Effects of ambient temperature on growth performance, slaughter traits, meat quality and serum antioxidant function in Pekin duck.

The present study investigated the effects of temperature on growth performance, slaughtering traits, meat quality and antioxidant function of Pekin ducks from 21-42 d of age. Single factor analysis of variance was used in this experiment, 144 21 d-old Pekin ducks were randomly allotted to 4 environmentally controlled chambers: T20 (20°C), T23 (23°C), T26 (26°C) and T29 (29°C), with 3 replicates in each group (12 ducks in each replicate), the relative humidity of all groups is 74%. During the 21-day trial period, feed and water were freely available. At 42 d, the BW (body weight) and ADG (average daily gain) of T26 were significantly lower than T20 (p < 0.05), and the T29 was significantly lower than T20 and T23 (p < 0.05). The ADFI (average daily feed intake) of T26 and T29 were significantly lower than T20 and T23 (p < 0.05). Compared to the T29, the T20 showed a significant increase oblique body length and chest width, and both the keel length and thigh muscle weight significantly increased in both the T20 and T23, while the pectoral muscle weight increased significantly in other groups (p < 0.05). The cooking loss of the T29 was the lowest (p < 0.05). The T-AOC (total antioxidant capacity) of T29 was significantly higher than the other groups (p < 0.05), the SOD (superoxide dismutase) in the T29 was significantly higher than the T23 and T26 (p < 0.05). In conditions of 74% relative humidity, the BW and ADFI of Pekin ducks significantly decrease when the environmental temperature exceeds 26°C, and the development of body size and muscle weight follows this pattern. The growth development and serum redox state of Pekin ducks are more ideal and stable at temperatures of 20°C and 23°C.

Adhesive hydrogel releases protocatechualdehyde-Fe3+ complex to promote three healing stages for accelerated therapy of oral ulcers.

Oral ulcers can significantly reduce the life quality of patients and even lead to malignant transformations. Local treatments using topical agents are often ineffective because of the wet and dynamic environment of the oral cavity. Current clinical treatments for oral ulcers, such as corticosteroids, have limitations and side effects for long-term usage. Here, we develop adhesive hydrogel patches (AHPs) that effectively promote the healing of oral ulcers in a rat model. The AHPs are comprised of the quaternary ammonium salt of chitosan, aldehyde-functionalized hyaluronic acid, and a tridentate complex of protocatechualdehyde and Fe3+ (PF). The AHPs exhibit tunable mechanical properties, self-healing ability, and wet adhesion on the oral mucosa. Through controlling the formula of the AHPs, PF released from the AHPs in a temporal manner. We further show that the AHPs have good biocompatibility and the capability to heal oral ulcers rapidly. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments indicate that the PF released from AHPs facilitated ulcer healing by suppressing inflammation, promoting macrophage polarization, enhancing cell proliferation, and inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition involving inflammation, proliferation, and maturation stages. This study provides insights into the healing of oral ulcers and presents an effective therapeutic biomaterial for the treatment of oral ulcers. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: By addressing the challenges associated with current clinical treatments for oral ulcers, the development of adhesive hydrogel patches (AHPs) presents an effective approach. These AHPs possess unique properties, such as tunable mechanical characteristics, self-healing ability, and strong adhesion to the mucosa. Through controlled release of protocatechualdehyde-Fe3+ complex, the AHPs facilitate the healing process by suppressing inflammation, promoting cell proliferation, and inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition. The study not only provides valuable insights into the healing mechanisms of oral ulcers but also introduces a promising therapeutic biomaterial. This work holds significant scientific interest and demonstrates the potential to greatly improve the treatment outcomes and quality of life for individuals suffering from oral ulcers.

Revisited and innovative perspectives of oral ulcer: from biological specificity to local treatment.

