Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Small Ruminant Farms in Southern Spain.

The primary population of small ruminants in Spain is concentrated in the southern region, a critical area for the country's livestock production. Indirect economic losses can occur when this livestock is affected by gastrointestinal parasites. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of these parasites in small ruminant herds (159 sheep and 39 goats) through coprological analyses and conducted a survey on farmers' management practices related to gastrointestinal parasite control. The survey results revealed some important aspects: monitoring through coprological analyses is not a common practice; veterinarians are not typically involved in deworming plans; anthelmintic treatment in adults is often applied twice a year in sheep and once a year in goats; and finally, drug rotation was higher in sheep farms. Coprological analyses showed Eimeria spp. as the most common parasitic infection, followed by Strongyles infection. Other parasites like Moniezia spp., Trichuris spp., and D. dendriticum were less important, although their prevalence was higher in sheep than goats. This constitutes the first report on the epidemiological status of gastrointestinal parasites in small ruminants in southern Spain. Based on the survey findings, the introduction of certain management measures on farms could potentially mitigate parasite infections.

Loss of protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor delta PTPRD increases the number of cortical neurons, impairs synaptic function and induces autistic-like behaviors in adult mice.

BACKGROUND: The brain cortex is responsible for many higher-level cognitive functions. Disruptions during cortical development have long-lasting consequences on brain function and are associated with the etiology of brain disorders. We previously found that the protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor delta Ptprd, which is genetically associated with several human neurodevelopmental disorders, is essential to cortical brain development. Loss of Ptprd expression induced an aberrant increase of excitatory neurons in embryonic and neonatal mice by hyper-activating the pro-neurogenic receptors TrkB and PDGFRß in neural precursor cells. However, whether these alterations have long-lasting consequences in adulthood remains unknown. RESULTS: Here, we found that in Ptprd+/- or Ptprd-/- mice, the developmental increase of excitatory neurons persists through adulthood, affecting excitatory synaptic function in the medial prefrontal cortex. Likewise, heterozygosity or homozygosity for Ptprd also induced an increase of inhibitory cortical GABAergic neurons and impaired inhibitory synaptic transmission. Lastly, Ptprd+/- or Ptprd-/- mice displayed autistic-like behaviors and no learning and memory impairments or anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that loss of Ptprd has long-lasting effects on cortical neuron number and synaptic function that may aberrantly impact ASD-like behaviors.

Liver Histopathological and Immunohistochemical Evaluation from Fasciola hepatica Experimentally Infected and Reinfected Sheep.

Fasciolosis is an important economic disease of livestock. There is a global interest in the development of protective vaccines since the current anthelmintic therapy is no longer sustainable. A better knowledge of the host-parasite interaction is needed to design effective vaccines. To date, few studies have evaluated host-parasite interaction by comparing infected and reinfected animals. The present study evaluates the microscopical hepatic lesions in sheep infected and reinfected with Fasciola hepatica during the acute and chronic stages of infection. The histopathological study revealed the presence of necrotizing foci (NF1) associated with larvae migration during the early stages of infection in the primoinfected (PI) and reinfected (RI) groups. In the late stages of infection of the PI group and at the early and late stages of infection in the RI groups, extensive necrotizing/hemorrhagic foci (NF2) were found in the vicinity of enlarged bile ducts, some containing adult flukes, suggesting parasites may have caused NF2 while feeding. The immunohistochemical study revealed an increase in Foxp3+ T cells in both PI and RI groups with respect to the UC group and in the infiltrates adjacent to NF1 in the RI groups with respect to the PI group, suggesting the F. hepatica induce Foxp3 T cell expansion to facilitate parasite survival. In addition, in both the PI and RI groups, and during acute and chronic stages of the infection, a poor expression of iNOS was found accompanied by a strong expression of CD163, suggesting a marked M2 activation of macrophages in the hepatic lesions, which may be related with healing processes, and it also may facilitate parasite survival. The main differences between PI and RI animals were the more severe infiltration of eosinophils and Foxp3+ T cells, whereas RI did not modify M2 activation of macrophages which occurs since the early stages of primoinfection.

Revealing the Prevalence of Toxoplasma in Sierra Morena's Wild Boar: An ELISA-Based Study Using Meat Juice.

