Genetic diversity and selection signatures in Hainan black goats revealed by whole-genome sequencing data.

Understanding the genetic characteristics of indigenous goat breeds is crucial for their conservation and breeding efforts. Hainan black goats, as a native breed of south China's tropical island province of Hainan, possess distinctive traits such as black hair, a moderate growth rate, good meat quality, and small body size. However, they exhibit exceptional resilience to rough feeding conditions, possess high-quality meat, and show remarkable resistance to stress and heat. In this study, we resequenced the whole genome of Hainan black goats to study the economic traits and genetic basis of these goats, we leveraged whole-genome sequencing data from 33 Hainan black goats to analyze single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) density, Runs of homozygosity (ROH), Integrated Haplotype Score (iHS), effective population size (Ne), Nucleotide diversity Analysis (Pi) and selection characteristics. Our findings revealed that Hainan black goats harbor a substantial degree of genetic variation, with a total of 23 608 983 SNPs identified. Analysis of ROHs identified 53 710 segments, predominantly composed of short fragments, with inbreeding events mainly occurring in ancient ancestors, the estimates of inbreeding based on ROH in Hainan black goats typically exhibit moderate values ranging from 0.107 to 0.186. This is primarily attributed to significant declines in the effective population size over recent generations. Moreover, we identified 921 candidate genes within the intersection candidate region of ROH and iHS. Several of these genes are associated with crucial traits such as immunity (PTPRC, HYAL1, HYAL2, HYAL3, CENPE and PKN1), heat tolerance (GNG2, MAPK8, CAPN2, SLC1A1 and LEPR), meat quality (ACOX1, SSTR1, CAMK2B, PPP2CA and PGM1), cashmere production (AKT4, CHRM2, OXTR, AKT3, HMCN1 and CDK19), and stress resistance (TLR2, IFI44, ENPP1, STK3 and NFATC1). The presence of these genes may be attributed to the genetic adaptation of Hainan black goats to local climate conditions. The insights gained from this study provide valuable references and a solid foundation for the preservation, breeding, and utilization of Hainan black goats and their valuable genetic resources.

Particulate matter air pollution components and risk for lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Particulate matter (PM) air pollution is a human lung carcinogen; however, the components responsible have not been identified. We assessed the associations between PM components and lung cancer incidence. METHODS: We used data from 14 cohort studies in eight European countries. We geocoded baseline addresses and assessed air pollution with land-use regression models for eight elements (Cu, Fe, K, Ni, S, Si, V and Zn) in size fractions of PM2.5 and PM10. We used Cox regression models with adjustment for potential confounders for cohort-specific analyses and random effect models for meta-analysis. RESULTS: The 245,782 cohort members contributed 3,229,220 person-years at risk. During follow-up (mean, 13.1 years), 1878 incident cases of lung cancer were diagnosed. In the meta-analyses, elevated hazard ratios (HRs) for lung cancer were associated with all elements except V; none was statistically significant. In analyses restricted to participants who did not change residence during follow-up, statistically significant associations were found for PM2.5 Cu (HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.01-1.53 per 5 ng/m(3)), PM10 Zn (1.28; 1.02-1.59 per 20 ng/m(3)), PM10 S (1.58; 1.03-2.44 per 200 ng/m(3)), PM10 Ni (1.59; 1.12-2.26 per 2 ng/m(3)) and PM10 K (1.17; 1.02-1.33 per 100 ng/m(3)). In two-pollutant models, associations between PM10 and PM2.5 and lung cancer were largely explained by PM2.5 S. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the association between PM in air pollution and lung cancer can be attributed to various PM components and sources. PM containing S and Ni might be particularly important.

Use of food waste as fish feeds: effects of prebiotic fibers (inulin and mannanoligosaccharide) on growth and non-specific immunity of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella).

The effects of inulin and mannanoligosaccharide (MOS) on the growth performance and non-specific immunity of grass carp were studied. Two doses of prebiotic fiber with 0.2 or 2% of the fibers are being mixed into fish feed pellets. Fish growth as well as selected non-specific immune parameters of grass carp were tested in a feeding trial, which lasted for 8 weeks. Fish was fed at 2.5% body mass per day. INU02, INU2, and MOS2 significantly improved relative weight gain, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, and food conversion ratio of grass carp fed with food waste-based diet. In terms of non-specific immune response, grass carp showed significant improvement in all three tested parameters (total serum immunoglobin, bactericidal activity, and anti-protease activity). Adding 2% of inulin (INU2) into food waste diets seemed to be more preferable than other supplemented experimental diets (INU02, MOS02, MOS2), as it could promote growth of grass carp as well as improving the non-specific immune systems of grass carp.

Expression and variation of Myf5 and MyoD1 genes in different tissues of Wuzhishan pigs.