Mouth ulcers, a highly prevalent ailment affecting the oral mucosa, leading to pain and discomfort, significantly impacting the patient's daily life. The development of innovative approaches for oral ulcer treatment is of great importance. Moreover, a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of mouth ulcers will facilitate the development of innovative therapeutic strategies. The oral environment possesses distinct traits as it serves as the gateway to the digestive and respiratory systems. The permeability of various epithelial layers can influence drug absorption. Moreover, oral mucosal injuries exhibit distinct healing patterns compared to cutaneous lesions, influenced by various inherent and extrinsic factors. Furthermore, the moist and dynamic oral environment, influenced by saliva and daily physiological functions like chewing and speaking, presents additional challenges in local therapy. Also, suitable mucosal adhesion materials are crucial to alleviate pain and promote healing process. To this end, the review comprehensively examines the anatomical and structural aspects of the oral cavity, elucidates the healing mechanisms of oral ulcers, explores the factors contributing to scar-free healing in the oral mucosa, and investigates the application of mucosal adhesive materials as drug delivery systems. This endeavor seeks to offer novel insights and perspectives for the treatment of oral ulcers.

The Aerial Guide Dog: A Low-Cognitive-Load Indoor Electronic Travel Aid for Visually Impaired Individuals.

Most navigation aids for visually impaired individuals require users to pay close attention and actively understand the instructions or feedback of guidance, which impose considerable cognitive loads in long-term usage. To tackle the issue, this study proposes a cognitive burden-free electronic travel aid for individuals with visual impairments. Utilizing human instinctive compliance in response to external force, we introduce the "Aerial Guide Dog", a helium balloon aerostat drone designed for indoor guidance, which leverages gentle tugs in real time for directional guidance, ensuring a seamless and intuitive guiding experience. The introduced Aerial Guide Dog has been evaluated in terms of directional guidance and path following in the pilot study, focusing on assessing its accuracy in orientation and the overall performance in navigation. Preliminary results show that the Aerial Guide Dog, utilizing Ultra-Wideband (UWB) spatial positioning and Measurement Unit (IMU) angle sensors, consistently maintained minimal deviation from the targeting direction and designated path, while imposing negligible cognitive burdens on users while completing the guidance tasks.

The Impact of Different Relative Humidity Levels on the Production Performance, Slaughter Performance, and Meat Quality of White Pekin Ducks Aged 4 to 42 Days.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different humidity levels on the growth performance, slaughter performance, and meat quality of Pekin ducks through the artificial control of humidity, and to identify the suitable environmental humidity for Pekin duck growth. A completely randomized single-factor design was employed, selecting 144 newly hatched male Pekin ducks with healthy and similar BW (body weight) (60.92 g ± 4.38). These ducks were randomly assigned to four groups (A (RH (relative humidity) = 60%), B (RH = 67%), C (RH = 74%), D (RH = 81%)), with 12 ducks and 3 replicates in each group. The ducks were raised in a climate-controlled room for 42 days with ad libitum access to feed and water. BW and feed intake were measured every 3 days, and slaughter performance and meat quality were assessed at 42 days. There was no significant difference in the ADG (average daily gain) from 1 to 21 days (p > 0.05). The ADFI (average daily feed intake) of Group D was significantly lower than that of Groups A, B, and C (p < 0.05), with no significant differences between Groups A, B, and C (p > 0.05). At 42 days, the BW, ADG, and ADFI of Groups A and C were significantly higher than those of Group D (p < 0.05), with no significant differences among Groups A, B, and C (p > 0.05). Group C had a significantly higher breast muscle weight, breast muscle ratio, liver weight, and liver index than Groups B and D (p < 0.05), with no significant differences between Groups A, B, and D (p > 0.05). The meat shear force in Group C was significantly lower than that in Groups A, B, and D (p < 0.05). The L* (brightness) of Group C was significantly lower than that of Group A (p < 0.05), and the a* (redness) value of Group C was significantly higher than that of Groups A and B (p < 0.05), with no significant difference compared to Group D (p > 0.05). Group B had a significantly higher cooking loss than Groups A, C, and D (p < 0.05), with no significant differences among Groups A, C, and D (p > 0.05). Under 26 °C conditions, Pekin ducks perform best in terms of the production performance and feed efficiency, with high-quality meat, especially when reared at 74% humidity.

