Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Using Rosemary Residues as a Cereal Substitute in Concentrate on Vitamin E, Antioxidant Activity, Color, Lipid Oxidation, and Fatty Acid Profile of Barbarine Lamb Meat

Simple Summary The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the inclusion of rosemary residues (RR) and protein sources on lamb meat quality. Twenty-four male Barbarine lambs were divided into three homogeneous groups receiving individually: 600 g of oat hay as a roughage supplemented with 600 g of commercial concentrate for the control group (C), concentrate containing rosemary residues (RR) plus soybean meal for the RRS group, and RR plus faba bean for the RRF group. The inclusion of RR did not affect meat lipid oxidation, but improved meat nutritional properties by increasing its polyphenol and polyunsaturated FA content. The source of crude protein did not affect any parameter studied. Abstract The shortage of some ingredients and, consequently, the continuous increase in the price of feed encourage the search for other alternatives to maintain animal production and enhance its products. In this line, the use of aromatic plant by-products in animal diet has been recently and widely considered, given their richness in bioactive compounds. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the inclusion of rosemary residues (RR) and protein sources on lamb meat quality. The experiment was carried out on 24 male Barbarine lambs (3 months old) with an average body weight (BW) of 17.8 ± 2.6 kg, which were divided into three homogeneous groups according to BW. The diet comprised 600 g of oat hay and 600 g of concentrate. Three types of concentrate were evaluated: commercial concentrate as the control group (C); rosemary residues (RR) plus soybean meal as the RRS group, and RR plus faba bean as the RRF group. After an experimental period of 65 days, lambs were slaughtered. The inclusion of RR in both concentrates increased the α-tocopherol and total polyphenol content in meat and protected meat against discoloration (high red index and chroma after 9 days of storage) but did not affect meat lipid oxidation, which was similar for all groups. The FA profile was affected by the inclusion of RR, with no effect from the source of protein (faba bean or soybean). The inclusion of RR in the concentrate increased the C18:2 n-6, C18:3 n-3, C20:4 n-6, C20:5 n-3, and C22:5 n-3 content (p < 0.05). Consequently, the inclusion of RR also increased the total polyunsaturated FA (p < 0.05) and the ratio of polyunsaturated FA to saturated FA (p < 0.05). The results of this study demonstrate that concentrate based on RR could be useful for lamb meat production by improving the nutritional quality of meat, especially the fatty acid profile. In addition, soybean meal can be replaced by faba bean in lamb concentrate without affecting meat quality.
Osteopontin in Cardiovascular Diseases

Unprecedented advances in secondary prevention have greatly improved the prognosis of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs); however, CVDs remain a leading cause of death globally. These findings suggest the need to reconsider cardiovascular risk and optimal medical therapy. Numerous studies have shown that inflammation, pro-thrombotic factors, and gene mutations are focused not only on cardiovascular residual risk but also as the next therapeutic target for CVDs. Furthermore, recent clinical trials, such as the Canakinumab Anti-inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study trial, showed the possibility of anti-inflammatory therapy for patients with CVDs. Osteopontin (OPN) is a matricellular protein that mediates diverse biological functions and is involved in a number of pathological states in CVDs. OPN has a two-faced phenotype that is dependent on the pathological state. Acute increases in OPN have protective roles, including wound healing, neovascularization, and amelioration of vascular calcification. By contrast, chronic increases in OPN predict poor prognosis of a major adverse cardiovascular event independent of conventional cardiovascular risk factors. Thus, OPN can be a therapeutic target for CVDs but is not clinically available. In this review, we discuss the role of OPN in the development of CVDs and its potential as a therapeutic target.
Puerarin Attenuates Cadmium-Induced Neuronal Injury via Stimulating Cadmium Excretion, Inhibiting Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis

Cadmium (Cd) is a potential pathogenic factor in the nervous system associated with various neurodegenerative disorders. Puerarin (Pur) is an isoflavone purified from the Chinese medical herb, kudzu root, and exhibits antioxidant and antiapoptotic properties in the brain. In this study, the detailed mechanisms underlying the neuroprotective potential of Pur against Cd-induced neuronal injury was evaluated for the first time in vivo in a rat model and in vitro using primary rat cerebral cortical neurons. The results of the in vivo experiments showed that Pur ameliorated Cd-induced neuronal injury, reduced Cd levels in the cerebral cortices, and stimulated Cd excretion in Cd-treated rats. We also observed that the administration of Pur rescued Cd-induced oxidative stress, and attenuated Cd-induced apoptosis by concomitantly suppressing both the Fas/FasL and mitochondrial pathways in the cerebral cortical neurons of rats both in vivo and in vitro. Our results demonstrate that Pur exerted its neuroprotective effects by stimulating Cd excretion, ameliorating Cd-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in rat cerebral cortical neurons.
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibition by Major Tanshinones from Salvia miltiorrhiza and Selective Muscarinic Acetylcholine M4 Receptor Antagonism by Tanshinone I

