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Flavonoids, as one of the essential active components in alfalfa, possess various beneficial effects such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, and immune-regulating properties. These flavonoids have the potential to enhance animal growth performance, boost immunity, improve livestock product quality, reduce stress, and prevent and treat diseases, making them widely applicable in the field of animal husbandry. The article introduces the commonly used extraction methods and biological activities of alfalfa flavonoids, reviews the research progress on the application of alfalfa flavonoids in ruminant, poultry, and pig farming, providing a reference for the further development and utilization of alfalfa flavonoids in livestock and poultry production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was conducted to study the effect of compound plant essential oils on the production performance and egg quality of laying hens. A total of 13 664 Dawu Jinfeng laying hens with similar body weight and late laying period (362~368 days of age ) were randomly divided into two groups, a control group and a compound plant essential oil group, with four replicates in each group and 1 708 laying hens in each replicate. The laying hens in the control group were fed a basal diet, and the laying hens in the compound plant essential oils group were fed a basal diet supplemented with compound plant essential oils. The trial period was 14 days. The results showed that compared with the control group, the laying rate of laying hens in the compound plant essential oils group was significantly increased (P<0.05), the average egg weight showed an increasing trend (P>0.05), the sand shell egg rate was significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the feed to egg ratio was decreased (P>0.05). Compared with the control group, the egg yolk ratio of the compound plant essential oils group was significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the eggshell intensity had a rising trend. The egg yolk color, hardness, and wetness in the compound plant essential oils group were significantly increased (P<0.05). The study indicates that adding compound plant essential oils to the diet can increase the production performance and egg quality of laying hens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, developed as promising anti-tumor drugs, exhibit their anti-inflammatory properties due to their effects on reduction of inflammatory cytokines. Objective To investigate the protective effect of butyrate, a HDAC inhibitor, on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) in mice. Methods ALI was induced in Balb/c mice by intratracheally instillation of LPS (1 mg/kg). Before 1 hour of LPS administration, the mice received butyrate (10 mg/kg) orally. The animals in each group were sacrificed at different time point after LPS administration. Pulmonary histological changes were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin stain and lung wet/dry weight ratios were observed. Concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1β and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in lung tissue homogenates were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Expression of nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 in cytoplasm and nucleus was determined by Western blot analysis respectively. Results Pretreatment with butyrate led to significant attenuation of LPS induced evident lung histopathological changes, alveolar hemorrhage, and neutrophils infiltration with evidence of reduced MPO activity. The lung wet/dry weight ratios, as an index of lung edema, were reduced by butyrate administration. Butyrate also repressed the production of TNF-α, IL-1β and NO. Furthermore, the expression of NF-κB p65 in nucleus was markedly suppressed by butyrate pretreatment. Conclusions Butyrate had a protective effect on LPS-induced ALI, which may be related to its effect on suppression of inflammatory cytokines production and NF-κB activation.

A new method has been successfully developed that offers a facile and reliable approach for synthesizing ( E )-2-(1-(methoxyimino)ethyl)-2-phenylbenzofuran-3(2 H )-one, providing 28 compounds. This optimized process enables efficient preparation of a wide range of compounds using readily available ( E )-1-(benzofuran-2-yl)ethan-1-one O -methyl oxime and iodobenzene, and provides alternative ideas for the structural modification of benzofuran ketones.

Background/aims: There is no consensus on treatment for cervical esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Our aim is to evaluate the feasibility and outcome of larynx-preserving limited resection with total thoracic esophagectomy and gastric pull-up reconstruction for the treatment of cervical ESCC without tumor involvement of the larynx and hypopharynx., Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients with cervical ESCC who underwent R0 surgical resection from 2006 to 2011 in our center was performed. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the survival time for patients., Results: In total, 74 cervical ESCC patients were enrolled in the study. The mortality rate in 30 days was 8.1%, the total complication rate (at least one) was 47.3%, anastomosis leakage occurrence was 37.8%, mechanical ventilation ratewas12.2%, the rate of normal oral diet within 15 days was 71.6%, and the anastomosis recurrence rate in follow-up was 8.1%. Detailed analysis showed that the anastomosis leakage, pulmonary infection, laryngeal recurrent nerve injury, and chylothorax were the most common complications in surgical patients. Finally, the survival data showed that the median survival time was 31.83 months (95% CI=12.39-51.28 months) and the 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 49.1% and 35.5%, respectively., Conclusion: Larynx-preserving limited resection with total thoracic esophagectomy and gastric pull-up reconstruction might be a feasible and effective surgical alternative for the cervical ESCC patients whose tumor does not involve the larynx and hypopharynx.