Fission yeast Srr1 and Skb1 promote isochromosome formation at the centromere.

Rad51 maintains genome integrity, whereas Rad52 causes non-canonical homologous recombination leading to gross chromosomal rearrangements (GCRs). Here we find that fission yeast Srr1/Ber1 and Skb1/PRMT5 promote GCRs at centromeres. Genetic and physical analyses show that srr1 and skb1 mutations reduce isochromosome formation mediated by centromere inverted repeats. srr1 increases DNA damage sensitivity in rad51 cells but does not abolish checkpoint response, suggesting that Srr1 promotes Rad51-independent DNA repair. srr1 and rad52 additively, while skb1 and rad52 epistatically reduce GCRs. Unlike srr1 or rad52, skb1 does not increase damage sensitivity. Skb1 regulates cell morphology and cell cycle with Slf1 and Pom1, respectively, but neither Slf1 nor Pom1 causes GCRs. Mutating conserved residues in the arginine methyltransferase domain of Skb1 greatly reduces GCRs. These results suggest that, through arginine methylation, Skb1 forms aberrant DNA structures leading to Rad52-dependent GCRs. This study has uncovered roles for Srr1 and Skb1 in GCRs at centromeres.

Improved MR temperature imaging at 0.5 T using view-sharing accelerated multiecho thermometry for MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy.

The aim of the current study was to improve temperature-monitoring precision using multiecho proton resonance frequency shift-based thermometry with view-sharing acceleration for MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (MRgLITT) on a 0.5-T low-field MR system. Both precision and speed of the temperature measurement for clinical MRgLITT treatments suffer at low field, due to reduced image signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), decreased temperature-induced phase changes, and limited RF receiver channels. In this work, a bipolar multiecho gradient-recalled echo sequence with a temperature-to-noise ratio optimal weighted echo combination is applied to improve the temperature precision. A view-sharing-based approach is utilized to accelerate signal acquisitions while preserving image SNRs. The method was evaluated using ex vivo (pork and pig brain) LITT heating experiments and in vivo (human brain) nonheating experiments on a high-performance 0.5-T scanner. In terms of results, (1) after echo combination, multiecho thermometry (i.e., ~7.5-40.5 ms, 7 TEs) provides ~1.5-1.9 times higher temperature precision than the no echo combination case (i.e., TE7 = 40.5 ms) within the same readout bandwidth. Additionally, echo registration is necessary for the bipolar multiecho sequence; (2) for a threefold acceleration, the view-sharing approach with variable-density subsampling shows around 1.8 times lower temperature errors than the GRAPPA method. Particularly for view-sharing, variable-density subsampling performs better than Interleave subsampling; and (3) ex vivo heating and in vivo nonheating experiments demonstrated that the temperature accuracy was less than 0.5 ° C and that the temperature precision was less than 0.6 ° C using the proposed 0.5-T thermometry. It was concluded that view-sharing accelerated multiecho thermometry is a practical temperature measurement approach for MRgLITT at 0.5 T.

The Duck RXRA Gene Promotes Adipogenesis and Correlates with Feed Efficiency.

BACKGROUND: The accumulation of fat in ducks is the main cause of low feed efficiency and metabolic diseases in ducks. Retinoic acid X receptor alpha (RXRA) is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily involved in lipid, glucose, energy, and hormone metabolism. The effect of the RXRA gene on lipid metabolism in duck preadipocytes (DPACs) and the relationship between SNPs and the feed efficiency traits of ducks are unclear. METHODS: qRT-PCR and Western blotting analyses were used to detect changes in mRNA and protein in cells. Intracellular triglycerides (TGs) were detected using an ELISA kit. A general linear model analysis was used to determine the association between RXRA SNPs and feed efficiency. RESULTS: The duck RXRA gene was highly expressed on the fourth day of DPAC differentiation. The RXRA gene increased the content of fat and TG in DPACs and promoted the expression of cell differentiation genes; g.5,952,667 correlated with average daily feed intake (ADFI), residual feed intake (RFI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR). CONCLUSIONS: Duck RXRA can accelerate fat accumulation, and the polymorphism of the RXRA gene is closely related to feed efficiency, which provides basic data for breeding high feed efficiency ducks.

