This study was carried out to evaluate the protective effect of anthocyanins extract of blueberry on trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) model of mice. The study employed female C57BL/6 mice (n = 50), and colitis was induced by intracolonic injection of 0.5 mg of TNBS dissolved in 50% ethanol–phosphate buffered solution. The mice were divided into five groups (n = 10): vehicle, TNBS control and anthocyanins groups that received different doses of anthocyanins extract (10, 20 and 40 mg kg−1) daily for 6 days. Both increase in body weight and diarrhea symptoms were monitored each day. After 6 days, the animals were killed, and the following parameters were assessed: colon length, morphological score, histological score and biochemical assay (NO, myeloperoxidase (MPO), interleukin (IL)-12, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interferon (IFN)-γ). The results showed that the anthocyanins extract of blueberry rendered strong protection against TNBS-induced colonic damage at a dosage of 40 mg kg−1. When compared with the control, anthocyanins extract significantly prevented loss of body weight and ameliorated the scores of diarrhea, morphology and histology. Treatment with anthocyanins extract restored IL-10 excretion, as well as caused reduction in the levels of NO, MPO, IL-12, TNF-α and IFN-γ. Our research revealed the protective effect of anthocyanins extract from blueberry on TNBS-induced experimental colitis in mice, as well as examined whether high levels of dietary blueberries would lower the risk or have protective effects on human IBD, which may require further investigation.

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The objective of this study was to determine the changing characteristics of soil surface roughness under different rainfall intensities and examine the interaction between soil surface roughness and different water erosion processes. Four artificial management practices (raking cropland, artificial hoeing, artificial digging, and contour tillage) were used according to the local agriculture customs of the Loess Plateau of China to simulate different types of soil surface roughness, using an additional smooth slope for comparison purposes. A total of 20 rainfall simulation experiments were conducted in five 1 m by 2 m boxes under two rainfall intensities (0.68 and 1.50 mm min À1 ) on a 15°slope. During splash erosion, soil surface roughness decreased in all treatments except raking cropland and smooth baseline under rainfall intensity of 0.68 mm min À1 , while increasing for all treatments except smooth baseline under rainfall intensity of 1.50 mm min À1 . During sheet erosion, soil surface roughness decreased for all treatments except hoeing cropland under rainfall intensity of 0.68 mm min À1 . However, soil surface roughness increased for the artificial hoeing and raking cropland under rainfall intensity of 1.50 mm min À1 . Soil surface roughness has a control effect on sheet erosion for different treatments under two rainfall intensities. For rill erosion, soil surface roughness increased for raking cropland and artificial hoeing treatments, and soil surface roughness decreased for artificial digging and the contour tillage treatments under two rainfall intensities. Under rainfall intensity of 0.68 mm min À1 , the critical soil surface roughness was 0.706 cm for the resistance control of runoff and sediment yield. Under rainfall intensity of 1.50 mm min À1 , the critical soil surface roughness was 1.633 cm for the resistance control of runoff, while the critical soil surface roughness was 0.706 cm for the resistance control of sediment yield. These findings have important implications for clarifying the erosive nature of soil surface roughness and harnessing sloped farmland.

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A 2-year field experiment was conducted to analyze the growth conditions, physical features, yield, and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of sugar-beet under limited irrigation conditions in northeast of China. A cultivar H003 was used as plant materials; six treatments (C1–C6) were included: C1, no nitrogen applied, rain-fed; C2, nitrogen (120.00 kg ha−1), rain-fed; C3, no nitrogen applied, hole irrigation for seeding; C4, nitrogen (120.00 kg ha−1), hole irrigation for seeding; C5, no nitrogen applied, hole irrigation for seeding; and C6, nitrogen (120.00 kg ha−1), hole irrigation for seeding, and irrigation at foliage rapid growth stage. The irrigation supply was only 500 mL/plant once. Results showed C6 showed the highest chlorophyll content, dry matter accumulation, yield, etc. and had the best NUE among all the treatments. In conclusion, under the routine fertilization conditions of northeast of China, the cultivation measure of hole irrigation 500 mL/plant for seeding combined with irrigation 500 mL/plant at foliage rapid growth stage greatly improved sugar-beet yield and NUE.

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