Heat stress HS, a nonspecific response to environmental heat, can seriously affect dairy cow health Feed additives may alleviate HS in dairy cows by improving rumen fermentation efficacy, stimulating feed consumption, enhancing vasodilation, and/or improving antioxidant capacity The temperature-humidity index THI indicates that spring is a non-HS season, and summer is an HS season HS results in the decrease in dairy cow antioxidant capacities Our results indicated the decrease in superoxide dismutase SOD, glutathione peroxidase GSH-Px, catalase CAT, and total antioxidation T-AOC levels and the increase in malondialdehyde MDA level during HS season Meanwhile, antioxidant indexes SOD, GSH-Px, and T-AOC were positively correlated with milk yield p less then 001, whereas MDA exhibited a significant negative correlation with milk yield p less then 005 In addition, the effects of dihydropyridine DHP on antioxidant capacity and ruminal microbial communities in dairy cows under HS were investigated During summer, dairy cows were randomly assigned into two groups under HS, including a standard diet S-ND group and standard diet with 3 g/day/cow DHP S-D group DHP treatment significantly restored SOD and GSH-Px levels under HS Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis results indicated that the DHP altered ruminal bacterial community mainly composed Proteobacteria and Firmicutes in dairy cows under HS Our results suggest that DHP can enhance the antioxidant abilities of dairy cows with favorable effects on ruminal microbial communities under HS, further alleviating HS on dairy cows
  Identifying women at risk for small-for-gestational-age newborns SGA is an important challenge in obstetrics Several different risk factors have been suggested to contribute to the development of SGA Previous research is inconclusive on the role selenium Se plays in the development of SGA The aim of the study was therefore to explore the role of Se concentrations in amniotic fluid in order to understand its possible role in the development of SGA
 
  This prospective, single center study investigated the relationships between Se concentrations in amniotic fluid and pregnancy outcomes Amniotic fluid was collected from pregnant women during amniocentesis at 16/17 weeks of pregnancy Se values were determined using the electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry and expressed in µg/L Characteristics of mothers and newborns were obtained from women and delivery records
 
  327 samples of amniotic fluid were evaluated Patients with SGA newborns had significantly lower mean values of amniotic fluid concr research is needed to elucidate the link between Se, other trace elements, and other risk factors and their impact on the development of SGA newbornsThe carotenoids and liposoluble vitamins in the plasma and tissues of the lambs under different maternal feedings and fattening concentrates was studied During lactation, 21 lambs were housed with their dams, that received a total mixed ration intensive; 21 ewe-lamb pairs grazed on alfalfa; and 21 pairs grazed on sainfoin After weaning, half of the lambs in each maternal feeding group received a commercial concentrate control and the other half a concentrate with quebracho Schinopsis balansae, as a source of condensed tannins, until they were slaughtered 23 kg The analyte concentrations in the plasma of lambs at weaning reflected the content in the feedstuffs Grazing during suckling more than doubled the contents of lutein in the liver and retinol in the tissues compared to the intensive feeding The content of α-tocopherol in the tissues was greatest in sainfoin lambs, intermediate in alfalfa lambs, and lowest in the intensive lambs The quebracho concentrate decreased α-tocopherol by 41-81 and γ-tocopherol by 65-89 contents in the lamb tissues The use of the analytes in the plasma at weaning correctly classified 100 of the lambs into the maternal feeding intensive vs grazing alfalfa + sainfoin but has to be improved in the carcass and tissues separatelyAntimicrobial peptides AMPs are the frontline innate defense system evolutionarily preserved in insects to combat invading pathogens These AMPs could serve as an alternative to classical antibiotics to overcome the burden of treating multidrug resistant bacteria Psacotheasin, a knottin type AMP was isolated from Psacothea hilaris and shown to exhibit antimicrobial activity, especially against fungi through apoptosis mediated cell death In this study, we aimed to identify novel probable AMPs from Psacothea hilaris, the yellow spotted longicorn beetle The beetle was immunized with the two bacterial strains E coli and S aureus, and the yeast strain C albicans After immunization, total RNA was isolated and sequenced in Illumina platform Then, beetle transcriptome was de novo assembled and searched for putative AMPs with the known physiochemical features of the AMPs A selection of AMP candidates were synthesized and tested for antimicrobial activity Four peptides showed stronger activity against E coli than the control AMP, melittin while one peptide showed similar activity against S aureus Moreover, four peptides and two peptides showed antifungal activity stronger than and similar to melittin, respectively Collectively one peptide showed both antibacterial and antifungal activity superior to melittin; thus, it provides a potent antimicrobial peptide All the peptides showed no hemolysis in all the tested concentrations These results suggest that in silico mining of insects' transcriptome could be a promising tool to obtain and optimize novel AMPs for human needsPreconception health refers to health before pregnancy and involves addressing risk factors that can negatively impact either a patient or future pregnancy Pharmacists can play an essential role in screening for and managing patients' risk factors to optimize pregnancy outcomes The primary objective of this study is to determine whether preconception health screenings in community pharmacy settings identify opportunities for preconception health services, particularly pharmacy-based interventions The secondary objectives are to describe the preconception health status of community pharmacy patients and their interest in receiving preconception care services by a clinical pharmacist in a community pharmacy setting Two independent pharmacies conducted a pilot project where people were invited to complete a health screening form that evaluated their preconception health  https//wwwselleckchemcom/products/Mycophenolic-acidMycophenolatehtml  Participants received a personalized health report with an invitation to meet with the clinical pharmacist for services related to identified opportunities, such as contraception and immunizations