This research work focused on the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in wild boar from the Sierra Morena region. We conducted an ELISA analysis using meat juice samples. A total of 892 samples from six hunting seasons (2013-2019) were collected from the provinces that constitute the Sierra Morena Mountain range. These samples were analyzed using the Pigtype® ELISA kit, specifically developed for detecting T. gondii in meat juice. The overall prevalence of T. gondii in Sierra Morena was 23.2%. The highest prevalences were observed in Córdoba (31.6%) and Jaén (25.9%). These provinces exhibit the highest density of wild boar as well as the greatest presence of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). Further in-depth studies are necessary, but it appears that the presence of wild felids and scavenger behavior may be associated with this observation.

Fasciolosis: pathogenesis, host-parasite interactions, and implication in vaccine development.

Fasciola hepatica is distributed worldwide, causing substantial economic losses in the animal husbandry industry. Human fasciolosis is an emerging zoonosis in Andean America, Asia, and Africa. The control of the disease, both in humans and animals, is based on using anthelmintic drugs, which has resulted in increased resistance to the most effective anthelmintics, such as triclabendazole, in many countries. This, together with the concerns about drug residues in food and the environment, has increased the interest in preventive measures such as a vaccine to help control the disease in endemic areas. Despite important efforts over the past two decades and the work carried out with numerous vaccine candidates, none of them has demonstrated consistent and reproducible protection in target species. This is at least in part due to the high immunomodulation capacity of the parasite, making ineffective the host response in susceptible species such as ruminants. It is widely accepted that a deeper knowledge of the host-parasite interactions is needed for a more rational design of vaccine candidates. In recent years, the use of emerging technologies has notably increased the amount of data about these interactions. In the present study, current knowledge of host-parasite interactions and their implication in Fasciola hepatica vaccine development is reviewed.

Evaluating the Adiabatic Invariants in Magnetized Plasmas Using a Classical Ehrenfest Theorem.

In this article, we address the reliance on probability density functions to obtain macroscopic properties in systems with multiple degrees of freedom as plasmas, and the limitations of expensive techniques for solving Equations such as Vlasov's. We introduce the Ehrenfest procedure as an alternative tool that promises to address these challenges more efficiently. Based on the conjugate variable theorem and the well-known fluctuation-dissipation theorem, this procedure offers a less expensive way of deriving time evolution Equations for macroscopic properties in systems far from equilibrium. We investigate the application of the Ehrenfest procedure for the study of adiabatic invariants in magnetized plasmas. We consider charged particles trapped in a dipole magnetic field and apply the procedure to the study of adiabatic invariants in magnetized plasmas and derive Equations for the magnetic moment, longitudinal invariant, and magnetic flux. We validate our theoretical predictions using a test particle simulation, showing good agreement between theory and numerical results for these observables. Although we observed small differences due to time scales and simulation limitations, our research supports the utility of the Ehrenfest procedure for understanding and modeling the behavior of particles in magnetized plasmas. We conclude that this procedure provides a powerful tool for the study of dynamical systems and statistical mechanics out of equilibrium, and opens perspectives for applications in other systems with probabilistic continuity.

Implications of Physical Exercise on Episodic Memory and Anxiety: The Role of the Serotonergic System.

There is a growing interest in investigating the effects of physical exercise on cognitive performance, particularly episodic memory. Similarly, an increasing number of studies in recent decades have studied the effects of physical activity on mood and anxiety disorders. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness of the importance of regular physical activity for both mental and physical health. Nevertheless, the exact mechanisms underlying these effects are not fully understood. Interestingly, recent findings suggest that the serotonergic system may play a key role in mediating the effects of physical exercise on episodic memory and anxiety. In this review, we discuss the impact of physical exercise on both episodic memory and anxiety in human and animal models. In addition, we explore the accumulating evidence that supports a role for the serotonergic system in the effects of physical exercise on episodic memory and anxiety.

Model based on COVID-19 evidence to predict and improve pandemic control.

Based on the extensive data accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic, we put forward simple to implement indicators, that should alert authorities and provide early warnings of an impending sanitary crisis. In fact, Testing, Tracing, and Isolation (TTI) in conjunction with disciplined social distancing and vaccination were expected to achieve negligible COVID-19 contagion levels; however, they proved to be insufficient, and their implementation has led to controversial social, economic and ethical challenges. This paper focuses on the development of simple indicators, based on the experience gained by COVID-19 data, which provide a sort of yellow light as to when an epidemic might expand, despite some short term decrements. We show that if case growth is not stopped during the 7 to 14 days after onset, the growth risk increases considerably, and warrants immediate attention. Our model examines not only the COVID contagion propagation speed, but also how it accelerates as a function of time. We identify trends that emerge under the various policies that were applied, as well as their differences among countries. The data for all countries was obtained from ourworldindata.org. Our main conclusion is that if the reduction spread is lost during one, or at most two weeks, urgent measures should be implemented to avoid scenarios in which the epidemic gains strong impetus.