Maternal Outcomes Among Pregnant Women With Congenital Heart Disease-Associated Pulmonary Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Studies focused on pregnant women with congenital heart disease (CHD)-associated pulmonary hypertension (PH) are scarce and limited by small sample sizes and single-center design. This study sought to describe the pregnancy outcomes in women with CHD with and without PH. METHODS: Outcomes for pregnant women with CHD were evaluated retrospectively from 1993 to 2016 and prospectively from 2017 to 2019 from 7 tertiary hospitals. PH was diagnosed on the basis of echocardiogram or catheterization. The incidence of maternal death, cardiac complications, and obstetric and offspring complications was compared for women with CHD and no PH, mild, and moderate-to-severe PH. RESULTS: A total of 2220 pregnant women with CHD had completed pregnancies. PH associated with CHD was identified in 729 women, including 398 with mild PH (right ventricle to right atrium gradient 30-50 mm Hg) and 331 with moderate-to-severe PH (right ventricle to right atrium gradient >50 mm Hg). Maternal mortality occurred in 1 (0.1%), 0, and 19 (5.7%) women with CHD and no, mild, or moderate-to-severe PH, respectively. Of the 729 patients with PH, 619 (85%) had CHD-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension, and 110 (15%) had other forms of PH. Overall, patients with mild PH had better maternal outcomes than those with moderate-to-severe PH, including the incidence of maternal mortality or heart failure (7.8% versus 39.6%; P<0.001), other cardiac complications (9.0% versus 32.3%; P<0.001), and obstetric complications (5.3% versus 15.7%; P<0.001). Brain natriuretic peptide >100 ng/L (odds ratio, 1.9 [95% CI, 1.0-3.4], P=0.04) and New York Heart Association class III to IV (odds ratio, 2.9 [95% CI, 1.6-5.3], P<0.001) were independently associated with adverse maternal cardiac events in pregnancy with PH, whereas follow-up with a multidisciplinary team (odds ratio, 0.4 [95% CI, 0.2-0.6], P<0.001) and strict antenatal supervision (odds ratio, 0.5 [95% CI, 0.3-0.7], P=0.001) were protective. CONCLUSIONS: Women with CHD-associated mild PH appear to have better outcomes compared with women with CHD-associated moderate-to-severe PH, and with event rates similar for most outcomes with women with CHD and no PH. Multimodality risk assessment, including PH severity, brain natriuretic peptide level, and New York Heart Association class, may be useful in risk stratification in pregnancy with PH. Follow-up with a multidisciplinary team and strict antenatal supervision during pregnancy may also help to mitigate the risk of adverse maternal cardiac events.

Erythrocyte membrane with CLIPPKF as biomimetic nanodecoy traps merozoites and attaches to infected red blood cells to prevent Plasmodium infection.

BACKGROUND: Malaria remains a serious threat to global public health. With poor efficacies of vaccines and the emergence of drug resistance, novel strategies to control malaria are urgently needed. RESULTS: We developed erythrocyte membrane-camouflaged nanoparticles loaded with artemether based on the growth characteristics of Plasmodium. The nanoparticles could capture the merozoites to inhibit them from repeatedly infecting normal erythrocytes, owing to the interactions between merozoites and heparin-like molecules on the erythrocyte membrane. Modification with a phosphatidylserine-targeting peptide (CLIPPKF) improved the drug accumulation in infected red blood cells (iRBCs) from the externalized phosphatidylserine induced by Plasmodium infection. In Plasmodium berghei ANKA strain (pbANKA)-infected C57BL/6 mice, the nanoparticles significantly attenuated Plasmodium-induced inflammation, apoptosis, and anemia. We observed reduced weight variation and prolonged survival time in pbANKA-challenged mice, and the nanoparticles showed good biocompatibility and negligible cytotoxicity. CONCLUSION: Erythrocyte membrane-camouflaged nanoparticles loaded with artemether were shown to provide safe and effective protection against Plasmodium infection.

