Physiological and Pathological Mitochondrial Clearance Is Related to Pectoralis Major Muscle Pathogenesis in Broilers With Wooden Breast Syndrome

Wooden breast syndrome (WB) constitutes an emerging myopathy in the pectoralis major muscle (PM) of broiler chickens, characterized by myofiber hypertrophy and degeneration along with severe fibrosis. WB pathogenesis has been considered to involve hypoxia induced by rapid growth of the PM. In this study, we focused on mitochondrial morphology and dynamics in the myofibers, as these organelles are sensitive to damage by hypoxia, and examined the effects on WB pathogenesis. Specifically, the PMs of a flock of 35 broilers at 50 days of age were evaluated. First, the severity of disease in each bird was determined by measuring histopathological indices including the fibrotic area (FA) in the muscle and circularity of myofibers (CM). These values were 29.4 ± 9.6% and 0.70 ± 0.042, respectively, showing variety among the flock. Myofiber vacuolization was observed in all birds including numerous small- or large-rimmed vacuoles, with the former consisting of ultrastructurally autophagosome-like vacuoles engulfing degenerated mitochondria. The large-rimmed vacuoles frequently occurred in the PMs with more severe FA and CM, indicating a relationship between altered autophagy/mitophagy and WB severity. Next, the expression levels of hypoxia-adaptive and mitochondrial dynamics-related genes were analyzed, and their correlations with the histopathological indices were examined. The histopathological indices were negatively correlated with the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), indicating that less angiogenesis owing to weakened hypoxia-inducible factor signaling induces more severe WB pathology. In addition, the observed negative correlation with mitochondrial dynamics-related genes implied that WB pathology deteriorates concomitant with reduced mitochondrial dynamics. Furthermore, the expression of mitochondrial dynamics-related genes showed strong positive correlation with that of VEGFA and autophagy-/mitophagy-related genes. These results revealed that the PMs of broilers possess the mechanism of physiological clearance of mitochondria damaged by the hypoxia resulting from the continuous mitochondrial dynamics and autophagy/mitophagy accompanying rapid PM growth. In turn, the altered mitochondrial clearance induced by chronic hypoxia and the accumulation of damaged mitochondria likely underly the severe pathological features of WB.ArticleFrontiers in Pharmacology.11:579(2020)journal articl

Effects of Zirconium Doping Into a Monoclinic Scheelite BiVO4 Crystal on Its Structural, Photocatalytic, and Photoelectrochemical Properties

Effects of zirconium (Zr) doping into BiVO4 powder on its structural properties and photocatalytic activity for O2 evolution were examined. The formation of BiVO4 powder crystallized in a monoclinic scheelite structure (ms-BiVO4) was achieved when the sample was doped with a relatively small amount of Zr. The photocatalytic activity of Zr-doped ms-BiVO4 powder was much higher than that of non-doped ms-BiVO4. However, further doping caused a reduction of photocatalytic activity for O2 evolution due to the occurrence of structural alterations into tetragonal scheelite and tetragonal zircon structures. Similar effects of Zr doping were also observed for the photoelectrochemical (PEC) system based on BiVO4 thin films doped with various amounts of Zr. Thus, Zr doping was confirmed to be effective for improvements of photocatalytic and PEC functions of BiVO4 for water oxidation

In Vivo Monitoring of the Growth of Fertilized Eggs of Medaka Fish (Oryzias latipes) by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Near-Infrared Imaging—A Marked Change in the Relative Content of Weakly Hydrogen-Bonded Water in Egg Yolk Just before Hatching

The present study develops further our previous study of in vivo monitoring at the molecular level of the embryonic development in Japanese medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and NIR imaging. NIR spectra were measured nondestructively for three major parts of fertilized medaka eggs (the embryonic body, oil droplets, and egg yolk) from the first day after fertilization to the day just before hatching (JBH). Changes in the contents of chemical components such as proteins, water, and lipids were monitored in situ during embryonic development. A marked change in the relative content of weakly hydrogen-bonded water was observed in the egg yolk JBH. Principal component analysis (PCA) was carried out using the NIR spectra data of the egg yolk and embryo on the fifth day after fertilization. The PCA clearly separates the egg yolk data from the embryo body parts. Principal component PC1 and PC2 loading plots suggest that the hydrogen bonding structure of water in the egg yolk is considerably different to those of the other parts and the fraction of weakly hydrogen-bonded water in the egg yolk is smaller than that in the embryonic body. NIR images developed from the intensities of peaks of second derivative spectra owing to water and proteins show their different distribution patterns. Images of the ratio of strongly and weakly hydrogen-bonded water confirmed that oil droplets and embryonic body parts have higher and lower ratios, respectively, of strongly hydrogen-bonded water than do the other parts. The images developed from the intensity of the peaks at 4864 and 4616 cm−1 related to the proteins indicated that the egg yolk contains a higher concentration of protein than do the other parts. The peaks at 5756 and 4530 cm−1 caused by the protein secondary structures of α-helix and β-sheet showed the configuration of the egg cell membrane. The present study might lead to new understanding at the molecular level regarding the growth of fertilized eggs and provides a new tool to visualize egg development in a nondestructive manner

