The Effect of Dietary Fibers on Gastrointestinal Anatomy and Intestinal Microbial Communities in Mice

Objectives: Grain-based diets (GBDs) are widely used in rodent studies, but the lack of control of ingredients in GBDs and potential batch to batch variation limit their utility. Purified diets (PDs)—diets with known sources and quantities of all nutrients—offer solutions and permit investigators to control for diet, a major environmental factor, in rodent studies. However, mice fed a standard PD display abnormal gastrointestinal (GI) anatomy and greater adiposity compared to mice fed a GBD—Purina 5001. Interestingly, the addition of a soluble fiber (inulin) to PDs (which usually only contain the insoluble fiber cellulose) ameliorates these adverse effects. Yet, the impact of PDs modified with soluble fibers from mixed sources on GI anatomy and the intestinal microbiota has not been investigated. We therefore sought to identify a combination of fibers in PDs that best recapitulate the GI health and intestinal microbiota of mice fed a GBD, while also including an additional reference GBD (Teklad 2020SX). Methods: 7-week-old C57BL/6J male mice were individually housed and randomly assigned to a diet (two GBDs and four PDs with varying fiber composition) for 28 days. To assess changes in GI anatomy, small intestinal length, colon length, cecal weight, and colon weight were recorded at tissue harvest. Cecal contents, colon contents, and fecal pellets were collected for 16S rRNA gene sequencing to compare microbial profiles across different GI niches and between diets using the Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology 2 pipeline (QIIME 2) pipeline. Results: Consistent with published data, GI anatomy was altered in mice consuming PDs compared to GBDs. Microbiotas from mice fed any PD significantly differed from mice consuming either GBD in all GI niches (p<0.05, ANOSIM). Microbiotas were distinct between mice fed either Purina 5001 or Teklad 2020SX GBDs (p<0.01, ANOSIM). Mice fed low soluble fiber PDs (≤ 25% soluble fiber) also produced significantly different microbial communities than mice fed high soluble PDs (≥ 75% soluble fiber) (ANOSIM, p<0.001). Unexpectedly, the microbial richness of mice decreased with increasing soluble fiber content in PDs. The relative abundance of Lactococcus spp. and the [Eubacterium] xylanophilum group were different between mice fed GBDs and PDs, while Romboutsia spp. had a higher relative abundance in mice fed low soluble fiber PDs compared to other diet groups. Conclusions: Mice fed PDs with high soluble fiber content (≥ 75% soluble fiber) best recapitulated GI health compared to mice fed GBDs. However, no PD tested recapitulated the microbiotas of mice fed GBDs. The creation of PDs with a mixture of soluble and insoluble fibers is highly desirable to improve reliability in future rodent studies regarding diets and gut microbiota.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt

Overexpression of Class III β-tubulin, Sox2, and nuclear Survivin is predictive of taxane resistance in patients with stage III ovarian epithelial cancer

Failed root canal treatment is best addressed primarily with the provision of repeat endodontic treatment with thorough irrigation under isolation. If a post is present in the root of the tooth it needs to be removed first. This paper is the second in a series of two which provide an overview of techniques for post removal. Specifically designed post removal devices and the removal of fibre posts are described. Post removal device techniques are illustrated with a series of clinical case figures

MD simulation study on defect evolution and doping efficiency of p-type doping of 3C-SiC by Al ion implantation with subsequent annealing

We use molecular dynamics (MD) simulation with numerical characterisation and statistical analysis to study the mechanisms of damage evolution and p-type doping efficiency by aluminum (Al) ion implantation into 3C silicon carbide (SiC) with subsequent annealing. By incorporating the electronic stopping power for implantation, a more accurate description of the atomic-scale mechanisms of damage evolution and distribution in SiC can be obtained. The simulation results show a novel observation that the recrystallization process occurs in the region below the subsurface layer, and develops from amorphous-crystalline interface to the damage center region, which is a new insight into previously published studies. During surface recrystallization, significant compressive stress concentration occurs, and more structural phase transition atoms and dislocations formed at the damage-rich-crystalline interface. Another point of interest is that for low-dose implantation, more implantation-induced defects hamper the doping efficiency. Correspondingly, the correlation between lattice damage and doping efficiency becomes weaker as the implant dose increases under the same annealing conditions. Our simulation also predicts that annealing after high temperature (HT) implantation is more likely to lead to the formation of carbon vacancies (V-C).Peer reviewe

Raw rehmannia radix polysaccharide can effectively release peroxidative injury induced by duck hepatitis A virus

Background: Duck viral hepatitis (DVH), caused by duck hepatitis A virus (DHAV), is a fatal contagious infectious disease which spreads rapidly with high morbidity and high mortality, and there is no effective clinical drug against DVH.Materials and Methods: Raw Rehmannia Radix Polysaccharide (RRRP), Lycii Fructus polysaccharides and Astragalus Radix polysaccharides were experimented in vitro and in vivo. Mortality rate, livers change, liver lesion scoring, peroxidative injury evaluation indexes in vitro and in vivo, and hepatic injury evaluation indexes of optimal one were detected and observed in this experiment.Results: RRRP could reduce mortality with the protection rate about 20.0% compared with that of the viral control (VC) group, finding that RRRP was the most effective against DHAV. The average liver scoring of the VC, blank control (BC), RRRP groups were 3.5, 0, 2.1. Significant difference (P&lt;0.05) appeared between any two groups, demonstrating that it can alleviate liver pathological change. RRRP could make the hepatic injury evaluation indexes similar to BC group while the levels of the VC group were higher than other two groups in general. The levels of SOD, GSH-Px, CAT of RRRP group showed significant higher than that of VC group while the levels of NOS and MDA showed the opposite tendency, thus, RRRP could release peroxidative injury.Conclusion: RRRP was the most effective against duck hepatitis A virus (DHAV). RRRP could reduce mortality, alleviate liver pathological change, down-regulate liver lesion score, release peroxidative injury and hepatic injury. The antiviral and peroxidative injury releasing activity of RRRP for DHAV provided a platform to test novel drug strategies for hepatitis A virus in human beings.Keywords: Raw Rehmannia Radix Polysaccharide; duck hepatitis A virus; peroxidative injury; hepatic injur