Reconstruction for 7T high-resolution whole-brain diffusion MRI using two-stage N/2 ghost correction and L1-SPIRiT without single-band reference.

PURPOSE: To combine a new two-stage N/2 ghost correction and an adapted L1-SPIRiT method for reconstruction of 7T highly accelerated whole-brain diffusion MRI (dMRI) using only autocalibration scans (ACS) without the need of additional single-band reference (SBref) scans. METHODS: The proposed ghost correction consisted of a 3-line reference approach in stage 1 and the reference-free entropy method in stage 2. The adapted L1-SPIRiT method was formulated within the 3D k-space framework. Its efficacy was examined by acquiring two dMRI data sets at 1.05-mm isotropic resolutions with a total acceleration of 6 or 9 (i.e., 2-fold or 3-fold slice and 3-fold in-plane acceleration). Diffusion analysis was performed to derive DTI metrics and estimate fiber orientation distribution functions (fODFs). The results were compared with those of 3D k-space GRAPPA using only ACS, all in reference to 3D k-space GRAPPA using both ACS and SBref (serving as a reference). RESULTS: The proposed ghost correction eliminated artifacts more robustly than conventional approaches. Our adapted L1-SPIRiT method outperformed 3D k-space GRAPPA when using only ACS, improving image quality to what was achievable with 3D k-space GRAPPA using both ACS and SBref scans. The improvement in image quality further resulted in an improvement in estimation performances for DTI and fODFs. CONCLUSION: The combination of our new ghost correction and adapted L1-SPIRiT method can reliably reconstruct 7T highly accelerated whole-brain dMRI without the need of SBref scans, increasing acquisition efficiency and reducing motion sensitivity.

A Novel in Duck Myoblasts: The Transcription Factor Retinoid X Receptor Alpha (RXRA) Inhibits Lipid Accumulation by Promoting CD36 Expression.

Retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRA) is a well-characterized factor that regulates lipid metabolism; however, the regulatory mechanism in muscle cells of poultry is still unknown. The overexpression and the knockdown of RXRA in myoblasts (CS2 cells), RT-PCR, and western blotting were used to detect the expression levels of genes and proteins related to PPAR-signaling pathways. Intracellular triglycerides (TGs), cholesterol (CHOL), and nonesterified free fatty acids (NEFAs) were detected by the Elisa kit. Fat droplets were stained with Oil Red O. The double-fluorescein reporter gene and chromatin immunoprecipitation (CHIP) were used to verify the relationship between RXRA and candidate target genes. The RXRA gene was highly expressed in duck breast muscle, and its mRNA and its protein were reduced during the differentiation of CS2 cells. The CS2 cells, with the overexpression of RXRA, showed reduced content in TGs, CHOL, NEFAs, and lipid droplets and upregulated the mRNA expression of CD36, ACSL1, and PPARG genes and the protein expression of CD36 and PPARG. The knockdown of RXRA expression in CS2 cells enhanced the content of TGs, CHOL, NEFAs, and lipid droplets and downregulated the mRNA and protein expression of CD36, ACLS1, ELOVL6, and PPARG. The overexpression of the RXRA gene, the activity of the double-luciferase reporter gene of the wild-type CD36 promoter was higher than that of the mutant type. RXRA bound to -860/-852 nt, -688/-680 nt, and -165/-157 nt at the promoter region of CD36. Moreover, the overexpression of CD36 in CS2 cells could suppress the content of TGs, CHOL, NEFAs, and lipid droplets, while the knockdown expression of CD36 increased the content of TGs, CHOL, NEFAs, and lipid droplets. In this study, the transcription factor, RXRA, inhibited the accumulation of TGs, CHOL, NEFAs, and fat droplets in CS2 cells by promoting CD36 expression.