The interaction of the oxytocin receptor gene and child abuse subtypes on social cognition in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder type I.

Background: Most studies on cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder have neglected the role of early stress, despite the high frequency of childhood maltreatment in this clinical group. The aim of this study was to establish a connection between a history of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in childhood and social cognition (SC) in patients with bipolar disorder type I (BD-I) in euthymia, and to test a possible moderating effect of the single nucleotide polymorphism rs53576 in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). Methods: One hundred and one participants were included in this study. History of child abuse was evaluated using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form. Cognitive functioning was appraised using The Awareness of Social Inference Test (social cognition). The interaction effect between the independent variables OXTR rs53576 (AA/AG and GG) and the absence or presence of any one type of child maltreatment or a combination of types was analyzed using a generalized linear model regression. Results: BD-I patients who had been victims of physical and emotional abuse in childhood and were carriers of the GG genotype at OXTR rs53576 displayed greater SC alterations, specifically in emotion recognition. Discussion: This gene-environment interaction finding suggests a differential susceptibility model of a genetic variants that can be plausibly associated with SC functioning and might help to identify at-risk clinical subgroups within a diagnostic category. Future research aimed at testing the interlevel impact of early stress constitutes an ethical-clinical duty given the high rates of childhood maltreatment reported in BD-I patients.

Protein kinase B (AKT) upregulation and Thy-1-αvß3 integrin-induced phosphorylation of Connexin43 by activated AKT in astrogliosis.

BACKGROUND: In response to brain injury or inflammation, astrocytes undergo hypertrophy, proliferate, and migrate to the damaged zone. These changes, collectively known as "astrogliosis", initially protect the brain; however, astrogliosis can also cause neuronal dysfunction. Additionally, these astrocytes undergo intracellular changes involving alterations in the expression and localization of many proteins, including αvß3 integrin. Our previous reports indicate that Thy-1, a neuronal glycoprotein, binds to this integrin inducing Connexin43 (Cx43) hemichannel (HC) opening, ATP release, and astrocyte migration. Despite such insight, important links and molecular events leading to astrogliosis remain to be defined. METHODS: Using bioinformatics approaches, we analyzed different Gene Expression Omnibus datasets to identify changes occurring in reactive astrocytes as compared to astrocytes from the normal mouse brain. In silico analysis was validated by both qRT-PCR and immunoblotting using reactive astrocyte cultures from the normal rat brain treated with TNF and from the brain of a hSOD1G93A transgenic mouse model. We evaluated the phosphorylation of Cx43 serine residue 373 (S373) by AKT and ATP release as a functional assay for HC opening. In vivo experiments were also performed with an AKT inhibitor (AKTi). RESULTS: The bioinformatics analysis revealed that genes of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway were among the most significantly altered in reactive astrocytes. mRNA and protein levels of PI3K, AKT, as well as Cx43, were elevated in reactive astrocytes from normal rats and from hSOD1G93A transgenic mice, as compared to controls. In vitro, reactive astrocytes stimulated with Thy-1 responded by activating AKT, which phosphorylated S373Cx43. Increased pS373Cx43 augmented the release of ATP to the extracellular medium and AKTi inhibited these Thy-1-induced responses. Furthermore, in an in vivo model of inflammation (brain damage), AKTi decreased the levels of astrocyte reactivity markers and S373Cx43 phosphorylation. CONCLUSIONS: Here, we identify changes in the PI3K/AKT molecular signaling network and show how they participate in astrogliosis by regulating the HC protein Cx43. Moreover, because HC opening and ATP release are important in astrocyte reactivity, the phosphorylation of Cx43 by AKT and the associated increase in ATP release identify a potential therapeutic window of opportunity to limit the adverse effects of astrogliosis.

Antiparasitic Tannin-Rich Plants from the South of Europe for Grazing Livestock: A Review.

