type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with increased inflammation and accelerated atherosclerosis. the association of the pro-inflammatory and potentially pro-atherosclerotic molecule, pregnancy associated plasma protein-a (papp-a) with diabetes and vascular diseases remains to be further established. a total of 107 patients with type 2 diabetes and 101 healthy controls participated in this st...

The aim of this study was to test the effect of a plant-based dietary intervention on beta-cell function in overweight adults with no history of diabetes. Participants (n = 75) were randomized to follow a low-fat plant-based diet (n = 38) or to make no diet changes (n = 37) for 16 weeks. At baseline and 16 weeks, beta-cell function was quantified with a mathematical model. Using a standard meal...

To determine the relationship between udder traits and peak milk yield, udder parameters of 203 Dehong crossbred dairy buffaloes were measured. The average peak milk yield (kg/day) of buffaloes was 9.60 ± 2.73, with average udder dimensions of 16.51 ± 10.05, 8.07 ± 3.26, 8.68 ± 3.92, 50.74 ± 8.82, 11.38 ± 3.08, 7.18 ± 2.18 and 7.73 ± 2.15 cm for udder depth, rear udder width, rear udder height,...

Marigold has special importance and application in landscape designing. Nowadays, various species and cultivars of this plant are grown in many climates, where different environmental stresses such as freezing, salinity and drought can lead to vegetative disorders. This study was carried out to investigate the interactions between salinity and ammonium nitrate on seed germination, vegetative gr...

Zn is an essential element for human growth. The nutritional adequacy of dietary Zn depends not only on the total Zn intake, but also on the type of food source (i.e. of plant or animal origin). We investigated the association between maternal dietary Zn intake from animal and plant food sources and fetal growth. A total of 918 pregnant women at 12-28 weeks of gestation were selected from the M...

China aster [Callistephus chinensis (L.) Nees] is a flowering annual mainly cultivated for loose flower and cut flower, bedding pot culture. To assess the genetic diversity, 42 genotypes were evaluated fourteen quantitative traits. The found to be highly variable traits such as plant height, spread, stalk length, 100 weight, number of flowers per plant, weight yield hectare. However, low variab...