Abstract: The highly increased meat and dairy products demand and prices in the Sudan necessitates exploiting less exploited animal species for meat and dairy production. Goats are an attractive alternative due to high population, wide distribution, low investment, producing high quantities of high quality milk and meat and culled animals are exploited for meat production. There is an increasing interest in exotic breeds, especially Shami. Nutrition is a main constraints for goat production in Halfa Elgadeda area in Kassala State. Sex is an important factor affecting performance, but there is no available information on its effects on Shami kids.  Ten Shami kids (5 males and 5 females) at 7 month old and weighing 17.7kg on average were used in this study. They were treated against external and internal parasites, injected with Oxytetracycline 20% and allocated at random to individual pens. They were fed a concentrates ration based on sorghum grains and groundnut cakes ad lib in one meal at 7am for 45 days including a 10 days preliminary period. They were  also fed 1kg green Abu 70 and Barseem weekly before the morning meal for normal gut functions and vitamins. Drinking water was available at all times. Daily feed intake was measured. The animals were weighed at the beginning of the experiment and then weekly before the morning meal. Data was statistically analyzed using the completely randomized design and Duncan’s Test was used to split means differences. Body weigh increased in males and females and was higher  in the former. Total weight gain, daily weight gain daily feed intake were higher in males than females, but not significantly (P≥0.05). Feed conversion ratio was higher in females than males, but not significantly (P≥0.05). There were no significant differences in Shami kids performance between males and females and the former were better in performance.     

Abstract: Extracorporeal circulation (ECC) is necessary for conventional cardiac surgery and life support, but it often triggers systemic inflammation, which can lead to systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and acute lung injury (ALI). Clinical evidence shows that platelet-transfusion after ECC can reduce the risk of lung injury, but the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. We recently established a mouse-ECC model that can effectively mimic many features of ECC-induced SIRS and ALI. Using this model, we tested the hypothesis that platelets play a considerable role in alleviating inflammatory responses in both the blood and lungs, thereby reducing the occurrence of ECC-related ALI. The right carotid artery and external jugular vein of anesthetized adult male C57BL/6 mice were cannulated to direct blood flow through a 1/32-inch external tube. All animals subjected to ECC (the ECC group and the platelet-transfusion-ECC (PLTs-ECC) group; each n = 10) survived 30 min of ECC and the sequent 60 min of observation. The mice in the PLTs-ECC group were given 0.1 mL of platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) at 25 min after the start of ECC. Blood analysis after ECC showed significant decreases in the levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6 and neutrophils elastase in plasma and lung tissue. Additionally, PRP treatment protected lung function and led to a notable decrease in circulating lactate. Histopathology showed that ECC induced lung inflammation, as expected, including alveolar congestion, haemorrhage, neutrophil infiltration, and alveolar wall thickening. The abovementioned changes were less pronounced in the PLTs-ECC group. Double immunofluorescence staining of lung sections showed a “mixed” yellow fluorescence signal in platelets and vascular endothelial cells (VECs) that was speculated to be from the tight binding of activated platelets with VECs and sub-endothelial matrices. Our results showed that PRP treatment led to significant respiratory function protection and mitigated the inflammatory responses in both the blood and lungs. Based on those observations, we propose two potential platelet-pulmonary protection mechanisms: (1) platelets reduce the release of inflammatory cytokines in the lung to prevent an inflammatory response and (2) platelets tightly bind to the endothelium and sub-endothelial matrices via the association of glycoprotein IB/IX/V with von Willebrand factor to repair damaged VECs and secrete sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), which helps maintain the integrity and promote the growth of vessel walls to reduce exudation and the retention of neutrophils in the lungs.     

Abstract: To understand human disease process, it is necessary to explicate the structure and function of macromolecules and macromolecular interactions which culminate in disease, and in health. The potential of a cell is undergirded and controlled by a network of molecular interactions. The identification and characterization of cell macromolecular interactions, as well as their structure and function are important to comprehend the underlying causes of disease in humans.