Using PacBio sequencing to investigate the bacterial microbiota of traditional Buryatian cottage cheese and comparison with Italian and Kazakhstan artisanal cheeses.

Traditional fermented dairy foods including cottage cheese have been major components of the Buryatia diet for centuries. Buryatian cheeses have maintained not only their unique taste and flavor but also their rich natural lactic acid bacteria (LAB) content. However, relatively few studies have described their microbial communities or explored their potential to serve as LAB resources.

Relationship between phytoplankton community succession and environmental parameters in Qinhuangdao coastal areas, China: A region with recurrent brown tide outbreaks.

The picoplanktonic pelagophyte Aureococcus anophagefferens could trigger harmful algal blooms (HABs) to discolor water in brown, known as brown tide. Since 2009, large-scale brown tides, caused by A. anophagefferens, had been occurred in early summer for three consecutive years in the coastal waters of Qinhuangdao, China and resulted considerable deleterious effects on the scallop mariculture industry.

The role of oxymatrine in regulating TGF-β1 in rats with hepatic fibrosis.

Purpose: To investigate whether oxymatrine (OMT) prevents hepatic fibrosis in rats by regulating liver transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) level.

Methods: Hepatic fibrosis was induced in rats by thioacetamide (TAA). Blood was collected at the end of week 12 to determine the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and glutathione (GSH).

A Metabolomics Approach Uncovers Differences between Traditional and Commercial Dairy Products in Buryatia (Russian Federation).

Commercially available and traditional dairy products differ in terms of their manufacturing processes. In this study, commercially available and traditionally fermented cheese, yogurt, and milk beverages were analyzed and compared. The metabolomic technique of ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF) in the MS mode was used in combination with statistical methods, including univariate analysis and chemometric analysis, to determine the differences in metabolite profiles between commercially and traditionally fermented dairy products.

Robust Single-Image Super-Resolution Based on Adaptive Edge-Preserving Smoothing Regularization.

Single-image super-resolution (SR) reconstruction via sparse representation has recently attracted broad interest. It is known that a low-resolution (LR) image is susceptible to noise or blur due to the degradation of the observed image, which would lead to a poor SR performance. In this paper, we propose a novel robust edge-preserving smoothing SR (REPS-SR) method in the framework of sparse representation.

Right-to-left shunt and subclinical ischemic brain lesions in Chinese migraineurs: a multicentre MRI study.

Background: Migraine is considered as a risk factor for subclinical brain ischemic lesions, and right-to-left shunt (RLS) is more common among migraineurs. This cross-sectional study assessed the association of RLS with the increased prevalence of subclinical ischemic brain lesions in migraineurs.

Methods: We enrolled 334 migraineurs from a multicentre study from June 2015 to August 2016.

Effectiveness of lentivirus-mediated RNA interference targeting mouse tumor necrosis factor α and .

The aim of the present study was to identify the effectiveness of lentivirus-mediated RNA interference (RNAi) targeting mouse tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). RNAi lentivirus was used to transfect RAW264.7 cells, and the expression of -α, interleukin ()-β and mRNAs and TNF-α protein in RAW264.

Cognitive Function and Serum Hormone Levels Are Associated with Gray Matter Volume Decline in Female Patients with Prolactinomas.

Background And Objective: Cognitive impairments have been reported in patients with hyperprolactinemia; however, there is a lack of knowledge of brain structure alterations relevant to hyperprolactinemia in prolactinomas. Thus, we aimed to identify changes in brain structure in prolactinomas and to determine whether these changes are related to cognitive performance and clinical characteristics.

Methods: Participants were 32 female patients with prolactinomas and 26 healthy controls (HC) matched for age, sex, education, and handedness.

Lack of connexin 40 decreases the calcium sensitivity of renin-secreting juxtaglomerular cells.

The so-called calcium paradoxon of renin describes the phenomenon that exocytosis of renin from juxtaglomerular cells of the kidney is stimulated by lowering of the extracellular calcium concentration. The yet poorly understood effect of extracellular calcium on renin secretion appears to depend on the function of the gap junction protein connexin 40 (Cx40) in renin-producing cells. This study aimed to elucidate the role of Cx40 for the calcium dependency of renin secretion in more detail by investigating if Cx40 function is really essential for the influence of extracellular calcium on renin secretion, if and how Cx40 affects intracellular calcium dynamics in renin-secreting cells and if Cx40-mediated gap junctional coupling of renin-secreting cells with the mesangial cell area is relevant for the influence of extracellular calcium on renin secretion.

Integrative Genomic and Proteomic Analysis of the Response of Lactobacillus casei Zhang to Glucose Restriction.

Nutrient starvation is an important survival challenge for bacteria during industrial production of functional foods. As next-generation sequencing technology has greatly advanced, we performed proteomic and genomic analysis to investigate the response of Lactobacillus casei Zhang to a glucose-restricted environment. L.

White matter integrity correlates with residual consciousness in patients with severe brain injury.

Previous studies have suggested that white matter disruption plays an important role in disorders of consciousness (DOC) after severe brain injury. Nevertheless, the integrity of white matter architecture supporting consciousness and its relations with clinical severity in patients with DOC remain to be established. In this study, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data was collected from 14 DOC patients and 15 healthy control subjects.

