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A study examined the use of a probiotic called Probio-M9 in treating mastitis and improving antibiotic treatment. The researchers found that Probio-M9 effectively reduced mastitis symptoms, decreased inflammation, and enhanced the response to antibiotics. It also had an impact on the gut microbiome and the immune system. The study suggests that Probio-M9 can move from the gut to the mammary tissue during bacterial mastitis and lactation. These findings provide insight into the connection between the gut and mammary glands and the potential benefits of probiotics. [Extracted from the article]

Sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate are commonly used as the bases of dry powder fire extinguishing agents. However, the choices of particle diameter and base are still not obvious, bringing difficulties to the design of fire extinguishing agents. Through the study on thermal decomposition kinetics, it was found that the smaller the particle size, the faster the decomposition rate of dry powder agents. For instance, if the D90 of sodium bicarbonate is reduced from 46.2 to 1 μm, the decomposition rate triples. As determined by thermal decomposition experiments, the residues after a fire could be bicarbonates, carbonates, and mixtures. The residue solutions' pH shows that carbonates are more alkaline than bicarbonates, and potassium salts are more alkaline than sodium salts. The corrosion tests on four common metals reveal that the residues of potassium bicarbonate after a fire could accelerate the electrochemical corrosion of metal surfaces, especially aluminum alloys. This research identifies the ideal particle diameter and supports the choice of alkali metal salts for the design of dry powder agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since halon fire‐extinguishing agents are forbidden to be used due to environmental concerns, it is necessary to explore new environmentally friendly fire‐extinguishing agents. Perfluorotriethylamine (N(CF2CF3)3) with good physicochemical properties is a potential substitute for halons. To evaluate its practicability as the halon substitute, the thermal decomposition performance and mechanism of N(CF2CF3)3 were systematically investigated by combining experiment and theory in this study. The initiation reaction of N(CF2CF3)3 thermal decomposition was calculated by density functional theory. The reactive molecular dynamics simulations based on the reactive force field were used to investigate the thermal decomposition process of N(CF2CF3)3 at different temperatures, including the intermediates, decomposition temperature, and product distribution. To examine the actual fire‐extinguishing performance of N(CF2CF3)3, its fire‐extinguishing concentration in the n‐heptane‐air flame was measured by the cup‐burner method. Finally, the chemical fire‐extinguishing mechanism of N(CF2CF3)3 was proposed. N(CF2CF3)3 was pyrolyzed during the interaction with flame, producing the fire extinguishing radical CF3∙, which further consumed the active H∙ and OH∙ radicals by reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Separators are vital parts of all lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs), and they play a critical role in their thermal safety and electrochemical performance. Considering the low thermal stability and inferior electrolyte wettability of commercial polyolefin membranes, in this study, a novel thermotolerant polyimide aerogel (PIA) separator is designed. This is the first report on the use of chemically cross‐linked PIA separators for LIBs. The outstanding porosity (78.35%) and electrolyte absorption (321.66%) of PIA separators contribute to the low internal resistance and outstanding electrochemical performance of LIBs, which can retain a high specific capacity of 118 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at a current density of 1 C. In addition, The LiFePO4|Li metal batteries with PIA separators are extremely stable at 90 °C (>300 cycles), and maintain stability even at 120 °C. More importantly, for pouch batteries, PIA separators result in higher thermal runaway temperatures compared with Celgard separators. In this paper, the pyrolysis mechanism and thermodynamic process of PIA separators are clarified by DFT calculations and in situ synchrotron vacuum UV photoionization mass spectrometry experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cis‐1,1,1,4,4,4‐hexafluoro‐2‐butene (DR‐2 or HFO‐1336mzz(Z)) is a novel environmentally friendly working fluid with appropriate physicochemical characteristics. The present work firstly investigated the decomposition mechanism and thermal stability of DR‐2 in a oxygen (O2)‐containing atmosphere at high temperature experimentally. The oxidative degradation features of DR‐2 were explored at the temperature of 473–1073 K and the products were monitored by GC–MS and IC. The experimental and ReaxFF‐based molecular dynamics results demonstrated the promotion effects of O2 on the DR‐2 decomposition. The participation of O2 molecules was supposed to lower the initial thermal decomposition temperature by 240 K approximately and increase the number of products such as hydrogen fluoride (HF), but the enhancement effect was weakened by the increasing reaction temperature. The reasonable Arrhenius