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Domestic geese can reduce the amount of food intake when brooding. Because of the reduction in food intake, the total number of microorganisms in the gut is also reduced. Will this affect the goose’s thinking and make the goose stop brooding and eat food? We hypothesize that gut microbiota affects the brain through a brain–gut peptide and further regulates the breeding behavior of geese. In this study, we evaluated the microbiome related to the goose and transcription groups of brooding and egg production periods. The changes and differences in gut microbiota and gene expression of female geese in different reproduction periods were analyzed, and the possible interaction between them was explored. The results showed that the relative abundance of Faecalibacterium with a growth-promoting effect in the cecum was higher in the egg production group than in the brooding group. Microbial metabolic pathways with significant differences between the two groups were also enriched in the secondary functional groups with different gut microbiota metabolism. The downregulated genes in the egg production group were mainly related to energy metabolism, such as ATP synthesis-related genes. These results suggest that the brooding group’s gut microbiota can make relevant changes according to the reproduction stage of the goose. Since the amount of food taken in is reduced, it can promote the decomposition of the host’s fat. Simultaneously, insulin is also used to deliver messages to the brain; it is necessary to end the brooding behavior at an appropriate time and for eating to start.

Purpose: To investigate the brain information flow pattern in patients with early mild cognitive impairment (EMCI) and explore its potential ability of differentiation and prediction for EMCI.Methods: In this study, 49 patients with EMCI and 40 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) with available resting-state functional MRI images and neurological measures [including the neuropsychological evaluation and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers] were included from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Functional MRI measures including preferred information flow direction between brain regions and preferred information flow index of each brain region parcellated by the Atlas of Intrinsic Connectivity of Homotopic Areas (AICHA) were calculated by using non-parametric multiplicative regression-Granger causality analysis (NPMR-GCA). Edge- and node-wise Student's t-test was conducted for between-group comparison. Support vector classification was performed to differentiate EMCI from HC. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (lasso) regression were used to evaluate the predictive ability of information flow measures for the neurological state.Results: Compared to HC, disturbed preferred information flow directions between brain regions involving default mode network (DMN), executive control network (ECN), somatomotor network (SMN), and visual network (VN) were observed in patients with EMCI. An altered preferred information flow index in several brain regions (including the thalamus, posterior cingulate, and precentral gyrus) was also observed. Classification accuracy of 80% for differentiating patients with EMCI from HC was achieved by using the preferred information flow directions. The preferred information flow directions have a good ability to predict memory and executive function, level of amyloid β, tau protein, and phosphorylated tau protein with the high Pearson's correlation coefficients (r > 0.7) between predictive and actual neurological measures.Conclusion: Patients with EMCI were presented with a disturbed brain information flow pattern, which could help clinicians to identify patients with EMCI and assess their neurological state.

Canine adenovirus (CAdV) has a high prevalence in canine populations. High affinity neutralizing antibodies against conserved epitopes can provide protective immunity against CAdV and protect against future outbreaks. In this study, we identified two CAdV-2-specific neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), 2C1 and 7D7, which recognized two linear-dependent epitopes. MAb 2C1 potently neutralized CAdV-2 with a 50% neutralization titer (NT50) of 4096, and mAb 7D7 partially neutralized CAdV-2 with a 50% NT50 of 64. Immunoprecipitation, Western blot and protein spectral analysis indicated that both neutralizing mAbs recognized the hexon protein (Hex) of CAdV-2. Through a 12-mer random peptide phage display and synthetic peptides analysis, we finely mapped the neutralizing epitopes to two 10-amino acid (aa) peptides within the CAdV Hex: 634RIKQRETPAL643 located on the surface region, and 736PESYKDRMYS745 located in the inner region of the expected 3D structure of trimeric Hex. Importantly, the two epitopes are highly conserved among all CAdV isolates by sequence alignment analysis. Thus, these results provide insights into the interaction between virus and mAbs at the aa level and may have potential applications in the development of novel therapeutic or epitope-based vaccines, antibody therapeutics and a diagnostic method suitable for the rapid detection of all CAdVs.