Wnt6 influences the viability of mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal cells via the β-catenin pathway.

The embryological stages of palatal shelf elongation and elevation, mainly induced by the proliferation and extracellular matrix secretion of embryonic palatal mesenchymal (MEPM) cells, are essential for normal palatal development. Wingless-related MMTV integration site gene family (Wnt) signaling pathways serve key roles in craniofacial development and palate formation. Recent studies have indicated that Wnt6 participates in embryonic development of the palate, though its exact role in palate development remains unclear.

Apparent seronegative maternal shingles with post-natal mother-to-baby transmission of varicella zoster virus.

We present an unusual case of varicella zoster (VZ) virus IgG negative, yet clinically apparent, maternal shingles, which prompted the administration of VZ immunoglobulin to the newborn. The mother had no previous VZ vaccination. Eleven days later the baby developed a primary VZ infection, with only mild disease, likely as a result of the VZ immunoglobulin.

Insular subdivisions functional connectivity dysfunction within major depressive disorder.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a mental disorder characterized by cognitive and affective deficits. Previous studies suggested that insula is a crucial node of the salience network for initiating network switching, and dysfunctional connection to this region may be related to the mechanism of MDD. In this study, we systematically investigated and quantified the altered functional connectivity (FC) of the specific insular subdivisions and its relationship to psychopathology of MDD.

Functional dysconnectivity of the limbic loop of frontostriatal circuits in first-episode, treatment-naive schizophrenia.

Frontostriatal circuits dysfunction has been implicated in the etiology and psychopathology of patients with schizophrenia (SZ). However, few studies have investigated SZ-related functional connectivity (FC) alterations in discrete frontostriatal circuits and their relationship with pathopsychology in first-episode schizophrenia (FESZ). The goal of this study was to identify dysfunctions in discrete frontostriatal circuits that are associated with key features of FESZ.

Detecting Activated Cell Populations Using Single-Cell RNA-Seq.

Single-cell RNA sequencing offers a promising opportunity for probing cell types mediating specific behavioral functions and the underlying molecular programs. However, this has been hampered by a long-standing issue in transcriptional profiling of dissociated cells, specifically the transcriptional perturbations that are artificially induced during conventional whole-cell dissociation procedures. Here, we develop Act-seq, which minimizes artificially induced transcriptional perturbations and allows for faithful detection of both baseline transcriptional profiles and acute transcriptional changes elicited by behavior/experience-driven activity.

Reduced Structural Connectivity in Frontostriatal White Matter Tracts in the Associative Loop in Schizophrenia.

Objective: The striatum receives segregated and integrative white matter tracts from the cortex facilitating information processing in the cortico-basal ganglia network. The authors examined both types of input tracts in the striatal associative loop in chronic schizophrenia patients and healthy control subjects.

Method: Structural and diffusion MRI scans were acquired on a 3-T system from 26 chronic schizophrenia patients and 26 matched healthy control subjects.

Frequency-Dependent Altered Functional Connections of Default Mode Network in Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with the progressive dysfunction of cognitive ability. Previous research has indicated that the default mode network (DMN) is closely related to cognition and is impaired in Alzheimer's disease. Because recent studies have shown that different frequency bands represent specific physiological functions, DMN functional connectivity studies of the different frequency bands based on resting state fMRI (RS-fMRI) data may provide new insight into AD pathophysiology.

A Pharmacokinetic Bioequivalence Study Comparing Pirfenidone Tablet and Capsule Dosage Forms in Healthy Adult Volunteers.

Introduction: Pirfenidone film-coated tablets were developed to offer an alternative to the marketed capsule formulation. This study assessed the bioequivalence of the tablet and capsule formulations under fed and fasted states.

Methods: A Phase I, open-label, randomized, four-treatment-period, four-sequence, crossover pharmacokinetics study (NCT02525484) was conducted.

Impact of follow-up visits on disease outcome in Chinese systemic lupus erythematosus.

The objective of this study is to determine whether the frequency of visits would affect disease activity and disease damage in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We recruited 147 patients who met the 1997 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for SLE. Patients were divided into three groups based on follow-up frequency: ≤ 6 visits/year (group 1), 6-12 visits/year (group 2), and > 12 visits/year (group 3).

Genome adaptive evolution of Lactobacillus casei under long-term antibiotic selection pressures.

Background: The extensive use of antibiotics in medicine has raised serious concerns about biosafety. However, the effect of antibiotic application on the adaptive evolution of microorganisms, especially to probiotic bacteria, has not been well characterized. Thus, the objective of the current work was to investigate how antibiotic selection forces might drive genome adaptation using Lactobacillus (L.

Metabolic changes in normal appearing white matter in multiple sclerosis patients using multivoxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging.

Demyelination and axonal degeneration caused by multiple sclerosis (MS) exist in the white matter and not only in the lesion area. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) could provide a unique insight into metabolic changes in the normal appearing white matter (NAWM). To evaluate the subtle axonal degeneration and delineate the spatial distribution of metabolite abnormalities in the NAWM in patients with MS.