Monoamine oxidases (MAOs) and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) are considered important therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s disease (PD). Lipophilic tanshinones are major phytoconstituents in the dried roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza that have demonstrated neuroprotective effects against dopaminergic neurotoxins and the inhibition of MAO-A. Since MAO-B inhibition is considered an effective therapeutic strategy for PD, we tested the inhibitory activities of three abundant tanshinone congeners against recombinant human MAO (hMAO) isoenzymes through in vitro experiments. In our study, tanshinone I (1) exhibited the highest potency against hMAO-A, followed by tanshinone IIA and cryptotanshinone, with an IC50 less than 10 µM. They also suppressed hMAO-B activity, with an IC50 below 25 µM. Although tanshinones are known to inhibit hMAO-A, their enzyme inhibition mechanism and binding sites have yet to be investigated. Enzyme kinetics and molecular docking studies have revealed the mode of inhibition and interactions of tanshinones during enzyme inhibition. Proteochemometric modeling predicted mAChRs as possible pharmacological targets of 1, and in vitro functional assays confirmed the selective M4 antagonist nature of 1 (56.1% ± 2.40% inhibition of control agonist response at 100 µM). These findings indicate that 1 is a potential therapeutic molecule for managing the motor dysfunction and depression associated with PD.
Sperm Motility, Oxidative Status, and Mitochondrial Activity: Exploring Correlation in Different Species

Sperm quality assessment is the first step for evaluating male fertility and includes the estimation of sperm concentration, motility, and morphology. Nevertheless, other parameters can be assessed providing additional information on the male reproductive potential. This study aimed to evaluate and correlate the oxidative status, mitochondrial functionality, and motility in spermatozoa of two marine invertebrate (Ciona robusta and Mytilus galloprovincialis) and one mammalian (Bos taurus) species. By combining fluorescent staining and spectrofluorometer, sperm oxidative status was evaluated through intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and plasma membrane lipid peroxidation (LPO) analysis. Mitochondrial functionality was assessed through the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). In the three examined species, a negative correlation emerged between sperm motility vs ROS levels and LPO. Sperm motility positively correlated with MMP in bovine, whereas these parameters were not related in ascidian or even negatively related in mussel spermatozoa. MMP was negatively related to ROS and LPO levels in ascidians, only to LPO in bovine, and positively related in mussel spermatozoa. These results suggest that energy sources for sperm motility vary between species and that ROS causes a decline in sperm motility via oxidative damage of membrane lipids. Overall, this study validates the use of fluorescent probes in combination with spectrofluorometer as a simple and powerful methodology for supplementary evaluation of sperm quality shedding light on new potential quality markers and provided relevant information on sperm energetic metabolism.
Contiguity and Structural Impacts of a Non-Myosin Protein within the Thick Filament Myosin Layers

Simple Summary Hexapods and crustaceans (Pancrustacea) represent nearly 80% of known living animals. Species within this clade exhibit exquisite muscle types propelling ingenious means of locomotion, likely contributing to their evolutionary success. Flightin, a myosin-binding protein, first identified in the flight muscle of Drosophila, is defined by WYR, a protein domain exclusive to Pancrustacea. In Drosophila, flightin imparts stiffness to the thick filament and is essential for their length determination and structural integrity. Here, we build on results from the three-dimensional reconstruction of the Lethocerus flight muscle thick filament to advance the hypothesis that flightin influences thick filament mechanics, and by extension muscle function, by acting as a cinch in the filament core. Abstract Myosin dimers arranged in layers and interspersed with non-myosin densities have been described by cryo-EM 3D reconstruction of the thick filament in Lethocerus at 5.5 Å resolution. One of the non-myosin densities, denoted the ‘red density’, is hypothesized to be flightin, an LMM-binding protein essential to the structure and function of Drosophila indirect flight muscle (IFM). Here, we build upon the 3D reconstruction results specific to the red density and its engagement with the myosin coiled-coil rods that form the backbone of the thick filament. Each independent red density winds its way through the myosin dimers, such that it links four dimers in a layer and one dimer in a neighboring layer. This area in which three distinct interfaces within the myosin rod are contacted at once and the red density extends to the thick filament core is designated the “multiface”. Present within the multiface is a contact area inclusive of E1563 and R1568. Mutations in the corresponding Drosophila residues (E1554K and R1559H) are known to interfere with flightin accumulation and phosphorylation in Drosophila. We further examine the LMM area in direct apposition to the red density and identified potential binding residues spanning up to ten helical turns. We find that the red density is associated within an expanse of the myosin coiled-coil that is unwound by the third skip residue and the coiled-coil is re-oriented while in contact with the red density. These findings suggest a mechanism by which flightin induces ordered assembly of myosin dimers through its contacts with multiple myosin dimers and brings about reinforcement on the level of a single myosin dimer by stabilization of the myosin coiled-coil.
Early Warning System for Chemical Processes with Time Delay and Limited Actuator Capacity