Background: Sufentanil-induced cough is a common side effect during the induction of general anesthesia. This study sought to determine the inhibitory effect of TEAS (transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation) on the incidence of sufentanil-induced cough. Methods: A total of 339 patients were recruited of which 300 patients were enrolled and randomly allocated into five groups (n = 60): Patients did not receive TEAS in the control group (C group); patients received 2 Hz TEAS at LI4/PC6 (Hegu/Neiguan) in the 2A group; patients received 100 Hz TEAS at LI4/PC6 in the 100A group; patients received 2 Hz TEAS at ST36/SP6 (Zusanli/sanyinjiao) in the 2B group; and patients received 100 Hz TEAS at ST36/SP6 in the 100B group. With the exception of the C group, all groups received TEAS for 30 minutes before induction. 0.5 µg/kg of IV sufentanil was given over 2 seconds, and the occurrence of cough was observed and recorded for 1 minute. The severity of cough was graded as mild (1-2 coughs), moderate (3-5 coughs), and severe (> 5 coughs). The mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) before (T0) and 1 minute after (T1) sufentanil injection were recorded. Results: The incidence of sufentanil-induced cough in C group, 2A group, 2B group, 100A group and 100B group were 37%, 27%, 27%, 12% and 13%, respectively. Compared with the C group, the incidence of cough in the 100A group and the 100B group were significantly lower (P < 0.05). The MAP and HR between the five groups were not statistically different. Conclusion: The administration of 100 Hz TEAS for 30 minutes before sufentanil injection can effectively reduce the incidence of sufentanil-induced cough during the induction of general anesthesia.

Streptococcus suis causes disease in pigs and is implicated increasingly in human disease worldwide. Although most clinical cases are associated with serotype 2, infections by other serotypes have sometimes been reported. Here, we sequenced the genome of a multidrug-resistant S. suis serotype 28 (strain 11313) and a multidrug-resistant S. suis serotype 31 (strain 11LB5). Strain 11313 was apathogenic in mouse infection models, whereas strain 11LB5 displayed ganglion demyelination, meningeal thickening, congestion, mononuclear cell infiltration, massive proliferation of cortical glial cells, and bacteria (&gt, 104 CFU/g) in the spinal cord and ganglia in mice. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry found that the heavily infiltrated glial cells were astrocytes. Strain 11313 harbored the resistance genes ant(6)-Ia, erm(B), optrA, tet(l), tet(o), and strain 11LB5 harbored the resistance genes ant(6)-Ia, erm(B), tet(40), tet(o/w/32/o), aac(6′)-aph(2″). Mouse studies showed that strain 11LB5 exhibited a similar virulence to serotype 2 strain 700794, highlighting the need for surveillance of the other serotype S. suis isolates, in addition to serotype 2, in farms. This is the first report of the aminoglycoside resistance gene ant(6)-Ia in S. suis from animals. This suggests that S. suis might serve as an antibiotic resistance reservoir, which spreads the resistance gene ant(6)-Ia or optrA to other streptococcal pathogens on farms.

Background. Sufentanil-induced cough is a common side effect during the induction of general anesthesia.This study is to determine the inhibitory effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation(TEAS) on sufentanil-induced cough.Methods. A total of 339 patients were recruited in this trial.After the unqualified patients were removed,300 patients were enrolled and randomly allocated into five groups(n=60):Patients did not receive TEAS in control group(C group);Patients received 2Hz TEAS at Hegu/Neiguan(LI4/PC6) in 2A group;Patients received 100Hz TEAS at LI4/PC6 in 100A group;Patients received 2Hz TEAS at Zusanli/sanyinjiao(ST36/SP6) in 2B group;Patients received 100Hz TEAS at ST36/SP6 in 100B group.Except for C group,all groups received TEAS for 30 min before the induction.Then 0.5μg/kg sufentanil was given within 2 s,the occurrence of cough was observed and recorded for 1 min.The severity of cough was graded as mild(1-2 coughs),moderate(3-5 cough),and severe(>5 coughs).The mean arterial pressure(MAP) and heart rate(HR) before (T0) and 1 min after(T1) sufentanil injection were recorded.Results. The incidence of sufentani-induced cough in C group,2A group,2Bgroup,100A group and 100B group were 37%,27%,27%,12% and 13%,respectively.Compared with C group,the incidence of 100A group and 100B group were significantly lower(PConclusion. Groups the received 100Hz TEAS for 30 min before sufentanil injection can effectively reduce the incidence of sufentanil-induced cough during the induction of general anesthesia.Trial registration: Chinese clinical trial registry(ChiCTRINR16008759)

