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Ferulic acid (FA) is one of a common ingredients in Chinese herbal medicine. FA has the interesting property of promoting growth and improving meat quality in livestock, but the mechanism is not understood. This study evaluated both safety and mechanism of efficacy in zebrafish model. At 15 μg/mL or above, FA led to pericardial oedema and delayed growth in zebrafish embryos. Dietary FA promoted growth and feed assimilation in male adult zebrafish. Genes related to myogenic development (myod1, myog and myf5) were significantly upregulated by FA and muscle fibre width in skeletal muscle was increased. At 20 µg/g, FA significantly increased number of goblet cells in zebrafish intestinal tissue, and gut microbiota composition also changed. Based on 16s rRNA gene sequences, 20 μg/g FA decreased Firmicutes and increased Bacteroides. 20 μg/g FA also stimulated the expression of PPAR‐α, a gene associated with fat metabolism, and decreased the expression of PPAR‐β and PPAR‐γ. These gene expression changes were beneficial to fatty acid synthesis and metabolism and decreased fat deposition. Our overall results indicated that FA can be a safe growth promotor in fish particularly in skeletal muscles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotics are widely used as veterinary drugs and feed additives, especially for broad-spectrum antibiotics such as tetracycline, which have been abused in the breeding industry. Tetracycline is the antibiotics with the largest dosage and the widest application. Antibiotics accumulate in the body or are excreted into the environment via feces as a prototype, causing environmental pollution. This experiment used zebrafish as a model organism to evaluate the effects of low concentration of tetracycline on the transgenerational (F1) zebrafish. Parent zebrafish (F0, approximantely 4-month-old) were exposed to 0.1, 1 and 100 µg⋅L-1 of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) for 30 d. The F1 generation zebrafish embryos were obtained. The results showed that the F1 generation embryos had a decreased hatching rate and an increased malformation rate and mortality rate, all of which were concentration-dependent. In addition, the zebrafish juvenile had longer mandible and mandibular arch and more narrow mandible and shorter hyoid bone. Furthermore, transcriptional expression of runx1, sox9a, sox10and col2α 1a(genes related to skeletal development of juvenile fish) were inhibited by exposure to TCH. This study demonstrates that TCH showed a transgenerational effect by affecting the development of zebrafish embryos, especially the development of embryonic cartilage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PBDEs are brominated flame retardants that have been detected in dust in offices and homes. PBDEs can cause endocrine disruption by mainly affecting the regulation of thyroid hormones. This study used zebrafish embryos as a test species to evaluate the effects of the extracts of office and household dust and BDE-99 on zebrafish embryos. The results showed that dust extracts and BDE-99 both caused a decrease in the pigmentation of the zebrafish eyes. GC-MS analysis found that BDE-99 and BDE-47 were contained in the dust and the content of BDE-99 was much higher than BDE-47. By evaluating the effects of BDE-99 on zebrafish metabolism and the expression of the thyroid hormone deiodinase III ( Dio3), it was found that the expression of Dio3 was significantly enhanced in the protorenal duct of the zebrafish embryo. The thyroid hormone content in the 72 hpf zebrafish embryo was significantly reduced. The above results show that BDE-99 interferes with the activity of Dio3 in zebrafish embryos and leads to a decrease in thyroxine content. This study indicates that alterations in pigment of the zebrafish embryo and Dio3 mRNA expression may be used as biological indicators of PBDEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicinal plants of the genus Aconitum are one of the most commonly used herbs in traditional medicine in East Asia to treat conditions related to the heart, pain, or inflammation. However, these herbs are also dangerous as accidental poisoning due to misuse is a recurring issue. These plants contain a number of diester‐diterpenoid alkaloid compounds and aconitine is the most abundant and active one. This study investigated neurotoxicity of aconitine to zebrafish embryos in early development in relation to serotonin regulation. Experimental results showed that aconitine exposure (1, 10, and 100 μM) increased frequency of coiling behavior in zebrafish embryos in a dose‐dependent manner and this effect can be triggered by either exposure to 5‐hydroxytryptamine 1A (5‐HT1A) receptor agonist (±)‐8‐hydroxy‐2‐(dipropylamino)tetralin (8‐OH‐DPAT) or overexpression of serotonin receptor 5‐htr1ab. At the same time, coiling behavior caused by aconitine exposure could be rescued