Search

The Flourishing scale is a brief instrument to measure psychological and social aspects of well-being. In the current study, longitudinal measurement invariance of the FS was assessed in a large sample of Chinese adolescents (n = 494) who were followed longitudinally. Results found that the FS has strong longitudinal invariance over a 2-month interval and across sex. Moreover, high stability coefficients across time were found for the FS. In conclusion, the study suggests that the psychometric properties for longitudinal measurement invariance of the FS are satisfactory and the FS is a reliable measure of eudaimonic well-being in adolescence., Author(s): Qingsong Tan [sup.1] , Linting Zhang [sup.1] , Wenjie Li [sup.1] , Feng Kong [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.412498.2, 0000 0004 1759 8395, School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, [...]

Microalgae are rich in fatty acids, proteins, and other nutrients, which have gained the general attention of researchers all over the world. For the development of Chlorella vulgaris in food and feed industry, this study was conducted to investigate the differences in C. vulgaris' growth and nutritional components under different culture conditions (autotrophic, heterotrophic, photoheterotrophic) and the internal factors through cell counting in combination with transcriptome and nutrient analyses. The results showed that, under the photoheterotrophic condition, Chlorella's growth and the contents of lipid and protein were significantly higher than that under the heterotrophic condition, and the moisture content was lower than that under the heterotrophic condition. The saturated fatty acid content under the photoheterotrophic condition was the lowest, while the polyunsaturated fatty acid content was significantly higher than those under the other two conditions. There were 46,583 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 33,039 up-regulated DEGs (70.93%) and 13,544 down-regulated DEGs (29.07%), under the photoheterotrophic condition in comparison with the autotrophic condition. The fold change between the two conditions of samples of up-regulated genes was higher than that of the down-regulated genes. The KEGG enrichment showed that the up-regulated DEGs in the photoheterotrophic condition were significantly enriched in 5 pathways, including protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum pathway, photosynthesis pathway, photosynthesis-antenna protein pathway, endocytosis pathway, and phosphonate and phosphinate metabolism pathway. DEGs related to fatty acid metabolic pathways were significantly enriched in the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway and the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acid pathway. The qPCR analysis showed that the expression pattern of the selected genes was consistent with that of transcriptome analysis. The results of this study lay a theoretical foundation for the large-scale production of Chlorella and its application in food, feed, and biodiesel. Key points: • Nutrient levels under photoheterotrophic condition were higher than other conditions. • Six important pathways were discovered that affect changes in nutritional composition. • Explored genes encode important enzymes in the differential metabolic pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the significance of metabolic research in aquatic animal nutrition, physiology, and disease. It emphasizes the importance of protein in aquafeed and the challenges faced due to the scarcity of traditional protein sources. The research papers included in the special issue investigate alternative protein sources, such as cottonseed protein and wheat gluten, as substitutes for fish meal. The article also delves into the impact of lipids, carbohydrates, and feed additives on the metabolic health of aquatic animals. These findings have implications for enhancing feed efficiency, reducing production costs, and promoting environmental conservation in the aquaculture industry. Additionally, the article titled "Metabolites" provides a comprehensive analysis of the role of metabolites in various biological processes. The authors discuss the significance of metabolites in understanding disease mechanisms and developing therapeutic interventions. They explore different analytical techniques used to study metabolites and highlight their potential applications in personalized medicine. This article offers valuable insights for researchers and healthcare professionals interested in the field of metabolomics. [Extracted from the article]

