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katherine-medina

Full article: Effect of Dandelion root extract on growth performance, immune function a... - 0 views

  • From days 12 to 14 and days 26 to 28, approximately 100 g of faeces was collected from each pen for 3 days and the faecal samples were stored at −20°C. The 3-d faecal collection was pooled by pen and then dried at 65°C for 72 h.
  • From days 12 to 14 and days 26 to 28, approximately 100 g of faeces was collected from each pen for 3 days and the faecal samples were stored at −20°C. The 3-d faecal collection was pooled by pen and then dried at 65°C for 72 h.
    • katherine-medina
       
      Kinda gross, but interesting to know how and when the collected the "feces."
  • There were no differences in the ATTD of GE, CP, NDF and ADF among the three treatments.
    • katherine-medina
       
      Interesting that there was no difference between the three groups in that category.
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  • uring days 15–28, pigs in the CHE group had lower (P < .05) diarrhoea frequency compared with those in the NC treatment, and dietary CHE supplementation decreased the diarrhoea frequency by 63.62% and 57.82% compared with the NC and PC groups, respectively
    • katherine-medina
       
      So the Chinese herbal extract did a better job at reducing the diarrhoea frequency by 63.62 and 57.82% in comparison to the NC and PC groups.
  • Furthermore, pigs in the CHE group had greater (P < .05) formic acid, propionate and butyrate concentrations in faeces compared with pigs in the PC group, and had greater (P < .05) formic acid, butyrate and valerate concentrations in faeces compared with pigs in the NC group
    • katherine-medina
       
      Cool to note that the CHE group had a lower lactic acid concentration in comparison to the PC group.
  • There were no differences in the concentrations of IgA, IgG, IgM, GSH-PX, MDA, TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-1β among the three treatments.
  • Moreover, the concentration of IL-6 in serum in pigs fed the CHE diet was greater (P < .05) than those fed the NC diet.
  • Pigs in the CHE group showed increased relative abundance of Sytrophococcus on genus level, and decreased (P < .05) relative abundance of Clostridiaceae_1
  • In addition, relative abundances of genus Selenomonas, Alloprevotella, Prevotella_2, Rjkenellaceae, and Kitasatospora all increased in faecal samples when pigs fed the PC diet.
  • CHE supplementation decreased the diarrhoea frequency of pigs compared with diets with or without antibiotics supplemented. Some previous studies also reported the positive effects of dietary Chinese herbs supplementation on diarrhoea frequency of weaned pigs
  • he increased concentrations of immune markers in serum and faecal SCFAs in weaned pigs consumed CHE in our study may explain the positive effects of CHE supplementation on diarrhoea frequency and nutrient digestibility
  • but decreased the incidence of diarrhoea and increased digestibility of some nutrients.
  • In addition, CHE supplementation improved faecal SCFAs concentrations and immune function of weaned pigs, and shaped faecal microbial community in weaned pigs. As a result, the traditional Chinese herb medicine, CHE, could act as a potential alternative to the antibiotics such as aureomycin used in weaned pig diets.
    • katherine-medina
       
      I do quite enjoy this closing statement, so in summary CHE works to decrease diarrhoea in weened pigs.
  •  
    An article showing that pigs who ate CHE had a significant decrease in diahrroea.
  •  
    Super interesting. Just remember that experimentation on mammals where diet is altered, etc... is a super tightrope walk. It is almost impossible to get those approved. You would have to really dig into the ISEF rules on that. However, you can always think about ways to transfer ideas and concepts down to a "lower" animal model for many studies.
prishabpatel

Melatonin and its relationship to plant hormones | Annals of Botany | Oxford Academic - 2 views

  •  
    This is super interesting to me... both the content itself AND the fact that this is not far from feasible for an advanced HS study. Phytohormones: FASCINATING, accessible, relatively easy to apply, and the immediate question is... is it measurable? We can certainly measure the effects of applied plant hormones simply by recording the growth and development data of the plants we apply them to. What this article gets at (from a VERY brief SKIM) is the need to measure increases of hormones levels INSIDE plant tissue. Now, this is something that requires sophistication beyond what we have a BLHS. However, it might be able to be detected by NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), HPLC (high-pressure liquid chromatography), or IR spectroscopy. If we know exactly what we're looking for in plant specimens/samples, and we ask super professionally, perhaps we could get the chem department at UMKC to help us use the right tool for the job to detect and measure these things.
katherine-medina

Dandelion root extract affects colorectal cancer proliferation and survival through the... - 0 views

  • of an aqueous dandelion root extract
  • caspase-8 activation was not essential for the induction of cell death in colon cancer cells as an inhibition of caspase-8 activation did not alter the cytotoxicity of DRE
  • We have been able to identify four pharmacologically active components, α-amyrin, β-amyrin, lupeol and taraxasterol, in two out of the six bioactive fractions, but the anti-cancer activities of the individual compounds were not as strong as that of the unfractionated DRE indicating, clearly, the benefits of using the whole extract.
  • ...16 more annotations...
  • which might represent a novel non-toxic alternative to conventional cancer therapy available today.
  • These results clearly indicate that dandelion root extract can inhibit the ability of colorectal cancer cells to migrate and invade, and therefore metastasize to secondary locations.
    • katherine-medina
       
