International Symposium Research Articles

3rd International Symposium on Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Frankfurt, Germany

3rd International Symposium on Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Frankfurt, Germany

Selected Papers from the International Symposium on Dynamic Response and Failure of Composite Materials, Draf2024

Selected Papers from the International Symposium on Dynamic Response and Failure of Composite Materials, Draf2024

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: The holobiont concept in ruminant physiology-More of the same, or something new and meaningful to food quality, food security, and animal health?

The holobiont concept has emerged as an attempt to recognize and describe the myriad interactions and physiological signatures inherent to a host organism, as affected by the microbial communities that colonize and co-inhabit the environment within which the host resides. The field acknowledges and draws upon principles from evolution, ecology, genetics, and biology, and in many respects has been pushed by the advent of high throughput DNA sequencing and, to a lesser extent, other omics-based technologies. Despite the explosion in data generation and analyses, much of our current understanding of the human and ruminant holobiont is based on compositional forms of data and thereby, restricted to describing host phenotypes via associative or correlative studies. So, where to from here? We will discuss some past findings arising from ruminant and human gut microbiota research and seek to evaluate the rationale, progress, and opportunities that might arise from the holobiont approach to the ruminant and human host. In particular, we will consider what is a "good" or "bad" host gastrointestinal microbiome in different scenarios, as well as potential avenues to sustain or alter the holobiont. Although the holobiont approach might improve food quality, food security, and animal health, these benefits will most likely be achieved via a judicious and pragmatic compromise in data generation, both in terms of its scale as well as its generation, in context with the forgotten knowledge of ruminant and human physiology.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Current perspective on rumen microbial ecology to improve fiber digestibility.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Current perspective on rumen microbial ecology to improve fiber digestibility.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: One-carbon metabolism in beef cattle throughout the production cycle.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: One-carbon metabolism in beef cattle throughout the production cycle.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: The immunometabolism of transition dairy cows from dry-off to early lactation-Lights and shadows.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: The immunometabolism of transition dairy cows from dry-off to early lactation-Lights and shadows.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Endocrine adaptations to demanding physiological states in ruminants.

Highly productive ruminants rely on hormonally driven adaptations to prioritize the use of limiting nutrients during the demanding phases of the pregnancy-lactation cycle. Glucose, the predominant oxidative fuel of fetal life and the absolute precursor of mammary lactose synthesis, illustrates the need and benefit of such adaptations. Endocrine mechanisms such as insulin resistance or hypoinsulinemia favor the diversion of maternal glucose to the placenta or mammary gland where uptake is independent of insulin. Research in dairy cows in the 1980s and 1990s identified growth hormone as a peripherally acting signal opposing the effects of insulin. The following decades have seen the discovery of a new generation of signals secreted almost exclusively by adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, or liver, dynamically regulated by metabolic challenges, and engaged in cross-organ communication. The understanding of these signals in the coordination of metabolism in ruminants has been limited by the availability of assays to measure their circulating concentrations and materials to perform functional studies. Nevertheless, emerging data point to their importance during demanding physiological states in ruminants, including early lactation in dairy cows and late pregnancy in sheep. Examples include modulation of insulin action by liver-derived fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and regulation of energy allocation among tissues by the action of the adipose-derived hormone leptin via its ability to control the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis. Recent studies investigating the regulation and action of FGF21 and leptin in dairy cows and sheep will be used to illustrate the potential of recently discovered signals to coordinate metabolism during physiologically demanding states such as early lactation.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Rumen fungi, archaea, and their interactions.

Anaerobic gut fungi (AGF) were the last phylum to be identified within the rumen microbiome and account for 7% to 9% of microbial biomass. They produce potent lignocellulases that degrade recalcitrant plant cell walls, and rhizoids that can penetrate the cuticle of plant cells, exposing internal components to other microbiota. Interspecies H2 transfer between AGF and rumen methanogenic archaea is an essential metabolic process in the rumen that occurs during the reduction of CO2 to CH4 by methanogens. This symbiotic relationship is bolstered by hydrogensomes, fungal organelles that generate H2 and formate. Interspecies H2 transfer prevents the accumulation of reducing equivalents that would otherwise impede fermentation. The extent to which hydrogenosomes serve as a conduit for H2 flow to methanogens is unknown, but it is likely greater with low-quality forages. Strategies that alter the production of CH4 could also have implications for H2 transfer by anaerobic fungi. Understanding the factors that drive these interactions and H2 flow could provide insight into the effect of reducing CH4 production on the activity of ruminal fungi and the digestion of low-quality feeds.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Leveraging computer vision, large language models, and multimodal machine learning for optimal decision making in dairy farming.