A new model-based predictive technique is proposed for generating early warnings to operators. The proposed method uses an open-loop process and disturbance model along with process measurements to predict the future state of a process. The method successfully monitors a process vulnerability (i) during the time-delay period and (ii) when the actuator does not have sufficient capacity. On the basis of the predicted process system, an alarm is generated when predictions exceed the threshold of safety limits. A moving horizon predictor combined with bias corrections predicts the dynamic output for the time-delay period, and a linear programming algorithm checks the feasibility of the solution using system gain and constraint information. The proposed method is applied to a single-input-single-output system as well as a multiple-input-multiple- output continuous stirred tank heater system. The method demonstrated performance in issuing early warnings that was superior to that of existing methods and was robu.
Determination of Bioactive Compounds in Sequential Extracts of Chia Leaf (Salvia hispanica L.) Using UHPLC-HRMS (Q-Orbitrap) and a Global Evaluation of Antioxidant In Vitro Capacity

Consumers’ interest in foods that are nutritionally balanced and with health benefits has increased. The food industry is paying attention to the use of the ancestral seed Salvia hispanica L. , commonly known as chia. At present, only chia seeds, which are a natural source of omega-3 and omega-6, fiber, proteins, and natural antioxidants, are commercialized. Although some studies reveal the presence of several bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols (e.g., vitexin, orientin, and some hydroxycinnamic acids) in chia leaf methanolic extracts, the chia plant is commonly used as fertilizer or treated as waste after harvest. Therefore, it can represent a by-product that could be considered a great source of bioactive compounds with unexplored potential in medicine and food industry applications. In this work, UHPLC-HRMS (Q-Orbitrap) was employed to tentatively identify and determine the bioactive compounds present in different leaf extracts of chia plants of black and white seed phenotype obtained with solvents of different polarity (ethanol, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, and hexane) to address chia plant by-product revalorization. The chemical antioxidant capacity was also studied and correlated to the found bioactive compounds. In these experiments, black chia showed a higher antioxidant capacity than white chia in the ethanolic extracts. Moreover, experiments on cellular antioxidant activity were also performed with a predominance of the white chia extract. It is noted that the cellular antioxidant activity results make chia ethanolic extracts promising antioxidants.
Local Structure of Cobalt Tungstate Revealed by EXAFS Spectroscopy and Reverse Monte Carlo/Evolutionary Algorithm Simulations

Abstract EXAFS spectroscopy is an element-specific method that can provide perhaps the most extensive information on the local atomic structure and lattice dynamics for a broad class of materials. Conventional methods of EXAFS data treatment are often limited to the nearest coordination shells of the absorbing atom due to the difficulties in accurate accounting for the large number of correlated structural parameters that have to be included in the analysis. In this study we overcome this problem by applying novel simulation-based method: reverse Monte Carlo simulations, coupled with the evolutionary algorithm and with a powerful signal processing technique – wavelet transform. This complex approach was applied to the analysis of the W L3-edge and Co K-edge EXAFS spectra of crystalline CoWO4, which exists in antiferromagnetic state below 55 K. Temperature dependence of the local environment up to 4.3 Å around both metal ions was reconstructed in the range from 10 K to 300 K, and the rigidity of the tungstate structure due to zigzag chains of WO6 and CoO6 octahedra was analyzed.
Exposure to a fungal pathogen increases the critical thermal minimum of two frog species

Abstract The ability of an organism to tolerate seasonal temperature changes, such as extremely cold temperatures during the winter, can be influenced by their pathogens. We tested how exposure to a virulent fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), affected the critical thermal minimum (CTmin) of two frog species, Hyla versicolor (gray treefrog) and Lithobates palustris (pickerel frog). The CTmin is the minimum thermal performance point of an organism, which we estimated via righting response trials. For both frog species, we compared the righting response of Bd‐exposed and Bd‐unexposed individuals in either a constant (15ºC) environment or with decreasing temperatures (−1°C/2.5 min) starting from 15°C. The CTmin for both species was higher for Bd‐exposed frogs than unexposed frogs, and the CTmin of H. versicolor was higher than L. palustris. We also found that Bd‐exposed frogs of both species righted themselves significantly fewer times in both decreasing and constant temperature trials. Our findings show that pathogen exposure can reduce cold tolerance and limit the thermal performance range of hosts, which may lead to increased overwintering mortality.
Dyslipidaemia in Type 1 Diabetes: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). The molecular basis for atherosclerosis in T1D is heavily influenced by hyperglycaemia and its atherogenic effects on LDL. Ongoing research into the distinct pathophysiology of atherosclerosis in T1D offers exciting opportunities for novel approaches to calculate CVD risk in patients with T1D and to manage this risk appropriately. Currently, despite the increased risk of CVD in the T1D population, there are few tools available for estimating the risk of CVD in younger patients. This poses significant challenges for clinicians in selecting which patients might benefit from lipid-lowering therapies over the long term. The current best practice guidance for the management of dyslipidaemia in T1D is generally based on evidence from patients with T2D and the opinion of experts in the field. In this review article, we explore the unique pathophysiology of atherosclerosis in T1D, with a specific focus on hyperglycaemia-induced damage and atherogenic LDL modifications. We also discuss the current clinical situation of managing these patients across paediatric and adult populations, focusing on the difficulties posed by a lack of strong evidence and various barriers to treatment.
Analysis of Cluster and Unrest Behaviors of Laying Hens Housed under Different Thermal Conditions and Light Wave Length