Gross Chromosomal Rearrangement at Centromeres.

Centromeres play essential roles in the faithful segregation of chromosomes. CENP-A, the centromere-specific histone H3 variant, and heterochromatin characterized by di- or tri-methylation of histone H3 9th lysine (H3K9) are the hallmarks of centromere chromatin. Contrary to the epigenetic marks, DNA sequences underlying the centromere region of chromosomes are not well conserved through evolution. However, centromeres consist of repetitive sequences in many eukaryotes, including animals, plants, and a subset of fungi, including fission yeast. Advances in long-read sequencing techniques have uncovered the complete sequence of human centromeres containing more than thousands of alpha satellite repeats and other types of repetitive sequences. Not only tandem but also inverted repeats are present at a centromere. DNA recombination between centromere repeats can result in gross chromosomal rearrangement (GCR), such as translocation and isochromosome formation. CENP-A chromatin and heterochromatin suppress the centromeric GCR. The key player of homologous recombination, Rad51, safeguards centromere integrity through conservative noncrossover recombination between centromere repeats. In contrast to Rad51-dependent recombination, Rad52-mediated single-strand annealing (SSA) and microhomology-mediated end-joining (MMEJ) lead to centromeric GCR. This review summarizes recent findings on the role of centromere and recombination proteins in maintaining centromere integrity and discusses how GCR occurs at centromeres.

Strontium-Incorporated Carbon Nitride Nanosheets Modulate Intracellular Tension for Reinforced Bone Regeneration.

Strontium-containing agents have been demonstrated to elicit both bone anabolic and antiosteoporotic effects, showing great potential for the treatment of bone loss. However, an increased incidence of strontium-induced side effects restricts their clinical applications. Herein, oxidized carbon nitride nanosheets (CN) are delicately used to incorporate Sr2+ for the first time to achieve high osteogenic efficacy. The lamellar structure and enriched nitrogen species of CN provide them with a high surface area-to-volume ratio and abundant anchoring sites for Sr2+ incorporation. Importantly, Sr2+-incorporated CN (CNS) could synergistically promote osteoblast differentiation and bone regeneration at a single, very low Sr2+ dose. Mechanically, CNS could activate the FAK/RhoA signaling pathway to modulate the intracellular tension that stimulates osteoblasts differentiation. The present study will provide a new paradigm to enhance the efficacy of osteogenic metal ions by using lamellar nanocarriers.

Improvement of the Lyophilization Survival Rate of Lactobacillus casei via Regulation of Its Surface Substances.

The influence of surface substance production on the freeze-drying survival of Lactobacillus casei and methods to control the surface substances during fermentation were studied. The bacteria were treated with hypertonicity combined with ultrasound, and the survival rate was determined. The optimal conditions for removing surface substance without harming the bacteria were 81 w/18 min. The surface substances provided a protective effect on the lyophilization of the bacteria without protectants. However, in the presence of protectants, excessive surface substances reduced the protective effect of the optimum protectant alginate to 39.69 ± 1.27%. Finally, the amount of surface substances and lyophilized survival rate of collected bacteria were determined by adding EDTA during fermentation and regulating fermentation conditions, such as the carbon source, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and pH. The highest survival rate was 85.79 ± 3.29%, which was achieved when the amount of surface substances was (2.82 ± 0.55) × 10-11 mg/CFU. Therefore, the production of surface substances by the bacteria could be reduced by modifying the fermentation stage, which has significance in the improvement of the lyophilization survival rate of L. casei and the number of live bacteria per unit mass of L. casei in the lyophilized preparation.

RNA-seq-based transcriptome analysis of the anti-inflammatory effect of artesunate in the early treatment of the mouse cerebral malaria model.