by co‐exposure to 5‐HT1A receptor antagonist WAY‐100635 Maleate (WAY100635) and knockdown of 5‐htr1ab using morpholino. Exposure to aconitine also significantly increased serotonin receptor 5‐htr1ab and 5‐htr1bd gene expression at 24 h post fertilization (hpf), but decreased their expression and protein expression of the serotonin receptor at 96 hpf with the high dose. These results suggest that neurotoxicity caused by aconitine is mediated through the 5‐HT receptor. Aconitine increased frequency of coiling behavior in zebrafish embryos and this effect can be triggered by either exposure to 5‐HT1A receptor agonist 8‐OH‐DPAT or overexpression of serotonin receptor 5‐htr1ab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoporosis poses substantial challenges for biomaterials implantation. New approaches to improve bone‐implant integration should resolve the fundamental dilemma of inflammation—proper inflammation is required at early stages but should be suppressed later for better healing, especially under osteoporosis. However, precisely switching on and off inflammation around implants in vivo remains unachieved. To address this challenge, a "bridge‐burning" coating material that comprises a macrophage‐activating glycan covalently crosslinked by a macrophage‐eliminating bisphosphonate to titanium implant surface is designed. Upon implantation, the glycan instructs host macrophages to release pro‐osteogenic cytokines ("switch‐on"), promoting bone cell differentiation. Later, increasingly mature bone cells secrete alkaline phosphatase to cleave the glycan‐bisphosphonate complexes from the implant, which in turn selectively kill the proinflammatory macrophages ("switch‐off") that have completed their contribution—hence in the manner of "burning bridges"—to promote healing. In vivo examination in an osteoporotic rat model demonstrates that this coating significantly enhances bone‐implant integration (88.4% higher contact ratio) through modulating local inflammatory niches. In summary, a bioresponsive, endogenously triggered, smart coating material is developed to sequentially harness and abolish the power of inflammation to improve osseointegration under osteoporosis, which represents a new strategy for designing immunomodulatory biomaterials for tissue regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Part weakly alkaline natural uranium-containing water contains abundant Ca2+ and (bi)carbonate. Herein, two kinds of materials, namely mesoporous hydrous manganese dioxide (MHMO) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/dolomite composites were synthesized and characterized to evaluate their adsorption behaviors of U(VI) from Ca2+ coexisted bicarbonate solution. Characterization results showed that both samples exhibited good structural stability after U(VI) load. MHMO could coordinate U(VI) through the surface –OH sites, whereas an unfavorable U(VI) adsorption onto mineral composites was deduced. Adsorption tests indicated that increasing Ca2+ and (bi)carbonate amounts suppress U(VI) adsorption process, and ∼19.0 mg/g U adsorbed by MHMO could be obtained in solutions with 1 mmol/L [Ca2+], 5 mmol/L [CO3]T, 50 mg/L [U(VI)]initial at pH 8.0. Moreover, a heterogeneous surface chemical adsorption was verified through kinetics and isotherms study. Results from our study should be useful in exploring the adsorption behaviors and mechanisms of U(VI) on selected inorganic and mineral materials from natural uranium-containing water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sorption behavior of U(VI) on Tamusu clay sampled from a pre-selected high-level radioactive waste (HLW) disposal site in Inner Mongolia (China) was studied systematically in the U(VI)–CO 3 solution at pH 7.8 by batch experiments. The results demonstrated that the distribution coefficients (K d) decreased with the increasing values of pH initial , [U(VI)] initial , and ionic strength, but increased with the extended time and the rising temperature. The sorption was a pH-dependent, heterogeneous, spontaneous, and endothermic chemical process, which could be better described by Freundlich isothermal model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The presence of humic acid (HA) or fulvic acid (FA) significantly inhibited the U(VI) sorption, due to the enhanced electrostatic repulsion between the negatively charged HA/FA adsorbed on the clay surface and the negative U(VI) species, as well as the well dispersed HA/FA aggregates in solution wrapping the U(VI) species. The FTIR and XPS spectra indicated that the HCO 3 − groups on the surface of Tamusu clay after hydroxylation and the ‒OH groups in HA/FA were involved in the U(VI) sorption. The results reported here provide valuable insights into the further understanding of U(VI) migration in geological media. • U(VI) sorption on Tamusu clay was systematically studied in the U(VI)–CO 3 solution. • K d values can be affected by