Internal parasites are one of the main causes of health threats in livestock production, especially in extensive livestock farming. Despite the environmental toxic effects (loss of dung beetles, biodiversity, and other issues) and resistance phenomenon derived from their prolonged use, anti-parasitic chemical pharmaceuticals are frequently used, even in organic farming. Such a situation within the context of climate change requires urgent exploration of alternative compounds to solve these problems and apparent conflicts between organic farming objectives regarding the environment, public health, and animal health. This review is focused on some plants (Artemisia spp., Cichorium intybus L., Ericaceae family, Hedysarum coronarium L., Lotus spp., Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) that are well known for their antiparasitic effect, are voluntarily grazed and ingested, and can be spontaneously found or cultivated in southern Europe and other regions with a Mediterranean climate. The differences found between effectiveness, parasite species affected, in vitro/in vivo experiments, and active compounds are explored. A total of 87 papers where antiparasitic activity of those plants have been studied are included in this review; 75% studied the effect on ruminant parasites, where gastrointestinal nematodes were the parasite group most studied (70%), and these included natural (31%) and experimental (37%) infections.

Assigning Degrees of Stochasticity to Blazar Light Curves in the Radio Band Using Complex Networks.

We focus on characterizing the high-energy emission mechanisms of blazars by analyzing the variability in the radio band of the light curves of more than a thousand sources. We are interested in assigning complexity parameters to these sources, modeling the time series of the light curves with the method of the Horizontal Visibility Graph (HVG), which allows us to obtain properties from degree distributions, such as a characteristic exponent to describe its stochasticity and the Kullback-Leibler Divergence (KLD), presenting a new perspective to the methods commonly used to study Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). We contrast these parameters with the excess variance, which is an astronomical measurement of variability in light curves; at the same time, we use the spectral classification of the sources. While it is not possible to find significant correlations with the excess variance, the degree distributions extracted from the network are detecting differences related to the spectral classification of blazars. These differences suggest a chaotic behavior in the time series for the BL Lac sources and a correlated stochastic behavior in the time series for the FSRQ sources. Our results show that complex networks may be a valuable alternative tool to study AGNs according to the variability of their energy output.

Polymorphisms in Schizophrenia-Related Genes Are Potential Predictors of Antipsychotic Treatment Resistance and Refractoriness.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 30% of individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) are resistant to conventional antipsychotic drug therapy (AP). Of these, one-third are also resistant to the second-line treatment, clozapine. Treatment resistance and refractoriness are associated with increased morbidity and disability, making timely detection of these issues critical. Variability in treatment responsiveness is partly genetic, but research has yet to identify variants suitable for personalizing antipsychotic prescriptions. METHODS: We evaluated potential associations between response to AP and candidate gene variants previously linked to SZ or treatment response. Two groups of patients with SZ were evaluated: one receiving clozapine (n = 135) and the other receiving another second-generation AP (n = 61). Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genes OXT, OXTR, CNR1, DDC, and DRD2 were analyzed. RESULTS: Several SNPs were associated with response vs. resistance to AP or clozapine. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study of its kind, to our knowledge, in our admixed Chilean population to address the complete treatment response spectrum. We identified SNPs predictive of treatment-resistant SZ in the genes OXT, CNR1, DDC, and DRD2.

Langevin based turbulence model and its relationship with Kappa distributions.

Kappa distributions (or [Formula: see text]-like distributions) represent a robust framework to characterize and understand complex phenomena with high degrees of freedom, as turbulent systems, using non-extensive statistical mechanics. Here we consider a coupled map lattice Langevin based model to analyze the relation of a turbulent flow, with its spatial scale dynamic, and [Formula: see text]-like distributions. We generate the steady-state velocity distribution of the fluid at each scale, and show that the generated distributions are well fitted by [Formula: see text]-like distributions. We observe a robust relation between the [Formula: see text] parameter, the scale, and the Reynolds number of the system, Re. In particular, our results show that there is a closed scaling relation between the level of turbulence and the [Formula: see text] parameter; namely [Formula: see text]. We expect these results to be useful to characterize turbulence in different contexts, and our numerical predictions to be tested by observations and experimental setups.

Fatty acid profile, secondary compounds and antioxidant activities in the fresh forage, hay and silage of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) and sulla (Hedysarum coronarium).