A Case Study of How Maersk Adopts Cloud-Based Blockchain Integrated with Machine Learning for Sustainable Practices

In the last six years, there has been a rise in research interest with regard to the applications of blockchain technology in supply chains and how these applications bring benefits to supply chain management. In a broader sense, an essential research focus that has been discussed in the literature is the way in which this emerging blockchain technology in supply chains brings sustainable benefits to a community. The rationale for incorporating cloud technology into a blockchain and integrating the blockchain with machine learning for supply chain applications is to maintain technical sustainability. While previous studies suggested and reported sustainable practices of applying blockchain technology in supply chains, the means with which these practices are brought about by the cloud-based blockchain integrated with machine learning (CBML) have not been thoroughly explored in the literature. The case study presented in this paper aims to fill this gap by exploring technically, environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable practices through the use cases of CBML for supply chain management by the international leading container shipping company Maersk. The use cases by Maersk presented in published documents were collected from the Internet and then analyzed. This document analysis was performed in two ways. The first way was a technical review of the blockchain technology used by Maersk with a consideration of technical sustainability to ensure scalability and big data analytics. The other way was to analyze the applications of the CBML by Maersk to indicate how environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and social sustainability can be achieved. On the other hand, this paper also highlights the negative technical, environmental, economic, and social sustainability impacts caused by Maersk and discusses implications for future research directions

A Review of Historical Changes of Tropical and Extra-Tropical Cyclones: A Comparative Analysis of the United States, Europe, and Asia

Tropical cyclones are highly destructive weather systems, especially in coastal areas. Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained winds exceeding 74 mph (≈119 kph) are classified as typhoons in the Northwest Pacific, whilst the term ‘hurricanes’ applies to other regions. This study aims to investigate the general characteristics of the most devastating and catastrophic tropical cyclones in the USA Europe, and Asia. To achieve the study objectives, the three most devastating typical tropical cyclones in each region were selected. The tropical cyclones were examined based on various features, such as the number of deaths, minimum pressure, highest wind speed, total financial losses, and frequency per year. In contrast to Europe and Asia, the USA has recorded the highest number of catastrophic tropical cyclones. The damage induced by hurricanes Katrina, Harvey, and Maria in the USA totalled approximately USD USD 380 billion. In addition, the present research highlights the demand to improve the public attitude and behaviour toward the impact of climate change along with the enhancement of climate change alleviation strategies. The number of intense tropical cyclones is expected to rise, and the tropical cyclone-related precipitation rate is expected to increase in warmer-climate areas. Stakeholders and industrial practitioners may use the research findings to design resilience and adaptation plans in the face of tropical cyclones, allowing them to assess the effects of climate change on tropical cyclone incidents from an academic humanitarian logistics viewpoint in the forthcoming years

Modified model for predicting early C-reactive protein levels after gastrointestinal surgery: A prospective cohort study.

BackgroundPostoperative serum concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the objective quantitative indices integrating the effects of preoperative and intraoperative variables. Higher levels of CRP after gastrointestinal surgery are associated with major postoperative complications. To develop a model for predicting CRP levels on postoperative day (POD) 1 in surgical patients both with and without serious conditions and comorbidities, we modified the previous formula for prediction of CRP levels on POD1, and assessed the accuracy of our modified predictive formula for CRP levels.Material and methodsConsecutive patients of all ages undergoing gastrointestinal surgery under general anesthesia were enrolled in this single-institution prospective cohort study. We developed a modified predictive formula in a calculation cohort. Next, associations between measured CRP levels on POD1, predicted CRP levels on POD1 using the previous and modified models, and major complications after surgery were examined in a validation cohort.ResultsWe obtained the following model in the calculation cohort (n = 222): Modified model for predicting CRP levels on POD1 (mg•dL-1) = -10.13 + 0.0025 Duration of surgery (min) + 15.9 Mean Nociceptive Response (NR) + 0.66 Preoperative CRP level (mg•dL-1). In the validation cohort (n = 440), there was a significant association between measured and predicted CRP levels on POD1 (P ConclusionCRP levels predicted using duration of surgery, mean NR, and preoperative CRP levels are likely identical to measured CRP levels on POD1, being associated with major complications after gastrointestinal surgery