BACKGROUND: cerebral malaria (CM) is an important complication of malaria with a high mortality rate. Artesunate is recommended as the first-line artemisinin compound treatment for severe malaria. Due to the difficulty of obtaining brain tissue samples clinically, the use of animals to research host responses to CM parasite infections is necessary. Rodent malaria models allow for detailed time series studies of host responses in multiple organs. To date, studies on the transcriptome of severe malaria are only limited to the parasites in the peripheral blood of patients, and there is little data on the transcriptional changes in brain tissue in mice with CM treated with artesunate. METHOD AND RESULT: in this study, fresh tissue samples (three biological replicates per mouse) from the same area of the brain in each animal were collected from the uninfected, Plasmodium berghei ANKA-infected and artesunate-treated C57BL/6 mice, and then transcriptome research was performed by the RNA-seq technique. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) included Il-21, Tnf, Il-6, Il-1ß, Il-10, Ifng, and Icam-1. Among which, Il-6, Il-10, Tnf-α and Il-1ß were further verified and validated via qRT-PCR and ELISA. This revealed that Il-1ß (p < 0.0001), Il-10 (p < 0.05) and Tnf-α (p < 0.05) were significantly up-regulated in the Pb ANKA-infected versus uninfected group, while Il-1ß (p < 0.0001) and Tnf-α (p < 0.05) were significantly down-regulated after artesunate treatment. All DEGs were closely related to the top 3 artesunate treatment pathways, including the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, apoptosis, and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: the mechanism of improving the prognosis of cerebral malaria by artesunate may not only involve the killing of plasmodium but also the inhibition of a cytokine storm in the host. This study provides new insights into the molecular mechanism by which artesunate improves the prognosis of cerebral malaria.

Multi-echo balanced SSFP with a sequential phase-encoding order for functional MR imaging at 7T.

PURPOSE: To develop a 2D multi-echo passband balanced SSFP (bSSFP) sequence using an echo-train readout with a sequential phase-encoding order (sequential multi-echo bSSFP), and evaluate its performance in fast functional brain imaging at 7 T. METHODS: As images of sequential multi-echo bSSFP exhibit multiple ghosts due to periodic k-space modulations, a GRAPPA-based reconstruction method was proposed to eliminate ghosting artifacts. MRI experiments were performed to compare the image quality of multi-echo bSSFP and conventional single-echo bSSFP. Submillimeter-resolution fMRI using a checkerboard visual stimulus was conducted to compare the activation characteristics of multi-echo bSSFP, conventional single-echo bSSFP and standard gradient-echo EPI (GE-EPI). RESULTS: A higher mean structural similarity index was found between images of single-echo bSSFP and multi-echo bSSFP with a shorter echo train length (ETL). Multi-echo bSSFP (ETL = 3) showed higher temporal SNR (tSNR) values than GRAPPA-accelerated single-echo bSSFP (R = 2). In submillimeter-resolution fMRI experiments, multi-echo bSSFP (ETL = 3) approached the imaging speed of GRAPPA-accelerated single-echo bSSFP (R = 2), but without tSNR penalty and reduced activation due to acceleration. The median t-value and the number of significantly activated voxels were comparable between GE-EPI and multi-echo bSSFP (ETL = 3) that provides virtually distortion-free functional images and inherits the activation patterns of conventional bSSFP. CONCLUSION: Sequential multi-echo bSSFP (ETL = 3) is suitable for fast fMRI with submillimeter in-plane resolution, and offers an option to accelerate bSSFP imaging without tSNR penalty like parallel imaging.

Effects of Heat Stress on Production Performance, Redox Status, Intestinal Morphology and Barrier-Related Gene Expression, Cecal Microbiome, and Metabolome in Indigenous Broiler Chickens.