BACKGROUND: Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) and sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) are forage legumes usually preserved to optimize their utilization as feedstuffs. However, the method of preservation modifies the chemical composition differently in both legume species. Secondary compounds (such as proanthocyanidins, fatty acids, carotenoids and tocopherols) present in forages affect the quality of animal products. Therefore, the effect of preservation on the contents of secondary compounds should be investigated. Accoridngly, samples of sainfoin and sulla were directly freeze-dried (fresh), dried at ambient temperature (hay) and vacuum-packaged for 82 days (silage). RESULTS: In both legumes, the total fatty acid and C18:3 n-3 contents decreased and C16:0 increased with preservation (P < 0.001), with a greater effect for the hays than for the silages. For both legumes, the lutein, neoxanthin and violaxanthin contents decreased to a greater extent in the silages than in the hays (P < 0.001). Both hays exhibited the lowest ß-carotene concentrations (P < 0.001). The α-tocopherol contents decreased in hays, but not in silages, compared to the fresh forages of both legumes (P < 0.001). The antioxidant activities were lower in the silages than in the hays and fresh forages (P < 0.001) and were very strongly related to the contents of polyphenols and proanthocyanidins (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Haymaking affected the fatty acid, carotenoid and α-tocopherol contents to a greater extent but had a lesser effect on the antioxidant activities than silage-making, which were very strongly related to their contents of polyphenols and proanthocyanidins. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Main Factors Determining the Economic Production Sustained by Public Long-Term Care Spending in Spain.

Policy reforms of 2012 introduced in Spain a set of austerity measures to emerge from the 2008 global recession. However, attaining the sustainability of the long-term care (LTC) system by reducing public spending overlooks the drawbacks of a lower demand to meet dependency needs. In this context, this study is intended to provide a deeper insight into the economic factors affecting the shifts in the industrial output sustained by LTC spending before and after the austerity measures adopted in 2012. To accomplish this, we first apply a model based on the Input-Output methodology to quantify the output arisen from the consumption demand to meet the dependency needs covered by LTC spending in 2009, 2012 and 2015. Using the results of this model, we carry out a Structural Decomposition Analysis to explore the main drivers of change in the Spanish economic production for 2009-2012 and 2012-2015. The findings reveal that LTC demand factors have proven more relevant than technology factors in increasing production for the two periods considered. Such findings might guide political decision-making on the management of the LTC system in Spain, showing that public LTC spending does not merely contribute to the welfare of dependents, but also may boost economic production.

Altered Grooming Syntax and Amphetamine-Induced Dopamine Release in EAAT3 Overexpressing Mice.

The excitatory amino acid transporter EAAT3 plays an important role in the neuronal uptake of glutamate regulating the activation of glutamate receptors. Polymorphisms in the gene-encoding EAAT3 have been associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), although the mechanisms underlying this relationship are still unknown. We recently reported that mice with increased EAAT3 expression in forebrain neurons (EAAT3 g lo /CMKII) display behavioral and synaptic features relevant to OCD, including increased grooming, higher anxiety-like behavior and altered cortico-striatal synaptic function. The dopamine neurotransmitter system is implicated in ritualistic behaviors. Indeed, dopaminergic neurons express EAAT3, and mice lacking EAAT3 exhibit decreased dopamine release and decreased expression of the dopamine D1 receptor. Moreover, EAAT3 plays a role on the effect of the psychostimulant amphetamine. As such, we sought to determine if the OCD-like behavior in EAAT3 g lo /CMKII mice is accompanied by altered nigro-striatal dopaminergic transmission. The aim of this study was to analyze dopamine transmission both in basal conditions and after an acute challenge of amphetamine, using behavioral, neurochemical, molecular, and cellular approaches. We found that in basal conditions, EAAT3 g lo /CMKII mice performed more grooming events and that they remained in phase 1 of the grooming chain syntax compared with control littermates. Administration of amphetamine increased the number of grooming events in control mice, while EAAT3 g lo /CMKII mice remain unaffected. Interestingly, the grooming syntax of amphetamine-control mice resembled that of EAAT3 g lo /CMKII mice in basal conditions. Using in vivo microdialysis, we found decreased basal dopamine levels in EAAT3 g lo /CMKII compared with control mice. Unexpectedly, we found that after acute amphetamine, EAAT3 g lo /CMKII mice had a higher release of dopamine compared with that of control mice, suggesting that EAAT3 overexpression leads to increased dopamine releasability. To determine postsynaptic effect of EAAT3 overexpression over dopamine transmission, we performed Western blot analysis of dopaminergic proteins and found that EAAT3 g lo /CMKII mice have higher expression of D2 receptors, suggesting a higher inhibition of the indirect striatal pathway. Together, the data indicate that EAAT3 overexpression impacts on dopamine transmission, making dopamine neurons more sensitive to the effect of amphetamine and leading to a disbalance between the direct and indirect striatal pathways that favors the performance of repetitive behaviors.

