The impact of dietary alpha-tocopherol on juvenile Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis was experimentally evaluated in a 10-week study. Crab were fed with nine diets including three levels of ...alpha-tocopherol (0, 100 and 300 mg kg-1 diet) and three levels of fish oil oxidation (fresh, moderate and high) in triplicates. Fresh and moderate oil oxidization enhanced weight gain, but moderate and high oil oxidization lowered survival and feed efficiency. The 100-mg alpha-tocopherol kg-1 diet resulted in higher hepatopancreas MDA than other alpha-tocopherol diets. High oil oxidization led to the lowest serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPH-PX). The serum SOD and GPH-PX activities in crab fed 100 mg alpha-tocopherol were higher than in those fed other alpha-tocopherol diets. The diet without alpha-tocopherol addition lowered lysozyme and phenoloxidase (PO) activities compared to other alpha-tocopherol diets. Fresh fish oil diet increased PO activity compared to oxidized oils. High oil oxidization caused significantly more mortality than fresh or moderate oxidization after 7-d postchallenge with Aeromonas hydrophila. Supplementation with alpha-tocopherol significantly enhanced resistance to bacterial infection. This study indicates that alpha-tocopherol can protect lipid from peroxidation and enhance disease resistance.
An 8‐week study was conducted to determine folic acid requirement and its effect on antioxidant capacity and immunity in juvenile Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis (Milne‐Edwards, 1853), ...followed by a challenge assay with the pathogen Aeromonas hydrophila for 2 weeks. Folic acid was added to a basal diet at seven levels (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0, 16.0 mg folic acid kg−1 diet), and a diet free of folic acid and vitamin B12 was also included as a control. Crabs were fed twice daily in 32 tanks with 7.76–8.17 mg oxygen L−1, 25.0–31.0 °C and 7.5–8.3 pH. Growth and feed efficiency were significantly greater in crabs fed ≥2.0 mg folic acid kg−1, but not significantly different between crabs fed diets >2.0 mg folic acid. The superoxide dismutase activity and glutathione S‐transferase activity were highest in crabs fed ≥2.0 mg folic acid kg−1, followed by those fed 0.5 and 1.0 mg folic acid kg−1, and the control diet. The malondialdehyde content was highest in crabs fed the control diet, followed by those fed 0 mg folic acid kg−1, and the lowest value occurred in those fed ≥0.5 mg folic acid kg−1. Phenoloxidase activity and total haemocytes were significantly higher in crabs fed ≥2.0 mg folic acid kg−1 than other diets. Crabs fed 2.0 mg folic acid kg−1 had the highest lysozyme, acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase activities but the lowest cumulative mortality. The optimum dietary folic acid requirement by E. sinensis was estimated at 2.29–2.90 mg kg−1 diet.
A fatty acid‐binding protein (FABP) gene designated as MnFABP10 was cloned and characterized from the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium nipponense. The full‐length cDNA of MnFABP10 was 646 bp encoding a ...130 amino acid. Real‐time quantitative RT‐PCR showed that the MnFABP10 gene was expressed in various tissues with the highest expression in the hepatopancreas. The MnFABP10 mRNA levels in the hepatopancreas and ovary of M. nipponense were dependent on the stages of ovarian development. Western blot results revealed a single immunoreactive band with an estimated molecular mass of approximate 14 kDa in the developmental ovary. Then, M. nipponense with an initial body weight of 0.090 ± 0.0010 g were fed with four isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets with different oils, that is, beef tallow (BT), soybean oil (SO), pollack fish oil (FO) and a mixture of fish oil and soybean oil (FO/SO 2 : 1 w/w) for 52 days. The mRNA levels of MnFABP10 in the hepatopancreas were influenced by different lipid sources, with a peak expression observed in prawns fed SO. This study suggests that MnFABP10 may have a putative function in ovary maturation, and its mRNA expression in the hepatopancreas can be regulated by the source of dietary lipids in M. nipponense.