pH, time, temperature, [U(VI)] initial , and ionic strength. • U(VI) sorption on Tamusu clay was significantly inhibited in the presence of HA or FA. • The HCO 3 − groups on clay and the ‒OH groups in HA/FA were involved in the U(VI) sorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper is concerned with the Cauchy problem of a generalized short pulse system in the periodic setting. Local well-posedness of this system is established in the Besov space with s > max ⁡ { 3 2 , 1 + 1 p }. It is then shown that the data-to-solution map is not uniformly continuous from B l , r s × B l , r s to C ([ 0 , T ] ; B l , r s) × C ([ 0 , T ] ; B l , r s). Finally we provide a blow-up result of the solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is growing interest in developing individually tailored cancer radiation therapy (RT), wherein patients with high intrinsic radiosensitivity are identified before commencing treatment, to minimize severe adverse reactions. In a previous retrospective study of severely radiosensitive RT patients, we established a functional assay with a high predictive capability. The assay involves ex vivo irradiation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and analysis of DNA repair using the γ-H2AX assay. It is unknown whether RS is a fixed phenomenon or is modulated under different conditions. We now report the impact of RT on the apparent radiosensitivity, as reflected by the assay.Methods and Materials: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 11 patients with non-small cell lung cancer were collected before, during, and after RT. Quantitative parameters derived from the nonlinear regression analysis of γ-H2AX foci were applied to examine the cellular radiation response.Results: Although the repair rate and foci yield remained constant during and after RT, the "unrepairable" component of γ-H2AX foci decreased over the course of treatment in 7 patients, signifying a generally enhanced DNA repair capacity. Interestingly, enhanced repair capacity tended to be associated with a poorer response to RT.Conclusions: Although generalization of these results into normal and tumor tissues warrants further investigation, the findings of this study have important implications in future strategies for identifying radiosensitive individuals before exposure to RT. We can anticipate that the threshold values that will discriminate radiosensitive patients in a future prospective trial will differ from those established in the retrospective study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The role of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)-based radiomics features in evaluating histopathological grade of cervical cancer is unresolved.Purpose: To determine if there is a difference between radiomics features derived from center-slice 2D versus whole-tumor volumetric 3D for ADC measurements in patients with cervical cancer regarding tumor histopathological grade, and systematically assess the impact of the b value on radiomics analysis in ADC quantifications.Study Type: Prospective.Subjects: In all, 160 patients with histopathologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of uterine cervix.Field Strength/sequence: Conventional and diffusion-weighted MR images (b values = 0, 800, 1000 s/mm2 ) were acquired on a 3.0T MR scanner.Assessment: Regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn manually along the margin of tumor on each slice, and then the center slice of the tumor was selected with naked eyes in the course of whole-tumor segmentation. A total of 624 radiomics features were derived from T2 -weighted images and ADC maps. We randomly selected 50 cases and did the reproducibility analysis.Statistical Tests: Parameters were compared using Wilcoxon signed rank test, Bland-Altman analysis, t-test, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression with crossvalidation.Results: In all, 95 radiomics features were insensitive to ROI variation among T2 images, ADC map of b800, and ADC map of b1000 (P > 0.0002). There was a significant statistical difference between the performances of 2D center-slice and 3D whole-tumor radiomics models in both ADC feature sets of b800 and b1000 (P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001). Compared with ADC features of b800 (0.3758 ± 0.0118), the model of b1000 ADC features appeared to be slightly lower in overall misclassification error (0.3642 ± 0.0162) (P = 0.0076).Data Conclusion: Several radiomics features extracted from T2 images and ADC maps were highly reproducible. Whole-tumor volumetric 3D radiomics analysis had a better performance than using the 2D center-slice of tumor in stratifying the histological grade of cervical cancer. A b value of 1000 s/mm2 is suggested as the optimal parameter in pelvic DWI scans.Level Of Evidence: 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;49:280-290. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]