Myoclonus is an undesirable phenomenon that occurs after induction of general anesthesia using etomidate. Opioids such as sufentanil are considered effective pretreatment drugs for myoclonus inhibition, although high doses are required. Transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation (TAES), a noninvasive technique involving electrical stimulation of the skin at the acupuncture points, exhibits analgesic effects, promotes anesthetic effects, decreases the dose of anesthetic drugs, and increases endogenous opioid peptide levels. In the present study, we investigated the effects of TAES combined with low-dose sufentanil pretreatment on the incidence and severity of etomidate-induced myoclonus in patients undergoing elective hysteroscopy.In a double-blind manner, 172 patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists class I-II; age, 20-55 years) scheduled to undergo elective hysteroscopy were randomized into the following groups (n = 43 each): control (false TAES followed by saline injection after 30 min), TAES (TAES followed by saline injection after 30 minutes), sufentanil [false TAES followed by low-dose sufentanil (0.1 μg/kg) injection after 30 minutes], and sufentanil plus TAES (TAES followed by low-dose sufentanil injection after 30 minutes). In all groups, general anesthesia was induced by etomidate 0.3 mg/kg after sufentanil or saline injection. The incidence and severity of myoclonus were assessed for 2 minutes after etomidate administration. The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for pain at 1 hour after surgery were recorded. The heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SPO2) were recorded before premedication, after etomidate injection, after uterus expansion, and after recovery from anesthesia.The incidence of myoclonus was highest in the control group (88.3%), followed by TAES (74.4%), sufentanil (60.4%), and TAES plus sufentanil (48.8%) groups. Thus, the incidence was significantly higher in the control and TAES groups than in the sufentanil and TAES plus sufentanil groups. Grade 3 myoclonus occurred in 30.2%, 9.3%, 11.6%, and 9.3% patients in the control, TAES, sufentanil, and TAES plus sufentanil groups, respectively, with significant differences between the control group and the other 3 groups. Furthermore, the postoperative VAS scores for pain were significantly lower in the TAES, sufentanil, and TAES plus sufentanil groups compared with those in the control group. There were no significant differences in any other parameters among groups.Our results suggest that TAES combined with low-dose opioids such as sufentanil can decrease the incidence and severity of etomidate-induced myoclonus.

To explore the relationship among the level of fiber, gut microbiota, and nutritional substances, we applied the next generation sequencing technology for the identification of the composition and structure of microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract. In this study, a total of 25 phyla and 298 genera were identified from the gastrointestinal tract; Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria were the predominant phyla. The ability of cecum in carbohydrate metabolism was significantly higher than that of the gizzard and ileum (P < 0.05). The bacterial community structure in various stages of the development of the cecum was different. In the different growth stages of cecum, the increase in the microbiota structure of the fiber level elevates the ability of carbon hydration. Second, the apparent metabolic rates of the other nutrients were affected by the fiber and period except for acid detergent fiber (P < 0.05); the apparent utilization rate of the nutrients increased with time. However, with the increase in the fiber level, the apparent utilization of nutrients was initially increased, followed by a decrease. Therefore, a correlation was established between the fiber level and gastrointestinal microbiota and apparent nutrient utilization rate of the 3 phyla. Our results suggest that the fiber level and growth stages could impact the composition of gut microbiota.