This study was done to evaluate the effects of heat stress (HS) on production performance, redox status, small intestinal barrier-related parameters, cecal microbiota, and metabolome of indigenous broilers. A total of forty female indigenous broilers (56-day-old) were randomly and equally divided into normal treatment group (NT group, 21.3 ± 1.2°C, 24 h/day) and HS group (32.5 ± 1.4°C, 8 h/day) with five replicates of each for 4 weeks feeding trial. The results showed that the body weight gain (BWG) of broilers in HS group was lower than those in NT group during 3-4 weeks and 1-4 weeks (p < 0.05). The HS exposure increased the abdominal fat rate (p < 0.05) but decreased the thigh muscle rate (p < 0.01). Besides, broilers in HS group had higher drip loss of breast muscle than NT group (p < 0.01). Broilers exposed to HS had lower total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in serum and jejunum, activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) in the jejunum, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in the thigh muscle, duodenum, and jejunum; and catalase (CAT) in breast muscle, duodenum, and jejunum (p < 0.05). Whereas the malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in breast muscle, duodenum, and jejunum was elevated by HS exposure (p < 0.05). Moreover, the relative mRNA expression of Occludin and ZO-1 in the duodenum, Occludin, Claudin-1, Claudin-4, ZO-1, Mucin-2 in the jejunum, and the Claudin-4 and Mucin-2 in the ileum was down-regulated by HS exposure (p < 0.05). The 16S rRNA sequencing results showed that the HS group increased the relative abundance of Anaerovorax in the cecum at the genus level (p < 0.05). Cecal metabolomics analysis indicated 19 differential metabolites between the two groups (p < 0.10, VIP >1). The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed that the differential metabolites mainly enriched in 10 signaling pathways such as the Citrate cycle (TCA cycle) (p < 0.01). In summary, chronic HS exposure caused a decline of production performance, reduced antioxidant capacity, disrupted intestinal barrier function, and negatively affected cecal microbiota and metabolome in indigenous broilers.

Apolipoprotein H: a novel regulator of fat accumulation in duck myoblasts.

Apolipoprotein H (APOH) primarily engages in fat metabolism and inflammatory disease response. This study aimed to investigate the effects of APOH on fat synthesis in duck myoblasts (CS2s) by APOH overexpression and knockdown. CS2s overexpressing APOH showed enhanced triglyceride (TG) and cholesterol (CHOL) contents and elevated the mRNA and protein expression of AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 (AKT1), ELOVL fatty acid elongase 6 (ELOVL6), and acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1) while reducing the expression of protein kinase AMP-activated catalytic subunit alpha 1 (AMPK), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARG), acyl-CoA synthetase long chain family member 1 (ACSL1), and lipoprotein lipase (LPL). The results showed that knockdown of APOH in CS2s reduced the content of TG and CHOL, reduced the expression of ACC1, ELOVL6, and AKT1, and increased the gene and protein expression of PPARG, LPL, ACSL1, and AMPK. Our results showed that APOH affected lipid deposition in myoblasts by inhibiting fatty acid beta-oxidation and promoting fatty acid biosynthesis by regulating the expression of the AKT/AMPK pathway. This study provides the necessary basic information for the role of APOH in fat accumulation in duck myoblasts for the first time and enables researchers to study the genes related to fat deposition in meat ducks in a new direction.

Unraveling an Innate Mechanism of Pathological Mineralization-Regulated Inflammation by a Nanobiomimetic System.

Pathological mineralization (PTM) often occurs under inflammation and affects the prognosis of diseases, such as atherosclerosis and cancers. However, how the PTM impacts inflammation has not been well explored. Herein, poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA)/gelatin/hydroxyapatite (HA) electrospun nanofibers are rationally designed as an ideal PTM microenvironment biomimetic system for unraveling the role of PTM on inflammation. The results demonstrate that the inflammatory response decreases continuously during the process of mineralization. When mature macromineralization forms, the inflammation almost completely disappears. Mechanistically, the PTM formation is mediated by matrix proteins, local high calcium, and cell debris (nuclei), or actively regulated by the lysosomal/plasma membrane components secreted by macrophages. These inflammatory inducible factors (calcium, cell debris, etc.) can be "buried" through PTM process, resulting in reduced immune responses. Overall, the present study demonstrates that PTM is an innate mechanism of inflammation subsidence, providing valuable insight into understanding the action of mineralization on inflammation.