A 5-year-resolution absolute-dated oxygen isotope record from Dongge Cave, southern China, provides a continuous history of the Asian monsoon over the past 9000 years. Although the record broadly ...follows summer insolation, it is punctuated by eight weak monsoon events lasting approximately1 to 5 centuries. One correlates with the "8200-year" event, another with the collapse of the Chinese Neolithic culture, and most with North Atlantic ice-rafting events. Cross-correlation of the decadal- to centennial-scale monsoon record with the atmospheric carbon-14 record shows that some, but not all, of the monsoon variability at these frequencies results from changes in solar output.
Due to the size effect, the material exhibits the characteristics of "the smaller, the stronger", but there are limits to the improvement of material strength. In this paper, the 200 μm pure copper ...fiber is reduced to 23 μm by the cold drawing method. The stress-strain curve and microscopic analysis, it is concluded that grain boundary strengthening, texture strengthening and dislocation strengthening are the main strengthening methods of copper fiber. Cold drawing improves the fiber strength by reducing the grain size and changing the texture orientations. With the grain refinement, the texture orientation of copper fiber, gradually changed from the random distribution orientations to and preferred orientations. However, the evolution of the texture orientation does not always follow the same path. The increase of oriented grains provide more plastic deformation space for the further refinement of copper fiber. When the fiber diameter reaches 23 μm, the grain orientation deflects to the preferred orientations of and again. For the copper fiber, the conditions for further refinement by orientation transformation gradually disappear, so that the strength of copper fiber approaches the critical value, which can be confirmed by the distribution of grain size at the fracture.
This study sought to investigate the impact of pre-existing cognitive impairment on outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). TAVI has been increasingly used in seniors, and ...evidence suggests better outcomes than surgical aortic valve replacement. Although frailty has been shown to be associated with poorer outcomes after TAVI, the effect of pre-existing cognitive impairment on patient outcomes after TAVI remains unclear. We searched the Medline, Embase, Scopus and Cochrane databases until May 14, 2022. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. The primary outcome was short-term (6 months to 1 year) mortality, and secondary outcomes included long-term (1 year to 3 years) mortality, in-hospital mortality, and postoperative delirium. A total of 14 studies with 32,746 patients (5,098 patients with cognitive impairment at baseline, 27,648 without) were included in our meta-analysis. Among studies that reported the raw proportion of patients with mortality of postoperative delirium, cognitive impairment significantly increased mortality (risk ratio 2.10, 95% confidence intervals CIs 1.43 to 3.08, p = 0.0002) and postoperative delirium (risk ratio 2.27, 95% CI 1.76 to 2.93, p <0.0001). Studies which reported the hazards for mortality (pooled hazards ratio 1.97, 95% CI 1.50 to 2.60, p <0.0001) and odds of postoperative delirium (pooled odds ratio 2.40, 95% CI: 1.51 to 3.80, p = 0.0002) yielded results consistent with the primary meta-analysis. In conclusion, pre-existing cognitive impairment is a significant risk factor for poorer outcomes after TAVI and should be carefully considered in this group of patients. Guidelines and future studies should take cognitive impairment into consideration for preoperative risk stratification.
A magnetic metal organic framework (MMOF) was synthesized and used to separate Sr2+ in aqueous solution. The shape and structure of prepared Fe3O4@UiO-66-NH2 were characterized, and the absorbed ...concentration of strontium was determined through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The results indicated that Fe3O4 and UiO-66-NH2 combined through chemical bonding. The experimental adsorption results for separation of Sr2+ in aqueous solution indicated that the adsorption of Sr2+ to Fe3O4@UiO-66-NH2 increased drastically from pH 11 to pH 13. The adsorption isotherm model indicated that the adsorption of Sr2+ conformed to the Freundlich isotherm model (R2 = 0.9919). The MMOF thus inherited the superior qualities of magnetic composites and metal organic frameworks, and can easily be separated under an external magnetic field. This MMOF thus has potential applications as a magnetic adsorbent for low level radionuclide 90Sr.
Recent studies have shown that breast arterial calcification (BAC) detected on screening mammography is linked to cardiovascular diseases via medial calcification. However, its effect on ...cardiovascular outcomes remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to determine the effect of BAC on cardiovascular outcomes in patients.