parameters were calculated from the first‐order kinetic analyses‐based reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) simulations. Combined with the density functional theory, the pathways of initial oxidation decomposition product firstly observed in the experiment and RMD simulations were proposed in this study. These results may pave the way for further study of DR‐2 as a working fluid with lower global warming potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying genetic biomarkers for brain connectivity helps us understand genetic effects on brain function. The unique and important challenge in detecting associations between brain connectivity and genetic variants is that the phenotype is a matrix rather than a scalar. We study a new concept of super‐variant for genetic association detection. Similar to but different from the classic concept of gene, a super‐variant is a combination of alleles in multiple loci but contributing loci can be anywhere in the genome. We hypothesize that the super‐variants are easier to detect and more reliable to reproduce in their associations with brain connectivity. By applying a novel ranking and aggregation method to the UK Biobank databases, we discovered and verified several replicable super‐variants. Specifically, we investigate a discovery set with 16,421 subjects and a verification set with 2,882 subjects, where they are formed according to release date, and the verification set is used to validate the genetic associations from the discovery phase. We identified 12 replicable super‐variants on Chromosomes 1, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, and 19. These verified super‐variants contain single nucleotide polymorphisms that locate in 14 genes which have been reported to have association with brain structure and function, and/or neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders in the literature. We also identified novel loci in genes RSPO2 and TMEM74 which may be upregulated in brain issues. These findings demonstrate the validity of the super‐variants and its capability of unifying existing results as well as discovering novel and replicable results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This was a pilot study aiming to evaluate the effects of probiotics as adjunctive treatment for ulcerative colitis (UC). Twenty‐five active patients with UC were assigned to the probiotic (n = 12) and placebo (n = 13) groups. The probiotic group received mesalazine (60 mg kg−1 day−1) and oral probiotics (containing Lactobacillus casei Zhang, Lactobacillus plantarum P‐8 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis V9) twice daily for 12 weeks, while the placebo group received the same amounts of mesalazine and placebo. The clinical outcomes were assessed. The gut mucosal microbiota was profiled by PacBio single‐molecule, real‐time (SMRT) sequencing of the full‐length 16S rRNA of biopsy samples obtained by colonoscopy. A significantly greater magnitude of reduction was observed in the UC disease activity index (UCDAI) in the probiotic group compared with the placebo group (P = 0.043), accompanying by a higher remission rate (91.67% for probiotic‐receivers versus 69.23% for placebo‐receivers, P = 0.034). The probiotics could protect from diminishing of the microbiota diversity and richness. Moreover, the gut mucosal microbiota of the probiotic‐receivers had significantly more beneficial bacteria like Eubacterium ramulus (P < 0.05), Pediococcus pentosaceus (P < 0.05), Bacteroides fragilis (P = 0.02) and Weissella cibaria (P = 0.04). Additionally, the relative abundances of the beneficial bacteria correlated significantly but negatively with the UCDAI score, suggesting that the probiotics might alleviate UC symptoms by modulating the gut mucosal microbiota. Our research has provided new insights into the mechanism of symptom alleviation in UC by applying probiotic‐based adjunctive treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Traditional Chongqing radish paocai fermented with aged brine is considered to have the most intense flavor and authentic taste. Eight ‘Yanzhi’ (red, RRPB group) and ‘Chunbulao’ (white, WRPB) radish paocai brine samples were collected from Chongqing peasant households, and the diversity and community structures of bacteria present in these brines were determined using PacBio single‐molecule real‐time sequencing of their full‐length 16S rRNA genes. RESULTS: In total, 30 phyla, 218 genera, and 306 species were identified from the RRPB group, with 20 phyla, 261 genera, and 420 species present in the WRPB group. Obvious differences in bacterial profiles between the RRPB and WRPB groups were found, with the bacterial diversity of the WRPB group shown to be greater than that of the RRPB group. This study revealed several characteristics of the bacteria composition, including the predominance of heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria, the species diversity of genus Pseudomonas, and the presence of three opportunistic pathogenic species. CONCLUSION: This study provides detailed information on the bacterial diversity and community structure of Chongqing radish paocai brine samples, and suggests it may be necessary to analyze paocai brine for potential sources of bacterial contamination and take appropriate measures to exclude any pathogenic species. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Lactobacillus (L.) helveticus H9 is a probiotic strain that can produce antihypertensive peptides during milk fermentation. This study analysed the dynamics of skim milk fermentation by L. helveticus H9 by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q‐TOF MS). A total of 1992 metabolites were detected from all of the fermented samples in the LC‐MS analysis by multivariate statistical analysis. Metabolites with variable importance in projection (VIP) values ≥2 were considered differentially abundant among samples and were responsible for the unique taste and nutritional and functional qualities of fermented milk. Valine, threonine, l‐methionine, tyrosine, asparagine and leucine were the predominant amino acids produced during fermentation, and their quantities changed remarkably during the fermentation process. Citric acid and uric acid were the major, and only detectable, organic acids. Some intermediate metabolites, such as N‐acryloylglycine and nicotinamide‐N‐oxide, were also detected. Moreover, certain oligopeptides such as Val‐Leu, Lys‐Gly, Ala‐Glu, Asp‐Ser, Leu‐Pro and Val‐Phe‐Ala were not detected until the middle and late fermentation periods. This study demonstrated dynamic metabolic changes, providing a strong foundation for deciphering the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of the fermentation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heritability is well documented for psychiatric disorders and cognitive abilities which are, however, complex, involving both genetic and environmental factors. Hence, it remains challenging to discover which and how genetic variations contribute to such complex traits. In this article, they propose to use mediation analysis to bridge this gap, where neuroimaging phenotypes were utilized as intermediate variables. The Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort was investigated using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and mediation analyses. Specifically, 951 participants were included with age ranging from 8 to 21 years. Two hundred and four neuroimaging measures were extracted from structural magnetic resonance imaging scans. GWAS were conducted for each measure to evaluate the SNP-based heritability. Furthermore, mediation analyses were employed to understand the mechanisms in which genetic variants have influence on pathological behaviors implicitly through neuroimaging phenotypes, and identified SNPs that would not be detected otherwise. Our analyses found that rs10494561, located in the intron region within NMNAT2, was associated with the severity of the prodromal symptoms of psychosis implicitly, mediated through the volume of the left hemisphere of the superior frontal region ( [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the determination of kinetic properties for non-fire retardant (NFR) and fire retardant (FR) polyurethane foams. Based on the experimental thermogravimetric (TG) curves, this paper describes the application of an in-depth mathematical analysis and genetic algorithm (GA) to produce the kinetic properties. A recent developed technique, K-K method, is used for calculating kinetic properties and determining the search regions of these properties for GA. Elemental analysis is also used to study the pyrolysis mechanism. Three decomposition models were investigated for comparison, and the results show that the decomposition model with three sub-reactions achieves the closest representation with experimental results. In the model, two sub-reactions capture the foam and melt decompositions, and another sub-reaction with relatively lower activation energy captures the early onset of foam decomposition. The kinetic properties of melt decomposition are found similar because of the similarity of melt chemical formulas and decomposition of NFR and FR foams. The kinetic properties of foam decomposition between NFR and FR foams are different because of the mechanism of FR additives. Validation of the successive and parallel reaction schemes shows no noticeable difference between the two schemes in the modelling decomposition. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments of vertically upward flame spread over polymethyl methacrylate slabs were conducted in Hefei (with an altitude of 29.8 m) and Lhasa (with an altitude of 3658.0 m). Measurements were taken for the flame heights, the flame heat flux to the fuel surface and the flame spread rate. Two regions were identified for the dependence of the flame height on the heat release rate per unit width . When is less than 22 kW/m, the flame height scales as while it scales as , when is greater than 22 kW/m. The flame heights in Lhasa are approximately 1.34 and 1.25 times, respectively, of those in Hefei for these two regions. The flame heat flux to the fuel surface decreases significantly from the pyrolysis front to the flame tip, whereas it decreases slowly above the flame tip. In both regions, it can be correlated reasonably well with ( x − x p)/( x f − x p) using the form of . The flame heat flux to the fuel surface in Lhasa is approximately 0.75 times of that in Hefei. The flame spread process can be divided into three stages, which correspond to a flow region of laminar, transitional, and turbulent, respectively. The transition to a turbulent flow is delayed in Lhasa compared with Hefei. The flame spread rate in Lhasa is about half of that in Hefei because of the lower flame heat flux caused by the lower ambient pressure. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A graph of order n is p -factor-critical, where p is an integer of the same parity as n, if the removal of any set of p vertices results in a graph with a perfect matching. 1-factor-critical graphs and 2-factor-critical graphs are factor-critical graphs and bicritical graphs, respectively. It is well known that every connected vertex-transitive graph of odd order is factor-critical and every connected nonbipartite vertex-transitive graph of even order is bicritical. In this article, we show that a simple connected vertex-transitive graph of odd order at least five is 3-factor-critical if and only if it is not a cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluoroprotein foam is one of the most widely used fire suppressants for its low cost, low toxicity and biodegradability. However, its fire extinguishing performance is limited. In this article, fluoroprotein foam was combined with a clean and degradable fire suppressant of 2-bromo-3,3,3-trifluoropropene (BTP) to improve its fire extinguishing efficiency. Laboratory scale suppression experiments on gasoline pool fires were conducted in a 27 m3 confined space. An optimized volume flow ratio of air to foam solution was found out first to acquire fluoroprotein foam with best fire extinguishing efficiency; then varied amounts of BTP were added to the foam at the optimal flow ratio for performance examination. Results demonstrated: at the optimized volume flow ratio of air to foam solution of 9 and the volume flow ratio of BTP to foam solution of 3.75%, a superior fire extinguishing performance was achieved with the fire extinguishing time reduced by 43% in comparison to that without any BTP added. The fire suppression mechanism of the foam with BTP additive was discussed based on established fire suppression theories and experimental results. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prospective studies conducted in Western populations have suggested that alterations in soluble CD27 (sCD27) and soluble CD30 (sCD30), two markers indicative of B-cell activation, are associated with risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Given that the characteristics of NHL in East Asia differ from the West and mechanistic commonalities between these populations with respect to the role of intermediate endpoint biomarkers in lymphomagenesis have not been explored, we conducted a pooled nested case-control study from three prospective studies of Chinese men and women including 218 NHL cases and 218 individually matched controls. Compared with the lowest quartile, ORs (95% CIs) for the second, third and fourth quartiles of sCD27 were 1.60 (0.83-3.09), 1.94 (0.98-3.83) and 4.45 (2.25-8.81), respectively ( ptrend = 0.000005). The corresponding ORs for sCD30 were 1.74 (0.85-3.58), 1.86 (0.94-3.67) and 5.15 (2.62-10.12; ptrend = 0.0000002). These associations remained statistically significant in individuals diagnosed with NHL 10 or more years after blood draw. Notably, the magnitude of the associations with NHL risk was very similar to those in Western populations in previous studies. These findings of the similar association between sCD27 or sCD30 and NHL risk across different populations support an important underlying mechanism of B-cell activation in lymphomagenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma ( DLBCL) is an aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma ( NHL) and is the most common NHL subtype diagnosed worldwide. The first large-scale genome-wide association study ( GWAS) of DLBCL with over 4000 cases conducted among individuals of European ancestry recently identified five independent SNPs that achieved genome-wide significance, and two SNPs that showed a suggestive association with DLBCL risk. Methods To evaluate whether Eastern Asians and individuals of European ancestry share similar genetic risk factors for this disease, we attempted to replicate these GWAS findings in a pooled series of 1124 DLBCL cases and 3596 controls from Hong Kong, South Korea, and Thailand. Results Three of the five genome-wide significant SNPs from the DLBCL GWAS were significantly associated with DLBCL in our study population, including the top finding from the GWAS, EXOC2 rs116446171, which achieved genome-wide significance in our data (per allele OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.63-2.56; ptrend = 3.9 × 10−10). Additionally, we observed a significant association with PVT1 rs13255292 (per allele OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.19-1.52; ptrend = 2.1 × 10−6), which was the second strongest finding in the GWAS, and with HLA-B rs2523607 (per allele OR = 3.05, 95% CI = 1.32-7.05; ptrend = 0.009). Conclusions Our study, which provides the first evaluation in Eastern Asians of SNPs definitively associated with DLBCL risk in individuals of European ancestry, indicates that at least some of the genetic factors associated with risk of DLBCL are similar between these populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus is an acid-tolerant species used in yoghurt production and considered