Light from heat lamps affects sow behaviour and piglet salivary melatonin levels

The light environment regulates animal physiology and behaviour. As widely used supplementary heat sources in creep areas, the effect of visible light radiated by infrared heat lamps on pigs is worth investigating. To investigate the effects of light from heat lamps on the behaviour of sows and piglets and possible endocrine mechanisms, 24 primiparous sows were randomly assigned to three supplementary heat source treatments: (1) 250 W non-luminous ceramic heat lamps (CE, n = 8), (2) 175 W red heat lamps (RL, n = 8), and (3) 175 W transparent heat lamps (TL, n = 8). All heat lamps were turned off on Day 15 postpartum. Piglets were weighed on days 3 and 21 postpartum. The number and duration of suckling within 24 h were analysed via video recordings on days 4, 8, and 16 postpartum. Sow posture changes during the day and night were detected using the YOLOv4 target detection network model. One marked piglet from six litters randomly selected from each treatment was used for saliva collection. Saliva samples were collected at 0800, 1400, 2000, and 0200 (+1 d) on days 10 and 20 postpartum. The results showed that the mean postural change frequency of TL sows was higher than that of CE sows (P < 0.05), while that of RL sows was not different from that of CE and TL sows. However, the duration of the sows being in each posture was not affected by the treatment. The total suckling duration of TL piglets was significantly longer than that of CE piglets, but there was no significant difference in the performance of the piglets. The melatonin concentrations in the saliva of piglets at 10 and 20 days of age in the three treatments showed different diurnal rhythms, but there was no significant difference in the levels of melatonin in TL piglets between night and day. Differences in salivary cortisol levels only appeared between the CE and RL groups at 20 days of age. Based on the present results, the illuminance and spectrum of the transparent heat lamps were sufficient to stimulate sow activity and inhibit melatonin levels in piglets. However, the stimulating effect on suckling was not sufficient to significantly improve the performance of piglets. Exposure to red heat lamps, rather than ceramic lamps, resulted in the strongest circadian rhythm of salivary melatonin in piglets.     

Fruit and vegetable consumption,cardiovascular disease,and all-cause mortality in China

Science China Life Sciences - Evidence about the response patterns of fruit and vegetable consumption with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality was inconsistent. These...     

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry rapid pathogen identification and outcomes of patients with bloodstream infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis

There was inconsistent evidence regarding the use of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for microorganism identification with/without antibiotic stewardship team (AST) and the clinical outcome of patients with bloodstream infections (BSI). In a systematic review and meta-analysis, we evaluated the effectiveness of rapid microbial identification by MALDI-TOF MS with and without AST on clinical outcomes. We searched PubMed and EMBASE databases from inception to 1 February 2022 to identify pre–post and parallel comparative studies that evaluated the use of MALDI-TOF MS for microorganism identification. Pooled effect estimates were derived using the random-effects model. Twenty-one studies with 14,515 patients were meta-analysed. Compared with conventional phenotypic methods, MALDI-TOF MS was associated with a 23% reduction in mortality (RR = 0.77; 95% CI: 0.66; 0.90; I² = 35.9%; 13 studies); 5.07-h reduction in time to effective antibiotic therapy (95% CI: −5.83; −4.31; I² = 95.7%); 22.86-h reduction in time to identify microorganisms (95% CI: −23.99; −21.74; I² = 91.6%); 0.73-day reduction in hospital stay (95% CI: −1.30; −0.16; I² = 53.1%); and US$4140 saving in direct hospitalization cost (95% CI: $-8166.75; $-113.60; I² = 66.1%). No significant heterogeneity sources were found, and no statistical evidence for publication bias was found. Rapid pathogen identification by MALDI-TOF MS with or without AST was associated with reduced mortality and improved outcomes of BSI, and may be cost-effective among patients with BSI.     

Sex chromosomes of basal placental mammals

Placental (eutherian) mammals are currently classified into four superordinal clades (Afrotheria, Xenarthra, Laurasiatheria and Supraprimates) of which one, the Afrotheria (a unique lineage of African origin), is generally considered to be basal. Therefore, Afrotheria provide a pivotal evolutionary link for studying fundamental differences between the sex chromosomes of human/mouse (both representatives of Supraprimates and the index species for studies of sex chromosomes) and those of the distantly related marsupials. In this study, we use female fibroblasts to investigate classical features of X chromosome inactivation including replication timing of the X chromosomes and Barr body formation. We also examine LINE-1 accumulation on the X chromosomes of representative afrotherians and look for evidence of a pseudoautosomal region (PAR). Our results demonstrate that asynchronous replication of the X chromosomes is common to Afrotheria, as with other mammals, and Barr body formation is observed across all Placentalia, suggesting that mechanisms controlling this evolved before their radiation. Finally, we provide evidence of a PAR (which marsupials lack) and demonstrate that LINE1 is accumulated on the afrotherian and xenarthran X, although this is probably not due to transposition events in a common ancestor, but rather ongoing selection to retain recently inserted LINE1 on the X.     

