We examined the possible role of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the pathogenesis of oleic acid (OA)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) and its regulatory effects on the inflammatory response. Compared to control rats, the OA-treated rats had decreased partial pressure of oxygen in the arterial blood (PaO2) levels, an increased pulmonary wet/dry weight (W/D) ratio, increased index of quantitative assessment (IQA) score and increased frequency of polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells in the lung 2, 4 or 6 h after OA injection (0.1 ml/kg, intravenous injection). In addition, significantly increased IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 levels together with decreased H2S levels were observed in the plasma and lung tissue of OA-treated rats compared to controls. Administration of the H2S donor sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS, 56 micromol/L, intraperitoneal injection) into OA-treated rats increased the PaO2 level, reduced the lung W/D ratio and infiltration of PMN cells, and alleviated the degree of ALI (measured by the IQA score). In addition, NaHS decreased IL-6 and IL-8 levels but increased IL-10 levels in the plasma and lung tissues, suggesting that H2S may regulate the inflammatory response during ALI via regulation of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10. Thus, the down-regulation of endogenous H2S production might be involved in the pathogenesis of OA-induced ALI in rats.

Seventy five pigs [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] with an initial body weight of 23.3±1.40 kg were used in the present study to investigate the influence of supplementation of a Bacillus spp. combination as probiotic (0%, 0.01%, and 0.02% with basal diet) in growing-finishing pig diets on performance parameters with a feeding trial period of 16 weeks. Growth performance was analyzed at the start and at weeks 6, 12, and 16 of the experimental period. The entire experiment using probiotic supplementation in the diet revealed significant differences in average daily gain and gain:feed, but no effects on average daily feed intake. The result showed significant effects on digestibility of dry matter (0.002), nitrogen (0.069), and energy (0.099) at week 16; and number of fecal Lactobacillus (0.082, 0.041), E. coli (0.097, 0.052), and blood glucose (0.001, 0.049) at weeks 6 and 16. Dietary supplementation with Bacillus spp. probiotic resulted in a significant linear effect on sensory evaluation of meat color, drip loss at day 3, and carcass weight in pigs. In contrast, there was no significant difference in blood metabolic profiles and noxious gas emissions in this experiment. Dietary combination of Bacillus spp. can be used as a probiotic for enhancing the growth performances and carcass quality of growing-finishing pigs.

Developing highly active, durable, and cost‐effective electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of prime importance in proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis techniques. Ru‐based catalysts have high activities but always suffer from severe fading and dissolution issues, which cannot satisfy the stability demand of PEM. Herein, a series of iridium‐doped yttrium ruthenates pyrochlore catalysts is developed, which exhibit better activity and much higher durability than commercial RuO2, IrO2, and most of the reported Ru or Ir‐based OER electrocatalysts. Typically, the representative Y2Ru1.2Ir0.8O7 OER catalyst demands a low overpotential of 220 mV to achieve 10 mA cm−2, which is much lower than that of RuO2 (300 mV) and IrO2 (350 mV). In addition, the catalyst does not show obvious performance decay or structural degradation over a 2000 h stability test. EXAFS and XPS co‐prove the reduced valence state of ruthenium and iridium in pyrochlore contributes to the improved activity and stability. Density functional theory reveals that the potential‐determining steps barrier of OOH* formation is greatly depressed through the synergy effect of Ir and Ru sites by balancing the d band center and oxygen intermediates binding ability.