The myogenic regulatory factor (MRF) family includes Myf5, MyoD1, Myf4, and Mfy6 genes. This experiment assessed the variation of Myf5 and MyoD1 genes from birth to maturity (30, 210, and 360 days) in the back muscle tissue of Wuzhishan pigs (WZSP), and the expression of Myf5 and MyoD1 mRNA in the heart, liver, lung, spleen, kidney, muscle, stomach, and intestine tissues were also examined. The results indicate that the expression level of mRNA for Myf5 and MyoD1 genes in the back muscle tissue is directly proportional to age (P < 0.05). Furthermore, of the eight adult pig tissue types that were tested, the expression of Myf5 and MyoD1 was highest in the muscle tissue.

PRDM1 expression on the epithelial component but not on ectopic lymphoid tissues of Warthin tumour.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of PRDM1, a key molecule for modulating the immune cells, in Warthin tumour (WT) pathogenesis. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty paraffin-embedded parotid tissues of patients (mean age: 62.08 ± 11.90) with WT were retrieved from the pathology archives of Qindu Hospital from January 2012 to December 2012. The PRDM1 expression was investigated in a cohort of WT by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: PRDM1 was expressed only on the epithelial component but not on ectopic lymphoid tissue of the tumour. Statistically, PRDM1 expression rates between WT glandular epithelial cells (40/40 cases) and the tumour-adjacent tissues (0/9 cases), and WT germinal centres (0/34 cases) and tonsil tissues (10/10 cases) were significantly different (P < 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The PRDM1 expression appeared to play an essential role in WT pathogenesis. A better understanding of it might give options for revealing possible novel management strategies.

Catalase suppression-mediated H(2)O(2) accumulation in cancer cells by wogonin effectively blocks tumor necrosis factor-induced NF-κB activation and sensitizes apoptosis.

Tremendous effort has been made to improve the anticancer value of tumor necrosis factor (TNF). In this study, we show that wogonin, a flavonoid isolated from Huang-Qin (Scutellaria baicalensis), synergistically sensitizes cancer cells derived from the cervix, ovary and lung to TNF-induced apoptosis, which was associated with inhibition of catalase activity and an increase of cellular hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). Wogonin-induced reactive oxygen species block TNF-induced NF-κB activation through inhibiting phosphorylation on the NF-κB p65 subunit and consequently the DNA binding of NF-κB. In addition, wogonin suppressed the expression of the antiapoptotic factor c-FLIP, which is accompanied with potentiation of TNF-induced caspase 8 activation that initiates apoptosis. Importantly, wogonin did not sensitize normal bronchial epithelial cells to TNF-induced cell death, which was associated with the defect in induction of H(2)O(2). Thus, wogonin specifically sensitizes cancer cells to TNF-induced cytotoxicity through H(2)O(2)-mediated NF-κB suppression and apoptosis activation. Our data provide important insights into the molecular mechanism underlying wogonin's anticancer activity, and suggest this common flavonoid could be used as a TNF adjuvant for cancer therapy.

The emerging epidemic of environmental cancers in developing countries.

In overviews concerning environmental cancers, the definition of 'environmental' can vary considerably in terms of the list of exposures considered, due to differences in inclusion criteria, and the articles tend to focus mainly or exclusively on Western populations. International agencies such as World Health Organisation, that have had considerable success in fighting infectious diseases, seem to be weaker when considering the relevance of environmental carcinogens, particularly in developing countries, and in identifying the exposed populations. The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the issue with a specific focus on developing countries. There are good reasons to believe that the burden of environmental cancers in such countries is high and has been underestimated in previous analyses. We examine the most common pollutants (aflatoxins, arsenic, air pollutants, biomass fuel and coal, polychlorinated biphenyls and wastes). A systematic review was not possible given the sparse nature of the data, but we suggest that the burden of environmental exposures to carcinogens can be substantial in developing countries.

Estudo experimental da eficácia clínica e microbiológica da associaçäo do diclofenaco sódico e sulfato de gentamicina no tratamento da ceratite por Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Clinical and microbiological effect of sodium diclofenac on gentamicin treatment of experimental Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis

Objetivo comparar o efeito da associaçäo de diclofenaco sódico 0,1 ppor cento, mais sulfato de gentamicina 0,3 por cento em olhos de coelhos infectados por meio de injeçäo intra-estromal de Pseudomonas aeruginosa, após remoçäo do epitélio da regiäo central da córnea. Métodos: os animais foram tratados com soluçöes tópicas contendo diferentes drogas. Grupo I: associaçäo de diclofenaco sódico 0,1 por cento, mais sulfato de gentamicina 0,3 por cento. Grupo II: veículo da associaçäo de diclofenaco sódico 0,1 por cento, mais sulfato de gentamicina 0,3 por cento. Grupo III: apenas diclofenaco sódico 0,1 por cento. Grupo IV: sulfato de gentamicina 0,3 poe cento isoladamente. Grupo V: BSS. Grupo VI: näo recebeu nenhuma medicaçäo. Os animais do grupo VI foram sacrificados no primeiro dia ..