Preparation and properties of β-carotene-loaded sanxan emulsion gel microcapsules.

Sanxan has important application value in the field of bioactive substance delivery. However, the current sanxan emulsion gel method has certain limitations in delivering heat-sensitive lipophilic bioactive substances. In this study, the acid-gelling properties of sanxan were utilized to prepare sanxan emulsion gel microcapsules (SEGMs) by extrusion dripping method.

Diversity and functional prediction of fungal communities in different segments of mongolian horse gastrointestinal tracts.

Background: Anaerobic fungi are effective fibre-degrading microorganisms in the digestive tract of horses. However, our understanding of their diversity and community structure is limited, especially in different parts of the gastrointestinal tract.

Results: For the first time, high-throughput sequencing technology was used to analyse and predict fungal microbial diversity in different parts of the gastrointestinal tract of Mongolian horses.

Association of the L3MBTL3 rs1125970 and rs4897367 Gene Polymorphisms With Coronary Heart Disease Susceptibility in the Chinese Population: A Case-Control Study.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a prevalent heart disease with high incidence and mortality rates worldwide, and its pathogenesis is related to genetic factors. L3MBTL3 has been reported to be potentially linked to CHD susceptibility. This study aims to explore the correlation between L3MBTL3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and CHD risk in the Chinese population.

Effects of oat ( L.) hay diet supplementation on the intestinal microbiome and metabolome of Small-tail Han sheep.

Supplementation of the sheep diet with oats ( L.) improves animal growth and meat quality, however effects on intestinal microbes and their metabolites was not clear. This study aimed to establish the effect of dietary oat supplementation on rumen and colonic microbial abundance and explore the relationship with subsequent changes in digesta metabolites.

The effect of CYP7B1 polymorphisms on the risk of coronary heart disease in Hainan Han population.

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of human death worldwide. Genetic factors play an important role in the occurrence of CHD. Our study is designed to investigate the influence of CYP7B1 polymorphisms on CHD risk.

The association study between CYP20A1, CYP4F2, CYP2D6 gene polymorphisms and coronary heart disease risk in the Han population in southern China.

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a disease that seriously harms human health. Genetic factors seriously affect the CHD susceptibility. The CYP20A1, CYP4F2 and CYP2D6 are important drug metabolism enzymes in the human body.

Characterization of chilled chicken spoilage using an integrated microbiome and metabolomics analysis.

Spoilage of chilled chicken can occur as a result of microbial development and consumption of meat nutrients by spoilage bacteria, ultimately resulting in the release of undesired metabolites. Characterizing the profiles of the microbiota and metabolites and clarifying their relationships will contribute to an improved understanding of the mechanism underlying chilled chicken spoilage. In the present study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS)-based untargeted metabolomics analyses were applied to determine the microbial and metabolic profiles in chicken during chilled storage.

Analytical Solution to Assess the Induced Seismicity Potential of Faults in Pressurized and Depleted Reservoirs.

Displaced faults crossing the reservoir could significantly increase the induced earthquake frequency in geo-energy projects. Understanding and predicting the stress variation in such cases is essential to minimize the risk of induced seismicity. Here, we adopt the inclusion theory to develop an analytical solution for the stress response to pore pressure variations within the reservoir for both permeable and impermeable faults with offset ranging from zero to the reservoir thickness.

ANGPTL8 enhances insulin sensitivity by directly activating insulin-mediated AKT phosphorylation.

ANGPTL8 is a 22-KDa protein in the angiopoietin-like family. It is a liver-derived hormone that dynamically regulates glucose metabolism after refeeding. The mechanism of its regulation of glucose metabolism is unclear.

Differences in root surface adsorption, root uptake, subcellular distribution, and chemical forms of Cd between low- and high-Cd-accumulating wheat cultivars.

The differences in the mechanism of cadmium (Cd) accumulation in the grains of different wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars remain unclear. Thus, we conducted a hydroponic experiment in a greenhouse to compare root surface adsorption, root uptake, subcellular distribution, and chemical forms of Cd between low- and high-Cd-accumulating wheat cultivars at seedling stage, to improve our understanding of the differences between cultivars.

Identification of Long Non-Coding RNA-Associated Competing Endogenous RNA Network in the Differentiation of Chicken Preadipocytes.

Emerging evidence indicates that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in the regulation of cell differentiation by acting as competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA). However, the regulatory mechanisms of lncRNA and the lncRNA-associated ceRNA network involved in adipogenic differentiation of chicken preadipocytes remain elusive. Here, we first constructed the chicken preadipocyte in vitro induction model.

The Role of Angle in the Evaluation of Ablation Accuracy in Pulmonary Vein Isolation Navigated by Image Integration.

Background: The conventional index for ablation accuracy is to compare the distance between mapping points with and without treatment by using image integration. We attempted to quantitatively evaluate the role of angle as an index in the ablation accuracy in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods: A total of 48 patients with AF were included in the present study.

Hypolipidemic and antioxidant potential of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) leaf in mice fed on a high-fat diet.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antioxidant and hypolipidemic potential of bitter gourd (BG) leaf ethanol extract (LE) in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Fifty mice were randomly separated into five groups with 10 animals of each group. The animals received normal diet (NC), HFD diet (HF), 200mg/kg/day LE with HFD (LLE), 400 mg/kg/day LE with HFD (MLE), 800mg/kg/day LE with HFD (HLE), respectively.