Three electronic databases (Pubmed, Embase, and Scopus) were searched on May 1, 2022, for studies examining the relationship between BAC and cardiovascular outcomes including cardiac death, acute myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, and heart failure. A random-effects meta-analysis model was used to summarise the studies.
A total of 5 longitudinal studies were included with a combined cohort of 87,865 patients. Significantly, the pooled risk ratio (RR) of the association between BAC and cardiac death was 2.06 (P < 0.00001). BAC was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing other cardiovascular diseases, such as ischemic/hemorrhagic stroke (RR 1.51; P = 0.003), ischemic stroke (RR 1.82; P < 0.00001), peripheral vascular disease (RR 1.24; P = 0.003), and heart failure (RR 1.84; P < 0.00001). There was no significant relationship for developing myocardial infarction or for total cardiovascular diseases.
Our findings suggest that BAC was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality, and certain cardiovascular outcomes. There is thus a potential to use BAC as a sex-specific cardiovascular risk assessment tool. Furthermore, there is a need for more widespread reporting of BAC to better understand the pathophysiologic mechanisms behind its correlation with cardiovascular disease and to apply it in clinical practice.
A series of liquid crystalline (LC) homopolymers of poly{11-4-(4-butylphenylazo)phenoxyundecyl methacrylate}containing an azobenzene mesogen with different degrees of polymerization were synthesized ...by using the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) method. The homopolymers were prepared with a range of number-average molecular weights from 6100 to 23 500 with narrow polydispersities of less than 1.17. Thermal investigation showed that the homopolymers exhibit monolayer smectic A, smectic C, and an unknown smectic X phases. The transition temperatures increase slightly with the increase of the molecular weights and level off at around 21 500. Novel amphiphilic LC-coil diblock copolymers with a defined length of a flexible poly(ethylene glycol) segment as the hydrophilic coil were also prepared by the ATRP method. The LC-coil diblock copolymers exhibit narrow polydispersities of less than 1.11. Morphologies of the thin films of the block copolymers were investigated by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Microphase separation with small size in the range of 10−20 nm (nanoseparated structures) was observed. Different photophysical and photochemical behaviors were observed between annealed homopolymer and block copolymer films, which is thought to be caused by the formation of nanostructures of the block copolymers.
Chemokines are important regulators of immune, inflammatory, and neuronal responses in peripheral and central pain pathway. The aim of this study was to investigate whether chemokine (C-X-C motif) ...ligand 13 (CXCL13) and its receptor (C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5, CXCR5) involve in the development of bone cancer pain (BCP) and the regulation of morphine analgesia in rats. The change of pain behaviors in BCP rats were measured by testing paw withdrawal threshold (PWT). The levels of CXCL13, CXCR5 and signal pathway proteins (p-p38, p-ERK and p-AKT etc.) in the spinal cord were measured via western blots. The expression of CXCL13 and CXCR5 in spinal cord was increased in BCP rats. The BCP rats showed decrease of PWTs, which was relieved by CXCR5i. Intrathecally injection of murine recombinant CXCL13 (mrCXCL13) decreased the PWTs of BCP rats and opposed morphine-induced analgesia in BCP rats. In BCP rats, the signal pathway proteins (p38, ERK and AKT) in the spinal cord were activated. CXCL13 and morphine had contrary effect on the phosphorylation of these proteins. MrCXCL13 directly increased the levels of p-p38, p-ERK and p-AKT in BCP rats. However, morphine decreased the levels of these proteins in BCP rats. While blocking the activation of p-p38, p-ERK and p-AKT, morphine analgesia was enhanced. These results suggest CXCL13 participated in bone cancer pain and opposed morphine analgesia via p38, ERK and AKT pathways. It may be a target to enhance pain management in cancer pain patients.
•CXCL13 participates in the development of bone cancer pain by activating p38, ERK and AKT signaling pathways in rats.•Increase of spinal CXCL13 opposes morphine analgesia in BCP rats.•CXCL13 and morphine play contrary roles in the activation of p38, ERK and AKT signaling pathways.