Simple Summary The effects of lighting wavelength on the behavior of laying hens are not yet completely known. This study observed three groups of birds housed under different lighting colors (blue, green, and red) for 90 days. Important differences were found regarding the unrest and cluster behaviors of the birds. It was found that, at shorter wavelengths (blue light), birds became more agitated, while, at longer wavelengths (red light), birds became more clustered. When subjected to cold or heat stress, birds expressed unrest and cluster behaviors in different ways, indicating that further studies should be conducted to better clarify the effects of lighting on the behavior and well-being of laying hens. Abstract Laying hens are affected by the intensity, wavelength, and duration of light, and the behavioral patterns of these animals are important indicators of stress. The objective of the present study was to evaluate cluster and unrest behaviors of lying hens submitted to three environments with different treatments of monochromatic lighting (blue, green, and red). For 29 weeks, 60 laying hens from the Lohmann variety were divided into three groups and monitored by surveillance cameras installed on each shed ceiling and directed to the floor. Each group was housed in a small-scale shed and maintained under a monochromatic lighting treatment. The recordings were made at two times of the day, 15 min in the morning and 15 min in the afternoon, and the videos were processed, segmented, and analyzed computationally. From the analysis of the images, the cluster and unrest indexes were calculated. The results showed the influence of lighting on these behaviors, displaying that the birds were more agitated in the treatments with shorter wavelengths. Cluster behavior was higher in birds housed under red light. There was an interaction between the lighting treatments and the thermal environment, indicating that more studies should be carried out in this area to better understand these behavioral changes.
A Comparison of the Behavior, Physiology, and Offspring Resilience of Gestating Sows When Raised in a Group Housing System and Individual Stalls

Simple Summary The housing patterns of gestating sows affect their health and welfare. In this study, the differences between behavior and stress hormone levels were assessed when sows were housed in a group housing system compared to individual stalls; in addition, the disease resistance and resilience of their piglets were compared. In our investigation, the group-housed sows showed more exploratory behavior, less vacuum chewing, less sitting behavior, and lower stress hormone levels throughout pregnancy. A lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection test revealed that the offspring of group-housed sows showed better resistance and resilience to disease. Therefore, the gestating sows raised in a group housing system and their piglets are healthier and have improved welfare. Our results show that a group housing system provides higher welfare standards, with conditions that are more suitable for gestating sows in modern pig production. Abstract Being in a confined environment causes chronic stress in gestating sows, which is detrimental for sow health, welfare and, consequently, offspring physiology. This study assessed the health and welfare of gestating sows housed in a group housing system compared to individual gestation stalls. After pregnancy was confirmed, experimental sows were divided randomly into two groups: the group housing system (GS), with the electronic sow feeding (ESF) system; or individual stall (IS). The behavior of sows housed in the GS or IS was then compared; throughout pregnancy, GS sows displayed more exploratory behavior, less vacuum chewing, and less sitting behavior (p < 0.05). IS sows showed higher stress hormone levels than GS sows. In particular, at 41 days of gestation, the concentration of the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and adrenaline (A) in IS sows was significantly higher than that of GS sows, and the A level of IS sows remained significantly higher at 71 days of gestation (p < 0.01). The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) test was carried out in the weaned piglets of the studied sows. Compared with the offspring of gestating sows housed in GS (PG) or IS (PS), PG experienced a shorter period of high temperature and showed a quicker return to the normal state (p < 0.05). Additionally, their lower levels of stress hormone (p < 0.01) suggest that PG did not suffer from as much stress as PS. These findings suggested that gestating sows housed in GS were more able to carry out their natural behaviors and, therefore, had lower levels of stress and improved welfare. In addition, PG also showed better disease resistance and resilience. These results will provide a research basis for the welfare and breeding of gestating sows.