important in postacidification reductions in palatability of yoghurt during storage. In this study, a variant ( ND06-2) of L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus ND06 was selected using neomycin sulphate. ND06-2 exhibited sensitivity to acids and lower H+- ATPase activity compared with ND06. High-pressure liquid chromatography ( HPLC) was used to demonstrate that the capacity of ND06-2 to produce lactic acid was significantly lower than for ND06 during fermentation or storage. These results suggest that the L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus variant could be used in yoghurt starters and have a lower tendency to cause postacidification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to gain a deeper knowledge of the bacterial and fungal community diversity in local home-made yoghurts from Zhaosu and Tekesi counties, Xinjiang, China, where a relatively high proportion of the ethnic minority population resides. RESULTS The bacterial and fungal community diversity in 22 home-made yoghurt samples was analyzed by pyrosequencing. This approach revealed the presence of six bacterial and two fungal phyla, comprising 69 bacterial and 20 fungal genera respectively, among all samples. Firmicutes and Ascomycota were the dominant phyla and Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces the predominant genera of bacteria and fungi respectively. Based on redundancy analysis, the bacterial diversity in samples from the two counties differed mainly because of eight responsive operational taxonomic units of Lactobacillus. However, no obvious difference existed in the fungal population of samples from the two counties. CONCLUSION The results indicated that the microbial community of home-made yoghurts varied with their geographical origin and manufacturing process. The study showed that pyrosequencing could provide a better understanding of microbiological diversity as well as useful information for future studies on the selection of starter cultures for yoghurts. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Identification of patient subgroups to enhance treatment effects is an important topic in personalized (or tailored) alcohol treatment. Recently, several recursive partitioning methods have been proposed to identify subgroups benefiting from treatment. These novel data mining methods help to address the limitations of traditional regression-based methods that focus on interactions. Methods We propose an exploratory approach, using recursive partitioning methods, for example, interaction trees (IT) and virtual twins ( VT), to flexibly identify subgroups in which the treatment effect is likely to be large. We apply these tree-based methods to a pharmacogenetic trial of ondansetron. Results Our methods identified several subgroups based on patients' genetic and other prognostic covariates. Among the 251 subjects with complete genotype information, the IT method identified 118 with specific genetic and other prognostic factors, resulting in a 17.2% decrease in the percentage of heavy drinking days ( PHDD). The VT method identified 88 subjects with a 21.8% decrease in PHDD. Overall, the VT subgroup achieved a good balance between the treatment effect and the group size. Conclusions A data mining approach is proposed as a valid exploratory method to identify a sufficiently large subgroup of subjects that is likely to receive benefit from treatment in an alcohol dependence pharmacotherapy trial. Our results provide new insights into the heterogeneous nature of alcohol dependence and could help clinicians to tailor treatment to the biological profile of individual patients, thereby achieving better treatment outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of excess MgO mole ratio on the sintering behavior of cordierite ceramic was studied using XRD and SEM. The green bodies were sintered at 1100-1300°C by solid-state method. The excess MgO did not obviously reduce the crystallization temperature but increased the production of liquid and densification. This effect has to be activated by a specific temperature. The starting material had little influence on the crystallization phase at 1200°C or higher. As basic magnesium carbonate can also be used as a pore-forming agent, the shrinkage and porosity approached maximum value at 3.4 mole ratio of MgO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is part of a wider scope of research on developing comprehensive pyrolysis model for medium density fibreboard (MDF) in fires. A simplified model is developed to predict the vertical density profile of virgin MDF. The model shows that vertical density profile can be reproduced using a second order conic curve. Several sets of experimental data are used to validate the model with promising results that are presented. Further investigation shows that the density difference between surface and core densities tends to maintain constant within a range of 300 to 450 kg/m3. Moreover, the model can predict the mean density with an error less than 30 kg/m3. Typical MDF panels were experimentally charred using thermogravimetric analysis and cone calorimetry to investigate the shrinkage and density of char. The actual char density is measured as 330 kg/m3 with a uniform density distribution along the char layer thickness. A model is