This article explores various applications of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in dairy farming, including the use of computer vision systems (CVS) for animal identification, BCS and body shape analysis, and potential uses of large language models (LLM) in the dairy industry. Among recent advancements in precision livestock farming tools, CVS have gained popularity as powerful solutions for individual animal monitoring. These systems can capture phenotypes from multiple animals simultaneously using a single device in an automated and nonintrusive manner. To match animals with their corresponding predicted phenotypes, these systems require individual animal identification, which can be achieved through external identification systems or computer vision-based animal identification algorithms. Additionally, modern natural language processing techniques, such as LLM, offer opportunities for advanced data integration, including unstructured textual data. Furthermore, we discuss the challenges associated with integrating data from different sources and modalities, such as images, text, and tabular data, into multimodal machine learning systems for phenotype prediction, which also represents a key area of AI application. Digital technologies such as CVS and LLM have the potential to transform dairy farming; CVS can provide individual and objective assessments of animal health, whereas LLM can integrate diverse data sources for phenotype prediction. Although there are many potential challenges ahead, these technologies offer significant opportunities for advancing animal health monitoring, farm management, and individual phenotyping.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Maternal nutrient supply-Impacts on physiological and whole-animal outcomes in offspring.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Maternal nutrient supply-Impacts on physiological and whole-animal outcomes in offspring.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Rumen protozoa and viruses-New insights into their diversity and potential roles through omics lenses; A review.

The rumen microbiome is essential for breaking down indigestible plant material, supplying ruminants with most of their ME and MP. Whereas research has primarily focused on bacteria and archaea, protozoa and viruses (phages) have only gained attention in recent years. Protozoa contribute to feed digestion and fermentation, but as predators, they regulate microbial populations by lysing large quantities of microbial cells (the primary protein source for ruminants) and influence the amount of microbial protein reaching the small intestines, along with other mechanisms of interactions. Although rumen viruses (or phages) are abundant and diverse, they remain the least understood component of the rumen ecosystem. They can profoundly affect the rumen microbiome by directly lysing their hosts and reprogramming host metabolism through multiple mechanisms, including gene transfer and alteration of central carbon metabolism. Recent advances in omics technologies have deepened our understanding of these viruses, revealing their complex roles in rumen function. This review integrates current knowledge and recent discoveries from omics studies, highlighting the transformative effect of omics-based approaches. It also identifies critical knowledge gaps and outlines future research directions, including selective inhibition of rumen protozoa, development of phages as potential intervention tools to manage specific undesirable rumen microbes, and the causal effects of rumen viruses on microbial dynamics and animal productivity.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: The involvement of the endocannabinoid system in metabolic and inflammatory responses in dairy cows during negative energy balance.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: The involvement of the endocannabinoid system in metabolic and inflammatory responses in dairy cows during negative energy balance.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Stochastic and deterministic factors that shape the rumen microbiome.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Stochastic and deterministic factors that shape the rumen microbiome.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Paternal nutrient supply-Impacts on physiological and whole-animal outcomes in offspring.

Recent evidence suggests that environmental factors experienced by sires can be transmitted through the ejaculate (seminal plasma + sperm) into the female reproductive tract, influencing fertilization, embryo development, and postnatal offspring outcomes. This concept is termed paternal programming. In rodents, sire nutrition has been shown to directly alter offspring outcomes through sperm epigenetic signatures, DNA damage and oxidative stress, cytokine profiles, and the seminal microbiome. Response variables altered in rodent models, including adiposity, muscle mass, metabolic responses, and reproductive performance, could have major productivity and financial implications for producers if these paternal programming responses are also present in ruminant species. However, a paucity of data exists regarding paternal programming in ruminants. The limited data in the literature mainly point to alterations in the sperm epigenome as a result of sire diet or environment. Global nutrition has been implicated in ruminant models to alter seminal cytokine profiles, which could subsequently alter the uterine environment and immune response to mating. Several reports indicate that embryo development and epigenetic signatures can be influenced by sire plane of nutrition and inclusion of specific feed ingredients into diets (polyunsaturated fatty acids, folic acid, and rumen-protected methionine). Models of sheep nutrition indicate that addition of rumen-protected methionine can affect DNA methylation and offspring performance characteristics extending to the F3 generation, and that divergent planes of sire nutrition can cause altered hormone profiles and insulin and glucose metabolism in offspring. Almost unlimited opportunities for discovery in this area exist, but researchers are encouraged to target critical questions such as whether and to what extent paternal programming effects are present in common management scenarios, the mechanisms by which paternal programming is inherited in ruminants, and whether the effects of paternal nutrition interact with those of maternal nutrition to influence offspring physiology, whole-animal outcomes, and herd or flock productivity.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Developmental epigenetics-Understanding genetic and sexually dimorphic responses to parental diet and outcomes following assisted reproduction.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: Developmental epigenetics-Understanding genetic and sexually dimorphic responses to parental diet and outcomes following assisted reproduction.

