Livestock plays a crucial role in food and nutrition security. However, livestock production accounts for 0.18 of global greenhouse gas emissions. India has one of the highest livestock densities ...globally, mainly produced under traditional systems. Specifically, the emission and particularly nitrogen losses from cattle in traditional systems cannot be ignored. Nitrogen emission is substantial when cattle roam free and waste is not collected or managed efficiently. This paper reviews the literature to piece together the available information on nitrogen emissions from cattle in India to synthesize the evidence, identify gaps and contribute to further understanding of the problem. At the same time, the paper highlights the solutions to reduce nitrogen pollution from cattle production in India. The main findings are that most cattle in India are not reared to provide meat protein. The implication is that reactive nitrogen per capita consumption is lower than most developed countries. However, there are substantial inefficiencies in feed conversion, feed nitrogen use and manure management in India. As a result, nitrogen losses and wastage are considerable in the different production systems. Furthermore, the review suggests that social, cultural and economic factors such as convergent social behaviour, urbanization, regulations, changing consumption patterns, the demand for cheap fuel sources, culture and religion influence the production systems and, consequently, the emissions from livestock. Suggested solutions to reduce nitrogen pollution from cattle production in India are improving livestock productivity, adopting better feeding, manure and pasture management practices and using behavioural nudges.
We analyzed the microbial community that developed after 4 years of testing different soil-crop management systems in the savannah–forest transition zone of Eastern Ghana where management systems can ...rapidly alter stored soil carbon as well as soil fertility. The agricultural managements were: (i) the local practice of fallow regrowth of native elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) followed by biomass burning before planting maize in the spring, (ii) the same practice but without burning and the maize receiving mineral nitrogen fertilizer, (iii) a winter crop of a legume, pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), followed by maize, (iv) vegetation free winter period (bare fallow) followed by maize, and (v) unmanaged elephant grass-shrub vegetation. The mean soil organic carbon (SOC) contents of the soils after 4 years were: 1.29, 1.67, 1.54, 0.80 and 1.34%, respectively, differences that should affect resources for the microbial community.
From about 290,000 sequences obtained by pyrosequencing the SSU rRNA gene, canonical correspondence analysis showed that SOC was the most important factor that explained differences in microbial community structure among treatments. This analysis as well as phylogenetic ecological network construction indicated that members of the Acidobacteria GP4 and GP6 were more abundant in soils with relatively high SOC whereas Acidobacteria GP1, GP7, and Actinobacteria were more prevalent in soil with lower SOC. Burning of winter fallow vegetation led to an increase in Bacillales, especially those belonging to spore-forming genera. Of the managements, pigeon-pea cultivation during the winter period promoted a higher microbial diversity and also sequestered more SOC, presumably improving soil structure, fertility, and resiliency.
•50% loss of SOC and biomass in 4 years reshapes the tropical microbial community.•But, soil microbial community structure is remarkably resilient to resource loss.•Acidobacteria groups are most responsive to SOC changes.•Plant residue burning increased the abundance of Bacillales.•N2-fixing fallow crop increased microbial diversity and improved soil fertility.
Advanced additive manufacturing techniques have been recently used to tackle the two fundamental challenges of biodegradable Fe-based bone-substituting materials, namely low rate of biodegradation ...and insufficient bioactivity. While additively manufactured porous iron has been somewhat successful in addressing the first challenge, the limited bioactivity of these biomaterials hinder their progress towards clinical application. Herein, we used extrusion-based 3D printing for additive manufacturing of iron-matrix composites containing silicate-based bioceramic particles (akermanite), thereby addressing both of the abovementioned challenges. We developed inks that carried iron and 5, 10, 15, or 20 vol% of akermanite powder mixtures for the 3D printing process and optimized the debinding and sintering steps to produce geometrically-ordered iron-akermanite composites with an open porosity of 69–71%. The composite scaffolds preserved the designed geometry and the original α-Fe and akermanite phases. The in vitro biodegradation rates of the composites were improved as much as 2.6 times the biodegradation rate of geometrically identical pure iron. The yield strengths and elastic moduli of the scaffolds remained within the range of the mechanical properties of the cancellous bone, even after 28 days of biodegradation. The composite scaffolds (10–20 vol% akermanite) demonstrated improved MC3T3-E1 cell adhesion and higher levels of cell proliferation. The cellular secretion of collagen type-1 and the alkaline phosphatase activity on the composite scaffolds (10–20 vol% akermanite) were, respectively higher than and comparable to Ti6Al4V in osteogenic medium. Taken together, these results clearly show the potential of 3D printed porous iron-akermanite composites for further development as promising bone substitutes.