Survey of Antithrombotic Treatment in Rural Patients (>60 years) with Atrial Fibrillation in East China.

The prevalence and antithrombotic treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) in Chinese rural population is not well known. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which antithrombotic treatment was prescribed for rural AF patients >60 years. We identified 828 AF patients from 36734 rural residents >60 years in Shanghai China.

MicroRNA-30c suppresses the pro-fibrogenic effects of cardiac fibroblasts induced by TGF-β1 and prevents atrial fibrosis by targeting TGFβRII.

Atrial fibrosis serves as an important contributor to atrial fibrillation (AF). Recent data have suggested that microRNA-30c (miR-30c) is involved in fibrotic remodelling and cancer development, but the specific role of miR-30c in atrial fibrosis remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of miR-30c in atrial fibrosis and its underlying mechanisms through in vivo and in vitro experiments.

Association of SCN10A Polymorphisms with the Recurrence of Atrial Fibrillation after Catheter Ablation in a Chinese Han Population.

The nonsynonymous SCN10A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs6795970 has been reported to associate with PR interval and atrial fibrillation (AF) and in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) with the AF-associated SNP rs6800541. In this study, we investigated whether rs6795970 polymorphisms are associated with AF recurrence after catheter ablation. A total of 502 consecutive patients with AF who underwent catheter ablation were included.

Common variants predict recurrence after nonfamilial atrial fibrillation ablation in Chinese Han population.

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several loci associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) and have been reportedly associated with response to catheter ablation for AF in patients of European ancestry; however, associations between susceptibility loci and clinical recurrence of AF after catheter ablation have not been examined in Chinese Han populations. To the personalization of catheter ablation for AF, we examined whether these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can predict clinical outcomes after catheter ablation for AF in Chinese Han population.

Methods And Results: The association between 8 SNPs and AF was studied in 1418 AF patients and 1424 controls by the unconditional logistic regression analysis.

Activated Integrin-Linked Kinase Negatively Regulates Muscle Cell Enhancement Factor 2C in C2C12 Cells.

Our previous study reported that muscle cell enhancement factor 2C (MEF2C) was fully activated after inhibition of the phosphorylation activity of integrin-linked kinase (ILK) in the skeletal muscle cells of goats. It enhanced the binding of promoter or enhancer of transcription factor related to proliferation of muscle cells and then regulated the expression of these genes. In the present investigation, we explored whether ILK activation depended on PI3K to regulate the phosphorylation and transcriptional activity of MEF2C during C2C12 cell proliferation.

Identification of acetyltransferase genes (HAT1 and KAT8) regulating HBV replication by RNAi screening.

Background: The initiation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication involves the formation of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) and its transcription into pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) in hepatocyte nuclei. The regulatory mechanism of HBV replication by acetyltransferase is thus far not well understood, but human acetyltransferase has been reported as being involved in the regulation of HBV replication.

Results: Depletion of KAT8 or HAT1 via RNA interference (RNAi) markedly down-regulated HBV-DNA and pgRNA levels in HepG2.

The mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway regulates myocyte enhancer factor-2C phosphorylation levels through integrin-linked kinase in goat skeletal muscle satellite cells.

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway plays a key role in muscle development and is involved in multiple intracellular signaling pathways. Myocyte enhancer factor-2 (MEF2) regulates muscle cell proliferation and differentiation. However, how the mTOR signaling pathway regulates MEF2 activity remains unclear.

Biological characteristics of muscle-derived satellite cells isolated from rats at different postnatal days.

This study investigated the in vitro growth characteristics and differential potential of muscle-derived satellite cells (MDSCs) derived from rats at different postnatal (P) stages, in order to expand the range of source material for tissue engineering. Rat MDSCs were isolated from P5, P10, P15, P21 and P42 rat skeletal muscles using double enzyme digestion and differential adherent culture. Neurogenic, osteogenic and myogenic induction media were used to induce directed differentiation.

Association of IPS1 polymorphisms with peginterferon efficacy in chronic hepatitis B with HBeAg-positive in the Chinese population.

Aims: To investigate whether IPS1 polymorphisms affect peginterferon alpha (PEG-IFN) efficacy in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients using a tag- single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) approach.

Methods: A total of 212 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients treated with a 48weeks of PEG-IFN monotherapy were enrolled initially and 127 patients were followed for 48weeks posttreatment. Genotype analysis was performed for 10 tag-SNPs in IPS1.

Clinical implications of and factors influencing dissociated pulmonary vein potentials.

Background: Factors influencing dissociated pulmonary vein (PV) potentials (DPVPs) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients undergoing circumferential PV isolation have not been investigated. Furthermore, the clinical implications of such DPVPs remain controversial.

Methods: Circumferential PV isolation as a first ablation procedure was performed in 688 consecutive patients with AF (460 men; mean age, 58.

Morphological characteristics and identification of islet-like cells derived from rat adipose-derived stem cells cocultured with pancreas adult stem cells.

Diabetes is a significant public health problem that can be treated with insulin therapy; however, therapies designed to cure diabetes are limited. The goal of the current study was to assess the potential for curative treatment of diabetes using adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs). To achieve this goal, the differentiation of rat ADSCs into pancreatic islet-like cells induced by coculture with pancreatic adult stem cells (PASCs) was characterized.