International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology: The role of rumen microbiome in the development of methane mitigation strategies for ruminant livestock.

Ruminants play an important role in global food security and nutrition. The rumen microbial community provides ruminants with a unique ability to convert human indigestible plant matter into high quality edible protein. However, enteric CH4 produced in the rumen is both a potent GHG and a ME loss for ruminants. As the rumen microbiome constitutes 15% to 40% of the interanimal variation in enteric CH4 emissions, understanding the microbiological mechanisms underpinning ruminal methanogenesis and its interaction with the host animal is crucial for developing CH4 mitigation strategies. Variation in the relative abundance of different microbial species has been observed in cattle with contrasting residual CH4 emission and CH4 yield, with up to 20% of the variation in interanimal CH4 emissions attributable to the presence of a small number of microbial species. The demonstration of ruminotypes associated with high or low CH4 emissions suggests that interactions within complex microbial consortia and with their host are a major source of variation in CH4 emissions. Consequently, microbiome-assisted genomic approaches are being developed to select low CH4-emitting cattle, with breeding values for enteric CH4 being included as part of national breeding programs. Generating rumen microbiome data for use in selection programs is expensive, therefore, identifying microbial biomarkers in milk or plasma to develop predictive models which include microbial predictors in equations based on animal-related data is required. A better understanding of the rumen microbiome has also aided the development and refinements of antimethanogenic feed additives. However, these strategies, which increase the amount of reducing equivalents in the rumen ecosystem, do not generally result in an enrichment of propionate or an improvement in animal performance. Current research aims to provide alternative sinks to reducing equivalents and to stimulate activity of commensal microbes or the supplementation of direct fed microbials to capture lost energy. Furthering our knowledge of the rumen microbiome and its interaction with the host will aid in the development of CH4 mitigation strategies for ruminant livestock.

7th International Symposium on Phytochemicals in Medicine and Food

7th International Symposium on Phytochemicals in Medicine and Food

The 8th International Symposium on Phospholipids in Pharmaceutical Research - An update on current research in phospholipids presented at the biennial symposium of the Phospholipid Research Center Heidelberg.

The 8th International Symposium on Phospholipids in Pharmaceutical Research - An update on current research in phospholipids presented at the biennial symposium of the Phospholipid Research Center Heidelberg.

Circulant Digraphs with Larger Linear Guessing Number and Smaller Degree

The guessing number of a digraph is a new invariant in graph theory raised by S. Riis in 2006 and based on its applications in network coding and boolean circuit complexity theory. In this paper, we present the lower and upper bounds on a guessing number and linear guessing number of circulant digraphs by using cyclic codes. As an application of the lower bound, we construct a series of circulant digraphs with a larger linear guessing number and smaller degree. All of these circulant digraphs provide negative answers to S. Riis’ two open problems on the guessing number proposed in [Proceedings of the 2006 4th International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile]. We also give a method to construct circulant digraphs with good estimation on their (linear) guessing number from cyclic codes.

PREFACE: Special issue dedicated to the International Symposium “Chemical Engineering – Environment, Sustainability and the Future” held in commemoration of Professor N.K. Bose: Chemical Engineering Department, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

PREFACE: Special issue dedicated to the International Symposium “<i>Chemical Engineering – Environment, Sustainability and the Future</i>” held in commemoration of Professor N.K. Bose: Chemical Engineering Department, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India