The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of gastric infusion of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) on gut barrier function in a pig model. In this study, 21 DLY barrows with an average ...initial body weight of (8.31 ± 0.72) kg were randomly allotted into three treatments: (1) control, (2) infusing low SCFA, S1, (3) infusing high SCFA, S2. The experimental period lasted for 7 days.
Gastric infusion of SCFA increased the concentrations of SCFA in serum and digesta, and enhanced the mRNA and protein abundances of SCFA receptors in pig intestine (
< 0.05). Moreover, gastric infusion of SCFA led to alteration of intestinal morphology, elevation of intestinal development-related gene abundances, and decrease of apoptotic cell percentage, as well as reduction of pro-apoptosis gene and protein abundances (
< 0.05). Besides, the jejunal SLC
A
and ileal DMT1 mRNA abundances in the SCFA infusion groups were higher than those in the control group (
< 0.05). Additionally, gastric infusion of SCFA increased the mRNA abundances of Occludin and Claudin-1 in the duodenum and ileum, enhanced
spp counts in the ileal digesta, decreased the mRNA and protein abundances of IL-1β in the colon, and reduced
count in the ileal digesta (
< 0.05).
These data indicated that gastric infusion of SCFA, especially high SCFA concentration, may be beneficial to gut development of piglets via improving gut morphology, decreasing apoptotic cell percentage, and maintaining intestinal barrier function.
Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are the main products of indigestible carbohydrates that are fermented by microbiota in the hindgut. This study was designed to investigate the effects of oral SCFAs ...administration on the lipid metabolism of weaned pigs. A total of 21 barrows were randomly allocated into three groups, including control group (orally infused with 200 mL physiological saline per day), low dose SCFAs group (orally infused with 200 mL SCFAs containing acetic acid 20.04 mM, propionic acid 7.71 mM and butyric acid 4.89 mM per day), and high dose SCFAs group (orally infused with 200 mL SCFAs containing acetic acid 40.08 mM, propionic acid 15.42 mM and butyric acid 9.78 mM per day). The results showed that the average daily feed intake of SCFAs groups were lower than that of control group (P<0.05). Oral administration of SCFAs decreased the concentrations of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol and insulin (P<0.05), and increased the leptin concentration in serum (P<0.05). The total fat, as well as TC and TG levels in liver, was decreased by oral SCFAs administration (P<0.05). In addition, SCFAs down-regulated the mRNA expressions of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (P<0.05), and enhanced the mRNA expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1α (CPT-1α) in liver (P<0.05). SCFAs also decreased FAS, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor σ mRNA expressions in longissimus dorsi (P<0.05). And in abdominal fat, SCFAs reduced FAS and ACC mRNA expressions (P<0.05), and increased CPT-1α mRNA expression (P<0.05). These results suggested that oral administration of SCFAs could attenuate fat deposition in weaned pigs via reducing lipogenesis and enhancing lipolysis of different tissues.
► Composition of microalgal cells depends on the composition of the wastewater feeds. ► FAME composition of the cultivated C. vulgaris is suitable for biodiesel production. ► Increasing NH4+-N ...yielded additional short-chain and saturated fatty acids.
The feasibility of cultivating Chlorella vulgaris with wastewater containing high ammonia nitrogen concentrations was examined. The average specific growth rate of C. vulgaris was 0.92d−1 at 17mgL−1 NH4+-N, but declined to 0.33d−1 at NH4+-N concentrations of 39–143mgL−1. At 39mgL−1 NH4+-N, lipid productivity reached a maximum value (23.3mgL−1d−1) and dropped sharply at higher NH4+-N levels, which demonstrated NH4+-N should be controlled for biodiesel production. C16 and C18 fatty acids accounted for 80% of total fatty acids. Increasing NH4+-N from 17 to 207mgL−1 yielded additional short-chain and saturated fatty acids. Protein content was in positive correlation with NH4+-N content from 17mgL−1 (12%) to 207mgL−1 (42%). Carbohydrate in the dried algae cell was in the range of 14–45%, with a peak value occurring at 143mgL−1 NH4+-N. The results demonstrate that product quality can be manipulated by NH4+-N concentrations of the initial feeds.
Our understanding of the global aerosol change is rather limited, although it is well known that aerosol forcing could affect the global radiative budget, hydrological processes, carbon, nitrogen and ...sulfur cycles, as well as climate change. To understand the wide range effects of aerosols, it is key to obtain aerosol characteristics at high spatio-temporal resolutions. In this study, we try to map the global variations of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) using two aerosol products retrieved from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite instrument. It is found that the global average AOD is 0.126 over the last decade (2003–2012). The highest and the lowest AOD occurred in 2007 and 2010, respectively. AOD variations between land and ocean, north and south hemispheres, among seven continents and four oceans were also explored. It is interesting to find that high concentrations of aerosols are mainly distributed in regions where developing countries are located (Asia and Africa), and an increasing trend could also be observed. Seasonal variations of AOD (air quality) can also be noted, which is decreasing in the north hemisphere from spring, summer to autumn and winter, but increasing in the south hemisphere.