Structural differences in centromeric heterochromatin are spatially reconciled on fertilisation in the mouse zygote

In mammals, paternal and maternal pronuclei undergo profound chromatin reorganisation upon fertilisation. How these events are orchestrated within centromeric regions to ensure proper chromosome segregation in the following cellular divisions is unknown. In this study, we followed the dynamic unfolding of the centromeric regions, i.e. the centric and pericentric satellite repeats, by DNA fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) during the first cell cycle up to the two-cell stage. The distinct chromatin from female and male gametes both undergo rapid remodelling and reach a zygotic organisation in which the satellites occupy restricted spatial domains surrounding the nucleolar precursor body. A transition from this zygotic to a somatic cell-like organisation takes place during the two-cell stage. Using 3D immuno-FISH, we find that, whereas maternal pericentric regions are marked with H3K9me3, H4K20me3 and HP1β, paternal ones only showed HP1β marking. Thus, despite different chromatin features, male and female pronuclei organise their centromeric regions in the same way within the nuclei to align chromosomes on the metaphase plate and segregate them appropriately. Our findings highlight the importance of ensuring a proper centromere function while preserving the distinction of parental genome origin during the return to totipotency in the zygote. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 induces biphasic NF-kappaB responses during HL-60 leukemia cells differentiation through protein induction and PI3K/Akt-dependent phosphorylation/degradation of IkappaB

1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (VD(3)) induces differentiation in a number of leukemia cell lines and under various conditions is able to either stimulate or inhibit nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) activity. Here we report a time-dependent biphasic regulation of NF-kappaB in VD(3)-treated HL-60 leukemia cells. After VD(3) treatment there was an early approximately 4 h suppression and a late 8-72 h prolonged reactivation of NF-kappaB. The reactivation of NF-kappaB was concomitant with increased IKK activities, IKK-mediated IkappaBalpha phosphorylation, p65 phosphorylation at residues S276 and S536, p65 nuclear translocation and p65 recruitment to the NF-kappaB/vitamin D responsive element promoters. In parallel with NF-kappaB stimulation, there was an up-regulation of NF-kappaB controlled inflammatory and anti-apoptotic genes such as TNFalpha, IL-1beta and Bcl-xL. VD(3)-triggered reactivation of NF-kappaB was associated with PI3K/Akt phosphorylation. PI3K/Akt antagonists suppressed VD(3)-stimulated IkappaBalpha phosphorylation as well as NF-kappaB-controlled gene expression. The early approximately 4 h VD(3)-mediated NF-kappaB suppression coincided with a prolonged increase of IkappaBalpha protein which require de novo protein synthesis, lasted for as least 72 h and was insensitive to MAPK, IKK or PI3K/Akt inhibitors. Our data suggest a novel biphasic regulation of NF-kappaB in VD(3)-treated leukemia cells and our results may have provided the first molecular explanation for the contradictory observations reported on VD(3)-mediated immune-regulation.     

Regulation of cell differentiation by hNUDC via a Mpl-dependent mechanism in NIH 3T3 cells

Thrombopoietin receptor (Mpl) belongs to the cytokine receptor surperfamily with a large extracellular N-terminal portion responsible for cytokine recognition and binding. Thrombopoietin (TPO) has so far been the only widely studied cytokine for Mpl. However we have recently identified human NUDC (hNUDC), previously described as a human homolog of a fungal nuclear migration protein, as another putative binding partner of Mpl. The purpose of this study is to test the extent of the functioning of hNUDC by identifying protein-protein interactions with Mpl in mammalian cells. The full-length cDNAs encoding Mpl and hNUDC were cloned into pEGFP-N1 and pDsRed2-N1 respectively which were subsequently expressed as Mpl-EGFP (green) and hNUDC-DsRed (red) fusion proteins. Using ELISA and immunofluorescence studies, we have demonstrated the direct binding of hNUDC to cell surface-captured Mpl. We also observed that hNUDC induced significant changes in cellular morphology in NIH 3T3 cells stably transfected with pMpl-EGFP. Interestingly, these morphological changes were characteristic of cells undergoing megakaryocyte differentiation. Extracellular-signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) have been shown to mediate such megakaryocyte-like differentiation. In addition, co-expression of Mpl-EGFP and hNUDC-DsRed led to the release of hNUDC-DsRed into the culture medium.     

Growth,survival and reproduction in<Emphasis Type="Italic">Chlorella vulgaris</Emphasis> and<Emphasis Type="Italic">C. variegata</Emphasis> with respect to culture age and under different chemical factors

Batch cultures of Chlorella vulgaris and C. variegata reproducing about twice every 5 d within 0-15 d had vegetative cells and autospore mother cells in the ratio of about 19 : 1. Continuous slow or negligible and/or no growth in > 15-d-old control cultures or in young cultures supplied with the antibiotics streptomycin, penicillin, amoxycillin (10-1000 ppm) or tetracycline (10, 100 ppm), and pesticides carbofuran, gammaxine, moticop or iralon (1-100 ppm) was due to slow autospore mother cells dehiscence (leading to an increase in their percentage); while negligible and/or no growth of both algal species in sewage water (100, 25%), detergent (0.1-1%), petrol or kerosene (5-20 %), benzene, toluene or phenol (5, 10%) and pesticides rogor or endosulfan (1, 10 ppm) was due to vegetative cells failure to differentiate into auto-spore mother cells (leading to decreased/zero autospore mother cells percentage) and/or rapid death of all cells. C. variegata was equally or slightly more sensitive to different chemical stress than C. vulgaris.     

Molecular phylogeography of two sibling species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eurema</Emphasis> butterflies

The common yellow butterfly Eurema hecabe is widely distributed in East Asia, and is one of the most burdensome species for taxonomists due to the numerous geographic and seasonal wing colour patterns. Moreover, within this species, individuals with a yellow wing fringe that occur in temperate regions of Japan (Y type) proved to be biologically different from others that occur widely in subtropical regions of Japan and all over East Asia (B type). To unveil the genetic variation within and between the two types, a total of 50 butterflies collected at 18 geographic localities in East Asia were examined for nucleotide sequence variation of three mitochondrial regions: cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), cytochrome c oxidase subunit III (COIII) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (ND5). In addition, they were also examined for infection status with the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia. The three mitochondrial sequences consistently showed that (i) Y type and B type were highly divergent, (ii) nucleotide variation within B type was very small although sampled from a geographically wide range, and (iii) a weak association existed between mitochondrial DNA haplotypes and Wolbachia infection status.