Porous iron matrix composites containing akermanite particles were produced by means of multi-material additive manufacturing to address the two fundamental challenges associated with biodegradable iron-based biomaterials, namely very low rate of biodegradation and insufficient bioactivity. Our porous iron-akermanite composites exhibited enhanced biodegradability and superior bioactivity compared to porous monolithic iron scaffolds. The murine bone cells proliferated on the composite scaffolds, and secreted the collagen type-1 matrix that stimulated bony-like mineralization. The results show the exceptional potential of the developed porous iron-based composite scaffolds for application as bone substitutes.
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To investigate the risk factors for myopia, including near work and outdoor activity, in Singapore Chinese preschool children.
A cross-sectional study, with disproportionate random sampling by ...6-month age groups, of 3009 Singapore Chinese children aged 6-72 months was performed. Information on family history, near work and outdoor activity was obtained. Spherical equivalent refraction (SER) was assessed.
Children with two myopic parents were more likely to be myopic (adjusted OR=1.91; 95% CI 1.38 to 2.63) and to have a more myopic SER (regression coefficient=-0.35; 95% CI -0.47 to -0.22) than children without myopic parents. For each 1 cm taller height, the SER was more myopic by 0.01 dioptres. Neither near work nor outdoor activity was associated with preschool myopia.
A family history of myopia was the strongest factor associated with preschool myopia. In contrast, neither near work nor outdoor activity was found to be associated with early myopia. These data suggest that genetic factors may play a more substantial role in the development of early-onset myopia than key environmental factors.
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been known as important regulators in tumorigenesis. Whether circRNAs are involved in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) requires to be determined. In the present study, ...we aimed to investigate the expression and function of has_circ_0008274 in PTC.
Tissue expression of has_circ_0008274 was evaluated in Gene Expression Omnibus datasets (GSE93522). Real-time PCR assays were used to detect the expression of has_circ_0008274 in human PTC tissues and cell lines. The correlation of has_circ_0008274 expression with clinicopathological factors was statistically analyzed. The MTT assay, colony formation assay, transwell assays were performed to analyze and compare cell viability and invasion. Western blot analysis was used to quantify the expression of AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway proteins.
We found that has_circ_0008274 was significantly upregulated in PTC tissues, and the level of has_circ_0008274 was negatively associated with TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. Loss-of-function assay indicated that knockdown of has_circ_0008274 suppressed PTC cells proliferation and invasion in vitro. Mechanistically, has_circ_0008274 could inhibit the activation of AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway, which was demonstrated by measuring the expression levels of p-AMPK and p-mTOR.
These results demonstrate that increased has_circ_0008274 expression modulates has_circ_0008274 to enhance PTC cells proliferation and invasion. Has_circ_0008274/ AMPK/mTOR axis may be a novel therapeutic candidate target in PTC treatment.
Atherosclerosis is associated with immune responses to oxidized lipoproteins and certain microorganisms, but the role of specific immunity has remained unclear.
To study the role of immunity in ...atherosclerosis, we crossed atherosclerosis-prone apoE(-/-) mice with immunodeficient scid/scid mice. The offspring showed a 73% reduction in aortic fatty streak lesions when compared with immunocompetent apoE(-/-) mice. Transfer of CD4(+) T cells from apoE(-/-) to immunodeficient apoE(-/-)/scid/scid mice increased lesions by 164%. This was associated with the infiltration of transferred T cells into lesions, increased circulating interferon-gamma levels, and increased I-A expression in lesions.
CD4(+) T cells carry disease-promoting immunity in atherosclerosis.
Crystallization process in a fluidized bed reactor (FBR) has been regarded as an environmentally friendly technology for the removal and recovery of fluoride from industrial wastewater. The growth ...kinetics of calcium fluoride at high supersaturation was studied for design, control, and operation of an FBR. The main variables, including supersaturation, superficial velocity, pH value, and particle size of seed that influenced the crystal growth were investigated. Then, a growth model was used to predict the linear growth rate of calcium fluoride at a high influent concentration of fluoride. The pressure difference in the FBR was used as a feature to characterize the growth rate of calcium fluoride. The aggregation and adsorption between seeds and fine particles were proven to be a possible mechanism for growth of calcium fluoride.