•Global aerosol change in different regions in the last decade.•Which year is the highest or lowest of aerosols in different regions.•Where are the aerosols decreasing or increasing.•The aerosol changes with seasons in northern and southern hemisphere.
The MST/YAP (mammalian Ste20-like kinase/Yes-associated protein 2) pathway plays an important role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although post-translational modification-especially MST/Lats ...(large tumor suppressor)-mediated phosphorylation and PP1 (protein phosphatase-1)-mediated dephosphorylation-has been found to regulate the activity of YAP2, very little is known about its acetylation. In our experiments, we observed that the expression of SIRT1 is significantly upregulated in the tumor samples of the hepatocarcinoma patients, and SIRT1 mRNA level positively correlates with connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) mRNA level. We then found that SIRT1 deacetylates YAP2 protein in HCC cells and SIRT1-mediated deacetylation increases the YAP2/TEAD4 association, leading to YAP2/TEAD4 transcriptional activation and upregulated cell growth in HCC cells. Moreover, knockdown of SIRT1 blocks the cisplatin (CDDP)-induced nuclear translocation of YAP2 and enhances the chemosensitivity of HCC cells to CDDP treatment. Together, our findings reveal a new regulatory mechanism of YAP2 by the SIRT1-mediated deacetylation that may be involved in HCC tumorigenesis and drug resistance.
•Online video education is as efficacious as conventional face-to-face education for teaching basic surgical skills•Online video education is efficacious as an adjunct and core surgical ...curriculum•Student confidence in skill is equivalent to face-to-face education•Student satisfaction is high with video education with unique benefits of convenience, accessibility, efficiency and safety during the current pandemic
Online education has been increasingly utilized over the past decades. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the transition of conventional face-to-face curricula to online platforms, with limited evidence for its teaching efficacy. This systematic review aims to assess the effectiveness of online video-based education compared with standard conventional education in teaching basic surgical skills to surgical trainees and students undergoing medical training.
We performed a literature search in Embase, Medline, Cochrane CENTRAL and Scopus from inception until February 2022. Studies included were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies. We included randomised controlled trials only for meta-analysis. The primary outcome was surgical skill proficiency. The secondary outcomes were participant perception, confidence and satisfaction. Two authors independently assessed the search results for eligibility, extracted the data and assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool 2. Where appropriate, we performed random effects meta-analyses of the pooled study data to calculate a standardized mean difference.
A total of 11 studies met the inclusion criteria totaling 715 participants; 603 were included in qualitative analysis and 380 in meta-analysis. All included studies were assessed as having a low risk of bias. The majority of studies found no significant difference between conventional and video-based education in teaching basic surgical skills, three studies found video-based education was superior and one study found conventional education was superior. There was no statistically significant difference in skill proficiency between the two groups (standardized mean difference of -0.02 (95% CI: -0.34, 0.30); p=0.90). Video-based education results in an equivalent improvement in confidence and satisfaction rates. Additional benefits of video-based education include convenience, accessibility and efficiency.
Basic surgical skills can be taught as effectively through online video-based education as conventional teaching methods. Online education should be utilized as an adjunct to medical curricula beyond the COVID-19 era.
•C. vulgaris contributes to the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus in wastewater.•Microorganisms eliminate most organic matter in wastewater.•Nitrogen removal rate by algae is faster than that by ...algae-microorganism consortium.•More than 44.1–64.0% of total nitrogen is recycled into the biomass.
Impacts of Chlorella vulgaris with or without co-existing bacteria on the removal of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter from wastewaters were studied by comparing the wastewater treatment effects between an algae–bacteria consortium and a stand-alone algae system. In the algae–bacteria system, C.vulgaris played a dominant role in the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus, while bacteria removed most of the organic matter from the wastewater. When treating unsterilized wastewater, bacteria were found to inhibit the growth of algae at >231mg/L dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Using the algae–bacteria consortium resulted in the removal of 97% NH4+, 98% phosphorus and 26% DOC at a total nitrogen (TN) level of 29–174mg/L. The reaction rate constant (k) values in sterilized and unsterilized wastewaters were 2.17 and 1.92mg NH4+–N/(mg algal cell ·d), respectively.
We use quantum coherence in a system consisting of one metallic nanorod and one semiconductor quantum dot to investigate a plasmonic nanosensor capable of digital optical detection and recognition of ...single biological molecules. In such a sensor the adsorption of a specific molecule to the nanorod turns off the emission of the system when it interacts with an optical pulse having a certain intensity and temporal width. The proposed quantum sensors can count the number of molecules of the same type or differentiate between molecule types with digital optical signals that can be measured with high certainty. We show that these sensors are based on the ultrafast upheaval of coherent dynamics of the system and the removal of coherent blockage of energy transfer from the quantum dot to the nanorod once the adsorption process has occurred.
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