developed to predict the shrinkage ratios. The restraining effect caused by surface deformation will lead to different vertical and horizontal shrinkage ratios. The volume reductions at vertical and horizontal directions are experimentally measured as 40% and 20% for the two tested MDF panels, which is comparable with the model predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous mullite ceramics were fabricated from an industrial grade mullite powder by gelcasting process using fly ash cenospheres ( FAC) as a pore-forming agent. The influence of content of FAC and sintering temperature on the density and strength was evaluated. The microstructure showed that FAC can act as a sintering aid and a pore-forming agent. When the sintering temperature at 1200°C, porous mullite ceramics with a relatively high porosity (48.1-72.2%), low density (0.84-1.64 g/cm3), low thermal conductivity (0.16-0.22 W/m · K), and high compressive strength (6.21-14.70 MPa) have been obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives We previously reported a risk genomic region (ie, PTP4A1-PHF3-EYS) for alcohol dependence in a genome-wide association study (GWAS). We also reported a rare variant constellation across this region that was significantly associated with alcohol dependence. In the present study, we significantly increased the marker density within this region and examined the specificity of the associations of common variants for alcohol dependence. Methods One African-American discovery sample (681 cases with alcohol dependence and 508 controls), one European-American replication sample (1,409 alcohol dependent cases and 1,518 controls), and one European-Australian replication sample (a total of 6,438 family subjects with 1,645 alcohol dependent probands) underwent association analysis. A total of 38,714 subjects from 18 other cohorts with 10 different neuropsychiatric disorders served as contrast groups. Results We found 289 SNPs that were nominally associated with alcohol dependence in the discovery sample ( p < .05). Fifty-six associations of them were significant after correction (1.9 × 10−6 ≤ p ≤ 1.6 × 10−5). No markers were significantly associated with other neuropsychiatric disorders after experiment-wide correction. Conclusions and Scientific Significance We confirmed with our previous findings that PTP4A1-PHF3-EYS variants were significantly associated with alcohol dependence, which were replicable across multiple independent populations and were specific for alcohol dependence. These findings suggested that this region might harbor a causal variant(s) for alcohol dependence. (Am J Addict 2014;23:411-414) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Alcohol and nicotine codependence can be considered as a more severe subtype of alcohol dependence. A portion of its risk may be attributable to genetic factors. Methods We searched for significant risk genomic regions specific for this disorder using a genome-wide association study. A total of 8,847 subjects underwent gene-disease association analysis, including (i) a discovery cohort of 818 European American cases with alcohol and nicotine codependence and 1,396 European American controls, (ii) a replication cohort of 5,704 Australian family subjects with 907 affected offspring, and (iii) a replication cohort of 449 African American cases and 480 African American controls. Additionally, a total of 38,714 subjects of European or African descent in 18 independent cohorts with 10 other nonalcoholism neuropsychiatric disorders were analyzed as contrast. Furthermore, 90 unrelated Hap Map CEU individuals, 93 European brain tissue samples, and 80 European peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples underwent cis-acting expression quantitative locus ( cis-e QTL) analysis. Results We identified a significant risk region for alcohol and nicotine codependence between IPO11 and HTR1 A on chromosome 5q that was reported to be suggestively associated with alcohol dependence previously. In the European American discovery cohort, 381 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in this region were nominally associated with alcohol and nicotine codependence ( p < 0.05); 57 associations of them survived region- and cohort-wide correction (α = 3.6 × 10−6); and the top SNP (rs7445832) was significantly associated with alcohol and nicotine codependence at the genome-wide significance level ( p = 6.2 × 10−9). Furthermore, associations for 34 and 11 SNPs were replicated in the Australian and African American replication cohorts, respectively. Among these replicable associations, 4 reached genome-wide significance level in the meta-analysis of European Americans and European Australians: rs7445832 ( p = 9.6 × 10−10), rs13361996 ( p = 8.2 × 10−9), rs62380518 ( p = 2.3 × 10−8), and rs7714850 ( p = 3.4 × 10−8). Cis-e QTL analysis showed that many risk SNPs in this region had nominally significant cis-acting regulatory effects on HTR1 A or IPO11 m RNA expression. Finally, no markers were significantly associated with any other neuropsychiatric disorder examined. Conclusions We speculate that this IPO11- HTR1 A region might harbor a causal variant for alcohol and nicotine codependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactobacilli are frequently used as probiotics due to their beneficial effects