The chemistry of conjugated fatty acids, specifically octadecadienoic acids (18:2; commonly referred to as conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA), has provided many challenges to lipid analysts because of ...their unique physical properties and the many possible positional and geometric isomers. After the acid-labile properties of CLAs during analytic procedures were overcome, it became evident that natural products, specifically dairy fats, contain one dominant (c9,t11-CLA), 3 intermediate (t7,c9-, t9,c11-, and t11,c13-CLA), and up to 20 more minor CLA isomers. The best analytic techniques to date include a combination of gas chromatography that uses 100-m highly polar capillary columns, silver ion-HPLC, and a combination of silver ion-thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatography to analyze the CLA and trans 18:1 isomers, because some of them serve as precursors of CLA in biological systems. These analytic techniques have assisted commercial suppliers to prepare pure CLA isomers and have permitted the evaluation of individual CLA isomers for their nutritional and biological activity in animal and human systems. It is increasingly evident that different CLA isomers have distinctly different physiologic and biochemical properties. These techniques are essential to evaluate dairy fats for their CLA content, to design experimental diets to increase the amount of CLA in dairy fats, and to determine the CLA profile in these CLA-enriched dairy fats. These improved techniques are used to evaluate the CLA profile in pork products from pigs fed different commercial CLA mixtures.
This study was conducted to investigate the possible involvement of protein kinase C (PKC) and serine/threonine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor in insulin resistance and/or obesity. Insulin ...receptor tyrosine kinase activity was depressed in muscle from obese insulin-resistant patients compared with lean insulin-responsive control subjects. Alkaline phosphatase treatment resulted in a significant 48% increase in in vitro insulin-stimulated receptor tyrosine kinase activity in obese but not lean muscle. To investigate the involvement of PKC in skeletal muscle insulin resistance and/or obesity, membrane-associated PKC activity and the protein content of various PKC isoforms were measured in human skeletal muscle from lean, insulin-responsive, and obese insulin-resistant patients. Membrane-associated PKC activity was not changed; however, PKC-beta protein content, assayed by Western blot analysis, was significantly higher, whereas PKC-theta, -eta, and -mu were significantly lower in muscle from obese patients compared with muscle from lean control subjects. Incubation of muscle strips with insulin significantly increased membrane-associated PKC activity in muscle from obese but not lean subjects. PKC-delta, -beta, and -theta were translocated from the cytosol to the membrane fraction in response to insulin treatment. These results suggest that in skeletal muscle from insulin-resistant obese patients, insulin receptor tyrosine kinase activity was reduced because of hyperphosphorylation on serine/threonine residues. Membrane-associated PKC-beta protein was elevated under basal conditions, and membrane-associated total PKC activity was increased under insulin-stimulated conditions in muscle from obese insulin-resistant patients. Thus, we postulate that the decreased tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor may be caused by serine/threonine phosphorylation by PKC.
Event-related potentials (ERP) data are widely used in brain studies that measure brain responses to specific stimuli using electroencephalogram (EEG) with multiple electrodes. Previous ERP data ...analyses haven't accounted for the structured correlation among observations in ERP data from multiple electrodes, and therefore ignored the electrode-specific information and variation among the electrodes on the scalp. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of early adversity on brain connectivity by identifying risk factors and early-stage biomarkers associated with the ERP responses while properly accounting for structured correlation.
In this study, we extend a penalized generalized estimating equation (PGEE) method to accommodate structured correlation of ERPs that accounts for electrode-specific data and to enable group selection, such that grouped covariates can be evaluated together for their association with brain development in a birth cohort of urban-dwelling Bangladeshi children. The primary ERP responses of interest in our study are N290 amplitude and the difference in N290 amplitude.
The selected early-stage biomarkers associated with the N290 responses are representatives of enteric inflammation (days of diarrhea, MIP1b, retinol binding protein (RBP), Zinc, myeloperoxidase (MPO), calprotectin, and neopterin), systemic inflammation (IL-5, IL-10, ferritin, C Reactive Protein (CRP)), socioeconomic status (household expenditure), maternal health (mother height) and sanitation (water treatment).
Our proposed group penalized GEE estimator with structured correlation matrix can properly model the complex ERP data and simultaneously identify informative biomarkers associated with such brain connectivity. The selected early-stage biomarkers offer a potential explanation for the adversity of neurocognitive development in low-income countries and facilitate early identification of infants at risk, as well as potential pathways for intervention.
The related clinical study was retrospectively registered with https://doi.org/ClinicalTrials.gov , identifier NCT01375647, on June 3, 2011.
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