Applying the Horizontal Visibility Graph Method to Study Irreversibility of Electromagnetic Turbulence in Non-Thermal Plasmas.

One of the fundamental open questions in plasma physics is the role of non-thermal particles distributions in poorly collisional plasma environments, a system that is commonly found throughout the Universe, e.g., the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere correspond to natural plasma physics laboratories in which turbulent phenomena can be studied. Our study perspective is born from the method of Horizontal Visibility Graph (HVG) that has been developed in the last years to analyze time series avoiding the tedium and the high computational cost that other methods offer. Here, we build a complex network based on directed HVG technique applied to magnetic field fluctuations time series obtained from Particle In Cell (PIC) simulations of a magnetized collisionless plasma to distinguish the degree distributions and calculate the Kullback-Leibler Divergence (KLD) as a measure of relative entropy of data sets produced by processes that are not in equilibrium. First, we analyze the connectivity probability distribution for the undirected version of HVG finding how the Kappa distribution for low values of κ tends to be an uncorrelated time series, while the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution shows a correlated stochastic processes behavior. Subsequently, we investigate the degree of temporary irreversibility of magnetic fluctuations that are self-generated by the plasma, comparing the case of a thermal plasma (described by a Maxwell-Botzmann velocity distribution function) with non-thermal Kappa distributions. We have shown that the KLD associated to the HVG is able to distinguish the level of reversibility that is associated to the thermal equilibrium in the plasma, because the dissipative degree of the system increases as the value of κ parameter decreases and the distribution function departs from the Maxwell-Boltzmann equilibrium.

Oxidative stress and impaired oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation in neurological disorders.

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) account for 5% of the resident parenchymal central nervous system glial cells. OPCs are not only a back-up for the loss of oligodendrocytes that occurs due to brain injury or inflammation-induced demyelination (remyelination) but are also pivotal in plastic processes such as learning and memory (adaptive myelination). OPC differentiation into mature myelinating oligodendrocytes is controlled by a complex transcriptional network and depends on high metabolic and mitochondrial demand. Mounting evidence shows that OPC dysfunction, culminating in the lack of OPC differentiation, mediates the progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Importantly, neurodegeneration is characterised by oxidative and carbonyl stress, which may primarily affect OPC plasticity due to the high metabolic demand and a limited antioxidant capacity associated with this cell type. The underlying mechanisms of how oxidative/carbonyl stress disrupt OPC differentiation remain enigmatic and a focus of current research efforts. This review proposes a role for oxidative/carbonyl stress in interfering with the transcriptional and metabolic changes required for OPC differentiation. In particular, oligodendrocyte (epi)genetics, cellular defence and repair responses, mitochondrial signalling and respiration, and lipid metabolism represent key mechanisms how oxidative/carbonyl stress may hamper OPC differentiation in neurodegenerative disorders. Understanding how oxidative/carbonyl stress impacts OPC function may pave the way for future OPC-targeted treatment strategies in neurodegenerative disorders.

The effect of the inclusion of pea in lamb fattening concentrate on in vitro and in situ rumen fermentation.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the proportion of pea (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%), as a partial replacement for soybean meal (SBM) in the fattening concentrate, on ruminal fermentation in lambs. Gas and methane (CH4 ) production, in vitro dry matter degradability (IVDMD), ammonia (NH3 -N), and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production after 24 h of incubation were evaluated. The concentrates were also incubated in the rumen of the wethers for 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24 h to evaluate the effects of pea inclusion on in situ dry matter degradability (DMD), organic matter degradability (OMD), nitrogen degradability (ND), NH3 -N, and VFA production. RESULTS: In the in vitro assay, the inclusion of pea only affected gas production (mL day-1 degraded dry matter), CH4 production (mL day-1 degraded dry matter), and IVDMD (P < 0.05), and tended to affect NH3 -N content (P < 0.10) without affecting VFA production. In the in situ assay, the inclusion of pea increased DMD, OMD, and ND linearly (P < 0.001), whereas pea inclusion decreased NH3 -N content linearly (P < 0.05). Neither total VFA production nor the proportion of acetic acid were affected by pea inclusion (P > 0.05), but the propionic proportion increased with the proportion of pea included. CONCLUSIONS: The best level of pea inclusion in the concentrate could not be established based on the results of this study. However, the results showed that the inclusion of pea provides a good alternative protein source. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.