Our previous research showed that Gankyrin was overexpressed in NSCLC and significantly associated with clinicopathologic features and poor prognosis. In this study, we will explore potential effect of Gankyrin on EMT and metastasis in NSCLC. The ectopic higher expression of Gankyrin markedly increased the migration and invasion in NSCLC cells. In contrast, silencing Gankyrin inhibit this aggressive behavior in NSCLC cells. Further study demonstrated that overexpression of Gankyrin could decrease E-cadherin expression and increase expression of Vimentin and Twist1 at mRNA and protein levels. These data indicated that Gankyrin could facilitate occurrence and development of EMT. Also IHC analysis showed that Gankyrin expression was negatively correlated with E-cadherin expression, while positively correlated with Vimentin and Twist1 expression in NSCLC tissues. The mechanism study finally suggested that the Gankyrin-driven EMT was partially due to IL-6/p-STAT3 and TGF-β/p-SMAD3 pathways activation. Taken together, our data provided a novel mechanism of Gankyrin promoting EMT and metastasis in NSCLC through forming a closed circle with IL-6/p-STAT3 and TGF-β/p-SMAD3 signaling pathway.

Purpose: The expression of Gankyrin, a liver cancer-related oncoprotein, has been observed in several human malignancies including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the clinic relevance of Gankyrin expression in NSCLC remains unclear., Methods: Gankyrin expression was assessed using immunohistochemical (IHC) methods in 166 paired paraffin-embedded NSCLC specimens and adjacent normal tissues. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting were employed to measure the expression of Gankyrin in 24 paired fresh NSCLC specimens and the corresponding normal tissues. The association of Gankyrin expression with clinicopathological parameters was also evaluated. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the effect of Gankyrin expression on survival., Results: Data showed that Gankyrin was expressed in 78.3% (130/166) and 28.9% (48/166) of cancer lesions and corresponding adjacent normal tissue, respectively. And the Gankyrin overexpression in tumor tissue occurred in 53.6% (89/166) of patients, while overexpression of Gankyrin in normal tissue occurred only in 4.8% (8/166) of patients (P<0.001). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting showed that NSCLC specimens had increased Gankyrin mRNA and protein expression compared to the corresponding normal tissues. Out of all the clinicopathological factors analyzed, Gankyrin overexpression was significantly correlated with lymphatic metastasis (P<0.001) and p-TNM stage (P<0.001). Gankyrin-overexpressed NSCLC patients had a significantly shorter survival time (P<0.001, Log-rank test), and the prognostic significance of Gankyrin overexpression was apparent in both squamous cell carcinoma patients (P=0.028) and adenocarcinoma patients (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that Gankyrin overexpression may be an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC (hazard ratio [HR], 1.51; P=0.041)., Conclusion: Our results indicate that Gankyrin overexpression is of clinical significance and can serve as a prognostic biomarker in NSCLC., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Microcystis aeruginosa is one of the most common species in the algae-bloom events of domestic lakes. Illumination incubator was used to cultivate M. aeruginosa under conditions of different phosphorus concentrations in the laboratory. Spectroscopic data of culture solutions were collected by GER1500 spectrometer under the sunlight. The study focused on the growth rhythm of M. aeruginosa and the characteristics of spectral variation in the culture solutions. The results showed that low phosphorus concentration (< or =10 microg x L(-1)) is a restricting factor for the growth and reproduction of M. aeruginosa. Moreover, the reflections of spectrum from culture solutions of M. aeruginosa showed significant changes along with cultivation period, such as at the wavelengths of 550, 610, 660, 700-710 and 760 nm.

Objective: To investigate the risk factors of surgical interventions in patients with esophageal foreign bodies(EFBs)., Methods: Forty-three cases with EFBs underwent surgical interventions from January 1962 to January 2011 in Department of Thoracic Surgery at the Tangdu Hospital were enrolled in the study group. Forty three cases with EFBs who received non-surgical treatment in the same hospital and during the same period matched by gender and age(the age difference between the paired patients was 5 years or less) were selected as the control group. Clinical data including type of EFBs, duration of impaction, location of EFBs, complications associated with EFBs were collected. Univariate and multivariate conditional logistic analysis were used for risk factors analysis., Results: Univariate conditional logistic analysis showed that type of EFBs, duration of impaction, location of EFBs, and complications associated with EFBs were risk factors of surgical interventions in patients with EFBs(P<0.05). Further multivariate conditional logistic analysis showed that type of EFBs(sharp EFBs) was the independent factor of surgical interventions in patients with EFBs(P=0.043; OR=29.228, 95% CI:1.114-766.686)., Conclusions: Physician should pay more attention to patients with sharp EFBs. Whether the patients need surgical interventions or not should base on factors including duration of impaction, location of EFBs, and complications associated with EFBs.