Stage-specific nutritional management and developmental programming to optimize meat production.

Over the past few decades, genetic selection and refined nutritional management have extensively been used to increase the growth rate and lean meat production of livestock. However, the rapid growth rates of modern breeds are often accompanied by a reduction in intramuscular fat deposition and increased occurrences of muscle abnormalities, impairing meat quality and processing functionality. Early stages of animal development set the long-term growth trajectory of offspring.

Pregnancy and childbirth outcomes among indigenous adolescents in Guatemala: a cohort study.

Objective: To assess some characteristics and outcomes associated with pregnancy among Indigenous adolescents and compare them with other women who gave birth in a public hospital in Guatemala.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 8048 cases. Sociocultural variables, gynecological and obstetric history, childbirth, and perinatal outcomes were compared among women who gave birth at San Juan De Dios Hospital between January 2018 and June 2019.

Assessment of sexual and reproductive access and use of menstrual products among Venezuelan migrant adult women at the Brazilian-Venezuelan border.

Objective: To describe the sociodemographic characteristics, access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care, including contraceptives and to assess menstrual poverty of migrant Venezuelan adult women of childbearing age at the northwestern border between Venezuela and Brazil.

Methods: Cross-sectional study coordinated by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil, conducted in Boa Vista, Roraima between January 18 and 24, 2021. We invited women aged 18 to 49 years to participate.

Obesity Impairs Embryonic Myogenesis by Enhancing BMP Signaling within the Dermomyotome.

Obesity during pregnancy leads to adverse health outcomes in offspring. However, the initial effects of maternal obesity (MO) on embryonic organogenesis have yet to be thoroughly examined. Using unbiased single-cell transcriptomic analyses (scRNA-seq), the effects of MO on the myogenic process is investigated in embryonic day 9.

Animal development in the secondary classroom: linking basic science to livestock production.

The field of life sciences encompasses a myriad of disciplines that collectively provide insight toward the intrinsic framework of life. Developmental physiology is one of these disciplines that can describe the origins of life at the molecular, cellular, tissue, and organismal level. However, organismal development is a continual process that transcends conception and progresses throughout the lifetime of an organism.

Using e-notebooks to explore biochemistry with an agricultural lens.

The interdisciplinary subject of agricultural biochemistry can provide an abundance of didactic opportunities for educators teaching biochemistry and molecular biology in secondary-level science courses. This is especially true in present times when virtual-learning strategies supersede in-person instruction and contemporary approaches are needed to engage students with relevant applications of science. In this communication, we discuss how pairing daily lessons in agricultural biochemistry with periodic e-notebook usage further refines this strategy by promoting content-retrieval and providing educators with formative feedback on student progress in a simple and inexpensive manner.

From blood to milk: Graphical systems modeling in secondary-level biochemistry courses.

Given the present need for biochemistry and molecular biology educators to transform their courses into an online format, novel methods aimed at promoting student learning and engagement must be considered. Herein, we describe the integration of graphical systems modeling as a tool for introducing biochemistry to secondary-level students. We propose the use of graphic technologies as a way for students to create systems models that describe phenomena of life, such as lactation.

Even a low dose of tamoxifen profoundly induces adipose tissue browning in female mice.

Background: Tamoxifen-inducible Cre/lox site-specific recombination technology has been widely used to generate conditional transgenic mice. As an estrogen receptor ligand, tamoxifen itself potentially affects energy metabolism, which may confound interpretation of data especially in metabolic studies. Considering sexual dimorphism, in this study, the effects of low-dose tamoxifen administration on energy metabolism, and browning of adipose tissues in female and male mice were investigated.

Raspberry alleviates obesity-induced inflammation and insulin resistance in skeletal muscle through activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) α1.

Objective: Through dynamic means, etiological factors, including chronic inflammation and insulin resistance have the potential to perpetuate metabolic incidences such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. Abatement of such syndromes can be achieved by complex mechanisms initiated through bioactive compounds such as polyphenols derived from fruits. Using a whole-fruit approach, the effects of dietary red raspberry, which is rich in polyphenols, on inflammatory responses and insulin resistance in the skeletal muscles of Mus musculus were studied along with the potential role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) to act as a key mediator.

Retinoic acid induces white adipose tissue browning by increasing adipose vascularity and inducing beige adipogenesis of PDGFRα adipose progenitors.

Formation of beige adipocytes within white adipose tissue enhances energy expenditure, which is a promising strategy to reduce obesity and prevent metabolic symptoms. Vitamin A and its bioactive metabolite, retinoic acid (RA), have regulatory roles in lipid metabolism. Here we report that RA induces white adipose tissue browning via activating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling.

Moderate alcohol intake induces thermogenic brown/beige adipocyte formation elevating retinoic acid signaling.

Clinically, low and moderate alcohol intake improves human health with protection against metabolic syndromes, including type 2 diabetes; however, mechanisms that are associated with these effects remain to be elucidated. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of moderate alcohol intake on thermogenic brown/beige adipocyte formation and glucose and lipid homeostasis, as well as the involvement of retinoic acid (RA) signaling in the entire process. C57BL6 male mice were supplemented with 8% (w/v) alcohol in water for 1 or 4 mo.

Malaria induces anemia through CD8+ T cell-dependent parasite clearance and erythrocyte removal in the spleen.

Unlabelled: Severe malarial anemia (SMA) in semi-immune individuals eliminates both infected and uninfected erythrocytes and is a frequent fatal complication. It is proportional not to circulating parasitemia but total parasite mass (sequestered) in the organs. Thus, immune responses that clear parasites in organs may trigger changes leading to anemia.

Deletion of a malaria invasion gene reduces death and anemia, in model hosts.

Malaria parasites induce complex cellular and clinical phenotypes, including anemia, cerebral malaria and death in a wide range of mammalian hosts. Host genes and parasite 'toxins' have been implicated in malarial disease, but the contribution of parasite genes remains to be fully defined. Here we assess disease in BALB/c mice and Wistar rats infected by the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei with a gene knock out for merozoite surface protein (MSP) 7.

A rapid murine coma and behavior scale for quantitative assessment of murine cerebral malaria.

Background: Cerebral malaria (CM) is a neurological syndrome that includes coma and seizures following malaria parasite infection. The pathophysiology is not fully understood and cannot be accounted for by infection alone: patients still succumb to CM, even if the underlying parasite infection has resolved. To that effect, there is no known adjuvant therapy for CM.

A Plasmodium falciparum host-targeting motif functions in export during blood stage infection of the rodent malarial parasite Plasmodium berghei.

Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) secretes hundreds of proteins--including major virulence proteins--into the host erythrocyte. In order to reach the host cytoplasm, most P.