RAW REHMANNIA RADIX POLYSACCHARIDE CAN EFFECTIVELY RELEASE PEROXIDATIVE INJURY INDUCED BY DUCK HEPATITIS A VIRUS

Background: Duck viral hepatitis (DVH), caused by duck hepatitis A virus (DHAV), is a fatal contagious infectious disease which spreads rapidly with high morbidity and high mortality, and there is no effective clinical drug against DVH. Materials and Methods: Raw Rehmannia Radix Polysaccharide (RRRP), Lycii Fructus polysaccharides and Astragalus Radix polysaccharides were experimented in vitro and in vivo. Mortality rate, livers change, liver lesion scoring, peroxidative injury evaluation indexes in vitro and in vivo, and hepatic injury evaluation indexes of optimal one were detected and observed in this experiment. Results: RRRP could reduce mortality with the protection rate about 20.0% compared with that of the viral control (VC) group, finding that RRRP was the most effective against DHAV. The average liver scoring of the VC, blank control (BC), RRRP groups were 3.5, 0, 2.1. Significant difference (

Understanding Relationships among Agro-Ecosystem Services Based on Emergy Analysis in Luancheng County, North China

Exploring the relationship between different services has become the focus of ecosystem services research in recent years. The agro-ecosystem, which accounts for one-third of the global land area, provides lots of services but also disservices, depending on resources provided by other systems. In this paper, we explored the agro-ecosystem from four aspects: a summary of different indicators in the agro-ecosystem, input and output changes with time, relationships between different ecosystem services and disservices, and resource contribution to major services, using Luancheng County of North China as the study area. We then used emergy analysis to unify all the indicators. The conclusions were that the agro-ecosystem maintained provisioning and regulating services but with increasing volatility under continued growth in production inputs and disservice outputs. There was a positive correlation between most of the different services and disservices. Rainfall and groundwater resources were the most used input resources in the agro-ecosystem and all other major ecosystem services depended directly on them

The Taihang Mountain Region of North China is Experiencing A Significant Warming Trend

The Earth’s climate has warmed by approximately 0.6 °C over the last century, but temperature change in the Taihang Mountain region—an important transition zone in North China which functions as an ecological barrier for Beijing, Tianjin, and other big cities—is still unknown. In this study, we analyze the spatial and temporal trends in the average annual and seasonal surface air temperature in the Taihang Mountain region from 1968 to 2017. The effect of elevation, longitude, latitude, percent forestland, percent farmland, and gross domestic product (GDP) on temperature was also determined. Our results show that the Taihang Mountain has warmed by 0.3 °C/decade over the past five decades. Partitioned seasonally, average warming was 0.38, 0.14, 0.21, and 0.47 °C/decade in spring, summer, fall, and winter, respectively. Elevation and latitude were significantly negatively correlated with temperature but had no correlation with the temporal warming trend (i.e., the Z value from a Mann–Kendall test). The Z value was significantly negatively correlated with percent forestland and positively correlated with GDP, indicating that economic development has induced warming, but afforestation may reduce the rate of warming increase. Together, our results provide important insights into the rates and drivers of climate change within mountainous regions

Exploration of the Delivery of Oncolytic Newcastle Disease Virus by Gelatin Methacryloyl Microneedles

Oncolytic Newcastle disease virus is a new type of cancer immunotherapy drug. This paper proposes a scheme for delivering oncolytic viruses using hydrogel microneedles. Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) was synthesized by chemical grafting, and GelMA microneedles encapsulating oncolytic Newcastle disease virus (NDV) were prepared by micro-molding and photocrosslinking. The release and expression of NDV were tested by immunofluorescence and hemagglutination experiments. The experiments proved that GelMA was successfully synthesized and had hydrogel characteristics. NDV was evenly dispersed in the allantoic fluid without agglomeration, showing a characteristic virus morphology. NDV particle size was 257.4 ± 1.4 nm, zeta potential was −13.8 ± 0.5 mV, virus titer TCID50 was 107.5/mL, and PFU was 2 × 107/mL, which had a selective killing effect on human liver cancer cells in a dose and time-dependent manner. The NDV@GelMA microneedles were arranged in an orderly cone array, with uniform height and complete needle shape. The distribution of virus-like particles was observed on the surface. GelMA microneedles could successfully penetrate 5% agarose gel and nude mouse skin. Optimal preparation conditions were freeze-drying. We successfully prepared GelMA hydrogel microneedles containing NDV, which could effectively encapsulate NDV but did not detect the release of NDV

Different Targeting Ligands-Mediated Drug Delivery Systems for Tumor Therapy

Traditional tumor treatments have the drawback of harming both tumor cells and normal cells, leading to significant systemic toxic side effects. As a result, there is a pressing need for targeted drug delivery methods that can specifically target cells or tissues. Currently, researchers have made significant progress in developing targeted drug delivery systems for tumor therapy using various targeting ligands. This review aims to summarize recent advancements in targeted drug delivery systems for tumor therapy, focusing on different targeting ligands such as folic acid, carbohydrates, peptides, aptamers, and antibodies. The review also discusses the advantages, challenges, and future prospects of these targeted drug delivery systems