The 5-item Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-5) is one of the most commonly used instruments to measure dispositional gratitude in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to verify the longitudinal measurement invariance (LMI) and gender measurement invariance (GMI) of the GQ-5 that was administered to an adolescent sample twice over the course of 18 months (N = 669). Single-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was adopted to examine the LMI and multiple-group CFA was conducted to assess the GMI. The results showed that the GQ-5 had strong invariance (i.e., equality of factor patterns, loadings, and intercepts) across time and gender. Validation of latent factor mean differences showed that females had higher gratitude scores than males. In addition, the GQ-5 exhibited good internal consistency indices across time and a moderate stability coefficient was also found across an 18-month time interval in adolescents. In summary, our study showed that LMI and GMI of the GQ-5 are satisfactory and the GQ-5 is a reliable instrument for measuring gratitude in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study was performed to determine the effect of starvation and delayed feeding on activities of digestive enzymes and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) of larval red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), so as to reveal the tolerance to prolonged starvation and the recovery of digestive enzymes after delayed feeding in larval and juvenile P. clarkii. In the control group, activities of trypsin and ALP increased significantly (p < .05) with day‐age and then kept constant at 24 days after hatching (DAH) and 10 DAH, respectively, whereas the activities of amylase and pepsin increased firstly then decreased with day‐age, and the activity of lipase increased firstly then decreased and then increased again during the development period of juvenile P. clarkii (1–31 DAH). In the group with continuous starvation (CS), activities of pepsin and lipase both decreased (p < .05) after fasting, and the activities of pepsin, lipase and trypsin in the groups with delayed feeding all increased (p < .05) and recover to the levels of the control group after food supply. However, the activity of amylase increased (p < .05) in the CS group, and it decreased to normal level after food supply. The ALP activity did not significantly (p > .05) vary after starvation, whereas it decreased in the groups with delayed feeding after 1 day of food supply, and then increased back to the level similar with the control group. Results from this study could provide information for diet preparation and feeding regime in larval and juvenile red swamp crayfish culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 49-days feeding trial was conducted to study the effects of sodium butyrate on growth performance, gut morphology of juvenile grass carp. Five isoenergetic and isonitrogenous experimental diets were compounded by the supplementation in the basal diet with gradient sodium butyrate at 0, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000 mg kg−1 respectively. A total of 375 juvenile grass carp (with initial body weight of 3.8 g) were randomly allocated into five diet treatments, and each treatment has three replicates. The results showed that the specific growth rate ( SGR) of SB1000 and SB2000 group was significantly higher ( P < 0.05) than that of the other groups. Moreover, the lowest SGR was observed in SB3000 group. Feeding rate and the whole-body proximate composition including moisture, crude lipid, crude protein and crude ash were not affected by sodium butyrate ( P > 0.05). Total superoxide dismutase activities in hepatopancreas in the experimental groups were significantly higher than those in the control group ( P < 0.05). Glutathione peroxidase activity in hepatopancreas was significantly upregulated by dietary sodium butyrate level ( P < 0.05). However, the activity of total antioxidant capacity and the contents of malondialdehyde were not significantly different among groups. The expression levels of mRNA encoding PepT1 and LAT2 in the foregut both showed a first increasing and then decreasing tendency as dietary sodium butyrate level increased ( P < 0.05), and peaked in SB1000 and SB2000 groups respectively. The results indicated that appropriate dietary supplementation of sodium butyrate at 2000 mg kg−1 could improve the growth, antioxidant ability and intestinal absorption capacity of the juvenile grass carp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamma aminobutyric acid ( GABA) is one of the inhibitory neurotransmitters that may have the ability to regulate the appetite. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary GABA, as a feed additive, on growth performance and antioxidant status of juvenile grass carp. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic experimental diets with graded levels of GABA (0, 20, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) were fed to grass carp juveniles (mean weight: 2.0 g) for 8 wk. The results showed that the specific growth rate ( SGR) increased significantly with dietary GABA level up to the 100 mg/kg diet, and then decreased in the 200 mg/kg group ( P < 0.05). The difference in SGR value between the 50 and 100 mg/kg groups was not statistically significant ( P > 0.05). The survival rate was not significantly affected by dietary GABA level ( P > 0.05). No significant difference was observed in the whole body composition among treatments ( P > 0.05). The hepatopancreatic glutathione peroxidase ( GPx) activity increased significantly ( P < 0.05) with the GABA level, peaked in the group with GABA 100 mg/kg, and then decreased. The hepatopancreatic superoxide dismutase and total antioxidant capacity activities showed the same trend as GPx. Inversely, the hepatopancreatic malondialdehyde content decreased first and then increased with the dietary GABA level ( P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in the gene expression of neuropeptide Y ( NPY), cholecystokinin, leptin, and ghrelin in the hepatopancreas among groups. However, the NPY and ghrelin mRNA expression levels in the brain increased significantly with the GABA level, peaked in the groups of 50 mg/kg, and then showed a decreasing trend. On the basis of quadratic regression analysis of SGR, the optimum content of dietary GABA in juvenile grass carp is suggested to be a 87.5 mg/kg diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]