on health. Lactobacillus casei Zhang (LcZ), which has favorable probiotic properties, was first isolated from koumiss. In this study, the immunomodulating effects of LcZ on cytokine and toll-like receptor expression in RAW264.7 macrophages was assessed and it was found that live LcZ promotes production of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and interferon (IFN)-β. Transcription of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was also enhanced by viable LcZ. The immunostimulating effects of live LcZ are significantly attenuated in heat-killed LcZ. Live LcZ promotes TLR2 mRNA transcription, whereas heat-killed LcZ enhances transcription of TLR2, TLR3, TLR4 and TLR9. Furthermore, live LcZ significantly suppresses polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly I:C)-stimulated NO, iNOS and TNF-α expression while enhancing expression of IFN-β. It was also found that poly I:C-induced interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3) reporter gene activity was significantly up-regulated by live LcZ. These results suggest that LcZ keeps the innate immune system alert by increasing transcription of Toll-like receptors and enhancing production of pro-inflammatory mediators and type I IFN in macrophages. The synergistic effect of live LcZ with poly I:C on IFN-β expression is associated with increased activity of IRF-3. LcZ has the potential to be used as an adjuvant against viral infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probiotics have been reported to play an important role in the prevention of metabolic disorders. We recently identified a novel probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum ( L. plantarum) P-8. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of L. plantarum P-8 on lipid metabolism of rats fed with high fat diet. All experimental rats were divided into three groups: control group, model group, and L. plantarum P-8 group. Changes in serum lipid levels, hepatic lipid deposition, serum oxidative stress-related parameters, activities of liver function marker enzymes, organ indices, gut microflora, and fecal lipids were assessed. Compared with model group, L. plantarum P-8 exhibited hypolipidemic effects by lowering serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, accompanied with elevation of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. L. plantarum P-8 also exerted beneficial effects against high-fat diet-induced oxidative stress, curtailed the accumulation of liver lipids and protected healthy liver function. Moreover, L. plantarum P-8 was able to regulate intestinal bacteria and enhance the fecal excretion of TC, TG, and bile acid. These findings indicate that L. plantarum P-8 may represent a potential therapeutic agent for controlling hyperlipidemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we show that administration of Lactobacillus casei Zhang evokes a significant reduction in the levels of cholesterol, triglycerides (TGs), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) from the serum and liver of hypercholesterolemic rats. After administration of L. casei Zhang, there was 31.5 and 30.8% reduction in the levels of serum TG and LDL-C. DNA microarray results revealed that 755 genes, mainly involved in biological regulation, and cellular and metabolic processes, were differentially expressed in the liver from rats treated with probiotic bacteria, wherein, 324 genes were up-regulated and 431 were down-regulated, respectively. In the up-regulated group, we characterized genes including Acsl1, Hadh, Acaa2, Acads, and gcdH, which are involved in β-oxidation of fatty acids and encodes enzymes catalyzing critical steps for CoA synthesis and dehydrogenation. It is possible that Lactobacillus could accelerate the fatty acid catabolism by enhancing β-oxidation step, thus reducing the level of free fatty acid and TG in the serum and liver. Subsequently, it may trigger lipid homeostasis that converts TGs, which are the main storage form of fatty acids, into free fatty acids, and lower TG concentrations both in the serum and liver. Practical applications: Lactobacillus casei Zhang has the ability to reduce cholesterol level in the blood by stimulating gene expression related to lipid metabolism, particularly through β-oxidation of fatty acids in liver, thereby, making it an effective candidate probiotic to treat hypercholesterolemia. The findings of this study should provide very useful information in understanding the molecular mechanism of the hypocholesterolemic effect of the strain in an animal model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sixty strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from koumiss in Xinjiang, China. Most of the strains had antimould activity, and the Lactobacillus plantarum IMAU10116 strain had greatest inhibitory activity against Penicillium roqueforti. Meanwhile, it could also inhibit some bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua. The antimould substance had high thermal stability. Maximum antimould activity was observed between pH 3.0 and 3.8 (initial pH), but it decreased when pH was adjusted to a level between 3.8 and 7.0. It was sensitive to proteinase-K and trypsin, but its inhibitory activity did not change after treatment with dispase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]