A web-based histology atlas for the freshwater sentinel species Daphnia magna.

Daphnia are keystone species of freshwater habitats used as model organisms in ecology and evolutionary biology. Their small size, wide geographic distribution, and sensitivity to chemicals make them useful as environmental sentinels in regulatory toxicology and chemical risk assessment. Biomolecular (-omic) assessments of responses to chemical toxicity, which reveal detailed molecular signatures, become more powerful when correlated with other phenotypic outcomes (such as behavioral, physiological, or histopathological) for comparative validation and regulatory relevance.

Staining and resin embedding of whole Daphnia magna samples for micro-CT imaging enabling 3D visualization of cells, tissues, and organs.

Micro-CT imaging is a powerful tool for generating high-resolution, isotropic, three-dimensional datasets of whole, centimeter-scale model organisms. At histological resolutions, micro-CT can be used for whole-animal qualitative and quantitative characterization of tissue and organismal structure in health and disease. The small size, global freshwater distribution, wide range of cell size and structures of micron scale, and common use of Daphnia magna in toxicological and environmental studies make it an ideal model for demonstrating the potential power of micro-CT-enabled whole-organism phenotyping.

High end-of-treatment hepatitis B core-related antigen levels predict hepatitis flare after stopping nucleot(s)ide analogue therapy.

Background And Aims: Accurate biomarkers to predict outcomes following discontinuation of nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) therapy are needed. We evaluated serum hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) level as a biomarker for predicting outcomes after NA discontinuation.

Methods: Patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) without cirrhosis were enrolled in a prospective trial evaluating clinical outcomes until 96 weeks after NA discontinuation.

The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and health-related quality of life in youth with obesity.

The brain derived-neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism causes functional changes in BDNF, and is associated with obesity and some psychiatric disorders, but its relationship to health-related quality of life (HRQoL) remains unknown. This study examined, in youth with obesity, whether carriers of the BDNF Val66met polymorphism Met-alleles (A/A or G/A) differed from noncarriers (G/G) on HRQoL. The participants were 187 adolescents with obesity.

Oral nanotherapeutic formulation of insulin with reduced episodes of hypoglycaemia.

Injectable insulin is an extensively used medication with potential life-threatening hypoglycaemic events. Here we report on insulin-conjugated silver sulfide quantum dots coated with a chitosan/glucose polymer to produce a responsive oral insulin nanoformulation. This formulation is pH responsive, is insoluble in acidic environments and shows increased absorption in human duodenum explants and Caenorhabditis elegans at neutral pH.