      Wow. I like to see that in 3 different studies DRE was proven to selectively pick the cancer cells, and ignore the normal cells.
  • morphological differences in tissue slices between the control untreated and the DRE treated group
  • aken together, these results established that systemic oral intake of the DRE was safe and its anti-cancer efficacy should be further investigated.
    • katherine-medina
       
      I love the fact that they yet again state that I should look more into this topic.
  • , but the DRE treatment efficiently suppressed the growth of both p53 WT and p53 mutant tumors in-vivo (Figure 4B – 4C)
    • katherine-medina
       
      great, they suppressed the growth of the tumors.
  • with no difference between the control and DRE treated samples of NCM460
    • katherine-medina
       
      I would not have thought that the mitochondria would be left alone by the drug.
  • Others suggest that following activation, caspases re-localize to the mitochondria, where they interact with other pro-apoptotic proteins during the progression of apoptosis [15]. A third option, put forward by Qin and colleagues, suggests that inactive caspases are kept in the mitochondria, but following apoptotic stimuli and activation, they are released from the mitochondria into the cytoplasmic peri-nuclear space [
  • The results showed a progressive destabilization of the mitochondrial membrane following the DRE treatment, which was observed as early as 30 minutes post treatment (Figure ​6C). Pro-caspase-8 (green) was localized in the mitochondria (red) in control untreated cells; however, following the DRE treatment, activated caspase-8 was released from the mitochondria into cytoplasmic space, as indicated by the dispersed green fluorescence (Figure ​6C
    • katherine-medina
       
      Pro-capase-8 helps to fight against the cancer
  • suggesting that in HT-29 colorectal cancer cells the DRE-induced cell death was caspase-8 independent.
    • katherine-medina
       
      So essentially caspase 8 had nothing to do with it
  • We observed a decrease in the viability of cells treated with α-amyrin, with 10 μM as the most effective concentration.
    • katherine-medina
       
      Hmm. the beginnings of narrowing down what it is about the plant that is able to fight cancer.
  • However, these results indicate that DRE and its anti-cancer components must be absorbed and circulated, in order to reach the site of the tumor (in order to inhibit tumor growth).
    • katherine-medina
       
      So it needs to be drank, or swallowed in a pill form to work.
  • , we confirmed the vulnerability of cancer cell mitochondria by showing that the DRE treatment led to a decrease in the mitochondrial membrane potential and increase in ROS levels in the isolated mitochondria.
  • caspase-8 specific inhibitor, IETD-fmk, did not change the DRE response in these cells. This was in contrast to our previous study in leukemia and pancreatic cancer cells
    • katherine-medina
       
      For each different cancer a new slightly different result is produced
  • he pro-apoptotic genes including Caspase-1, Interferon gamma and the TNF ligands and receptors, were up-regulated in HT-29 cells, prior to the apoptosis induction, while the same genes were down-regulated in NCM460 cells.
  • Previous findings show that taraxasterol has anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive activit
  • suggesting its importance in the anti-cancer activity of dandelion root extract, especially on the expression levels of COX-2. Additionally, we show that 10 μM lupeol is not very effective on its own
  •  
    Yet another article about how DRE can fight against cancer.
Sean Nash

Mysterious Underwater Acoustic World of British Ponds Revealed in New Study | Current S... - 3 views

  • The previously hidden and diverse underwater acoustic world in British ponds has been revealed by a team of researchers at the University of Bristol.
    • Sean Nash
       
      So... my immediate thought is: How cool would it be to do this here? One thing we DO have: PONDS. See if this *sounds* interesting. Get it? ;)
  • Acoustic monitoring has been shown to effectively survey birds and monkeys in rainforests, and marine mammals in the oceans. However, freshwater environments have remained largely unexplored despite their diverse soundscapes.
    • Sean Nash
       
      BOOM. Again, "relatively unexplored" is super exciting verbiage to me. Acoustics. Hydrophones. Is this feasible? Is the equipment affordable? If not, could we borrow one? Dig into it. What are the possibilities?
  • analysis of the audio files revealed clear daily acoustic activity cycles in each pond
    • Sean Nash
       
      Aside from the exploratory surveys you would do just to see "what's out there" and assess what we CAN learn from listening to a pond, you could make it experimental by comparing ponds you've assessed the health of by other means. In other words, do acoustic comparisons between two ponds correlate with what you find by doing a macroinvertebrate sampling? I really LIKE the possibilities in this one!
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  • Typically, a nocturnal chorus is made by aquatic insects that compete to attract mates by producing strange scratching sounds as they rub their genitals against their abdomens. During the daytime, however, aquatic plants dominate the underwater orchestra with rhythmic whining and ticking sounds produced as tiny oxygen bubbles are released by plants respiring in the hot sun.
  • Using this acoustic method, the presence of species, and a determination of ecological health, can be inferred simply by listening to the natural world without disturbing the environment or harming the plants and animals within it.
    • Sean Nash
       
      Here is the obvious value proposition if you could work this out.
  • Publication: Jack A. Greenhalgh, et al., Diel variation in insect-dominated temperate pond soundscapes and guidelines for survey design, Freshwater Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/fwb.14092.
    • Sean Nash
       
      BEST THING YET: Here is the FULL TEXT of the actual research paper!
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