnane X receptor (PXR, NR1I2) is a ligand-activated nuclear receptor which plays an essential role in organism's metabolic detoxification system by sensing the presence of xenobiotics and triggering detoxification responses. In addition to its role in xenobiotic metabolism, PXR has pleiotropic functions in regulating immune/inflammatory responses, cell proliferation, bile acid/cholesterol metabolism, glucose and lipid metabolism, steroid/endocrine homeostasis, and bone metabolism. Recent research suggests that the PXR is required for maintaining healthy commensalism between microbiota and gut. Interestingly, the metabolites such as indole derivatives from commensal microbes serve as the ligands for the PXR in intestinal epithelium forming an intricate mutualistic interaction between host and microbiota. PXR-regulated gene responses are controlled at epigenetic level by chromatin modifications, DNA methylation and noncoding RNA. Developmental alterations of the epigenome by exposure to the xenobiotics or diseases may produce persistent changes in PXR-regulated physiological responses. These new areas of research promise to vastly increase our understanding of PXR-regulated responses. In this review we highlight recent results on the epigenetic mechanisms for the PXR-regulated gene expression and discuss the physiological significance of these findings.

The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signalling pathway appears to act as a critical intermediate in the regulation of lymphocyte activation and proliferation. The majority of studies on the importance of JNK are focused on its role in T helper responses, with very few reports addressing the mechanisms of JNK in governing CD8 T-cell-mediated immunity. By using a well-defined mousepox model, we demonstrate that JNK is involved in CD8(+) T-cell-mediated antiviral responses. Deficiency of either JNK1 or JNK2 impaired viral clearance, subsequently resulting in an increased susceptibility to ectromelia virus in resistant mice. The impairment of CD8 responses in JNK-deficient mice was not directly due to an inhibition of effector T-cell expansion, as both JNK1 and JNK2 had limited effect on the activation-induced cell death of CD8(+) T cells, and only JNK2-deficient mice exhibited a significant change in CD8(+) T-cell proliferation after acute ectromelia virus infection. However, optimal activation of CD8(+) T cells and their effector functions require signals from both JNK1 and JNK2. Our results suggest that the JNK pathway acts as a critical intermediate in antiviral immunity through regulation of the activation and effector function of CD8(+) T cells rather than by altering their expansion.

Sublancin, a bacteriocin, has bactericidal activity against a broad spectrum of gram-positive bacteria. However, studies have not been conducted to determine its in vivo efficacy against potential pathogens. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of sublancin in a Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infected mouse model which induced intestinal injury. A total of 160, 4-week-old mice were randomly assigned to one of eight treatments. Mice in the control group were injected intraperitoneally with 0.5 mL of 0.9% saline. Mice in the other seven groups were given an intraperitoneal injection of 0.5 mL saline containing 1.0 × 10(10) colony-forming units (CFU)/mL S. aureus. Six hours after inoculation, mice in the control group were again injected with 0.5 mL of 0.9% saline. Mice in the other seven groups were injected intraperitoneally with 0.5 mL of 0.9% saline containing 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, or 4.0 mg/kg body weight (BW) sublancin or 1.0 or 2.0 mg/kg BW ampicillin. The results showed that 4.0 mg/kg sublancin and 2.0 mg/kg ampicillin significantly reduced mice mortality from 55 to 10%. The height and the number of proliferated cells from the intestinal villi in the sublancin and ampicillin treated mice were higher than in the control. We conclude that sublancin has potent antibacterial activity against S. aureus. Therefore, sublancin could find use as an alternative antimicrobial agent for the treatment of gram-positive bacterial infections.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important gene regulators, which are often deregulated in cancers. In this study, the authors analyzed the microRNAs profiles of 78 matched cancer/noncanerous liver tissues from HCC patients and 10 normal liver tissues and found that 69 miRNAs were differentially expressed between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and corresponding noncancerous liver tissues (N). Then the expressions of 8 differentially expressed miRNAs were validated by real time RT PCR. The set of differentially expressed miRNAs could distinctly classify HCC, N and normal liver tissues (NL). Moreover, some of these differentially expressed miRNAs were related to the clinical factors of HCC patients. Most importantly, Kaplan-Meier estimates and the log-rank test showed that high expression of hsa-miR-125b was correlated with good survival of HCC patients (hazard ratio, 1.787, 95% confidence interval, 1.020-3.133, p = 0.043). The transfection assay showed that overexpression of miR-125b in HCC cell line could obviously suppress the cell growth and phosporylation of Akt. In conclusion, the authors have demonstrated the diagnostic miRNA profile for HCC, and for the first time, identified the miR-125b with predictive significance for HCC prognosis.

5′ -O-Dimethoxytrityl and S-protected thymidine-3′ -phosphorodithioate, 3′ -O-acetylthymidine or thymidine-3′ -O-[β-cyanoethyl-(S-2,4-dichlorobenzyl)]-phosphorodithioate, 1-methylimidazole, and 2,4,6-triisopropylbenzenesulfonylchloride react to give excellent yields of dinucleoside phosphorodithioates.