17 research outputs found

    Table_1_Dietary change influences the composition of the fecal microbiota in two rescued wild raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides).DOCX

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    The gut microbiota of wild animals, influenced by various factors including diet, nutrition, gender, and age, plays a critical role in their health and disease status. This study focuses on raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), a commonly found wild animal, and its gut microbiota composition in response to dietary shifts. The study aimed to compare the fecal bacterial communities and diversity of rescued raccoon dogs fed three different diet types (fish and amphibians, mixed protein with maize, and solely maize) using high-throughput sequencing. Results indicated that the dietary composition significantly influenced the gut microbiota, with notable differences in the abundance of several key phyla and genera. The study identified Firmicutes as the dominant phylum in all diet groups, with notable variations in the relative abundances of Bacteroidota, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobiota. Notably, the group solely fed maize exhibited a significant increase in Proteobacteria, potentially linked to dietary fiber and lignin degradation. The genus-level analysis highlighted significant differences, with Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium responding to dietary shifts. The genus Akkermansia in Verrucomicrobiota can be identified as a marker for assessing the health of the gut and deserves further investigation. Gender-specific differences in the gut microbiota were observed, highlighting the influence of individual variation. Furthermore, the analysis of bacterial functions suggested a connection between diet and host metabolism, emphasizing the need for further research to understand the complex mechanisms underlying the relationship between dietary composition and gut microbiota in wild animals. These findings provide crucial insights into conservation and rescue efforts for wild animals.</p

    Image_1_Dietary change influences the composition of the fecal microbiota in two rescued wild raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides).TIF

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    The gut microbiota of wild animals, influenced by various factors including diet, nutrition, gender, and age, plays a critical role in their health and disease status. This study focuses on raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), a commonly found wild animal, and its gut microbiota composition in response to dietary shifts. The study aimed to compare the fecal bacterial communities and diversity of rescued raccoon dogs fed three different diet types (fish and amphibians, mixed protein with maize, and solely maize) using high-throughput sequencing. Results indicated that the dietary composition significantly influenced the gut microbiota, with notable differences in the abundance of several key phyla and genera. The study identified Firmicutes as the dominant phylum in all diet groups, with notable variations in the relative abundances of Bacteroidota, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobiota. Notably, the group solely fed maize exhibited a significant increase in Proteobacteria, potentially linked to dietary fiber and lignin degradation. The genus-level analysis highlighted significant differences, with Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium responding to dietary shifts. The genus Akkermansia in Verrucomicrobiota can be identified as a marker for assessing the health of the gut and deserves further investigation. Gender-specific differences in the gut microbiota were observed, highlighting the influence of individual variation. Furthermore, the analysis of bacterial functions suggested a connection between diet and host metabolism, emphasizing the need for further research to understand the complex mechanisms underlying the relationship between dietary composition and gut microbiota in wild animals. These findings provide crucial insights into conservation and rescue efforts for wild animals.</p

    Flowchart of study identification, inclusion, and exclusion.

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    <p>Flowchart of study identification, inclusion, and exclusion.</p

    MOESM1 of Comparison of the gut microbiota composition between wild and captive sika deer (Cervus nippon hortulorum) from feces by high-throughput sequencing

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    Additional file 1: Figure S1. ANOSIM analysis for discrepancy of fecal bacterial community between wild and captive sika deer. The difference between groups here was greater than it within each group because the R value was less than 0, and the P value showed the significance level

    Enhanced Crystallization from the Glassy State of Poly(l‑lactic acid) Confined in Anodic Alumina Oxide Nanopores

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    The crystallization behavior of poly­(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) infiltrated in anodic alumina oxide templates (AAO) was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). During heating from the glassy state, the crystallization of infiltrated PLLA was unexpectedly enhanced as compared with bulk PLLA. The cold crystallization temperature of infiltrated PLLA from the glassy state was much lower than that of bulk PLLA. The half-crystallization time (<i>t</i><sub>1/2</sub>) of infiltrated PLLA at 75 °C decreased with the diameter of AAO nanopores. The glass transition temperature of PLLA was not influenced by the geometrical confinement. The enhanced crystallization from the glassy state was explained by surface-induced nucleation of AAO walls on PLLA. Our results provide the first observation of enhanced cold crystallization of polymers in confined geometry

    Data_Sheet_1_Investigating Bayesian optimization for expensive-to-evaluate black box functions: Application in fluid dynamics.pdf

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    Bayesian optimization (BO) provides an effective method to optimize expensive-to-evaluate black box functions. It has been widely applied to problems in many fields, including notably in computer science, e.g., in machine learning to optimize hyperparameters of neural networks, and in engineering, e.g., in fluid dynamics to optimize control strategies that maximize drag reduction. This paper empirically studies and compares the performance and the robustness of common BO algorithms on a range of synthetic test functions to provide general guidance on the design of BO algorithms for specific problems. It investigates the choice of acquisition function, the effect of different numbers of training samples, the exact and Monte Carlo (MC) based calculation of acquisition functions, and both single-point and multi-point optimization. The test functions considered cover a wide selection of challenges and therefore serve as an ideal test bed to understand the performance of BO to specific challenges, and in general. To illustrate how these findings can be used to inform a Bayesian optimization setup tailored to a specific problem, two simulations in the area of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are optimized, giving evidence that suitable solutions can be found in a small number of evaluations of the objective function for complex, real problems. The results of our investigation can similarly be applied to other areas, such as machine learning and physical experiments, where objective functions are expensive to evaluate and their mathematical expressions are unknown.</p

    <i>Galnt1</i> Is Required for Normal Heart Valve Development and Cardiac Function

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    <div><p>Congenital heart valve defects in humans occur in approximately 2% of live births and are a major source of compromised cardiac function. In this study we demonstrate that normal heart valve development and cardiac function are dependent upon <i>Galnt1</i>, the gene that encodes a member of the family of glycosyltransferases (GalNAc-Ts) responsible for the initiation of mucin-type O-glycosylation. In the adult mouse, compromised cardiac function that mimics human congenital heart disease, including aortic and pulmonary valve stenosis and regurgitation; altered ejection fraction; and cardiac dilation, was observed in <i>Galnt1</i> null animals. The underlying phenotype is aberrant valve formation caused by increased cell proliferation within the outflow tract cushion of developing hearts, which is first detected at developmental stage E11.5. Developing valves from <i>Galnt1</i> deficient animals displayed reduced levels of the proteases ADAMTS1 and ADAMTS5, decreased cleavage of the proteoglycan versican and increased levels of other extracellular matrix proteins. We also observed increased BMP and MAPK signaling. Taken together, the ablation of <i>Galnt1</i> appears to disrupt the formation/remodeling of the extracellular matrix and alters conserved signaling pathways that regulate cell proliferation. Our study provides insight into the role of this conserved protein modification in cardiac valve development and may represent a new model for idiopathic valve disease.</p></div

    <i>Galnt1</i> is the most highly expressed isoform in the forming cardiac valve.

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    <p>(A) <i>Galnt</i> transcript levels in E12.5 OFT cushion samples (triplicates, n = 3) isolated by LCM. (B) Loss of <i>Galnt1</i> expression (highlighted by red box) in LCM OFT cushion from <i>Galnt1</i>-deficient mice was verified by qPCR. Expression of other <i>Galnt</i> family members found to be unchanged in <i>Galnt1</i> null (triplicates, n = 3). Expression was normalized to <i>29S</i>. ***, P < 0.001.</p
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