Association Between Tea Drinking and Anemia in Women of Reproductive Age: A Cross-Sectional Study From the Mekran Division, Balochistan, Pakistan.

Background: Anemia in females of the reproductive age group is an area of concern globally, but its prevalence is high in developing countries. Dietary habits and lifestyle impact the hematological parameters. It is important to evaluate the impact of tea drinking on hematological parameters in females of the reproductive age group.

Female zebrafish (Danio rerio) exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics induces reproductive toxicity in mother and their offspring.

Nanoplastics (NPs) have been commonly detected in aquatic ecosystems, and their negative effects on aquatic organisms have raised concerns in the scientific community and general public. The acute toxicity, neurotoxicity, and metabolic toxicity induced by NPs on fishes have been reported by many studies, although less attention has been focused on how mother exposed to NPs affected their offspring in aquatic organisms. Here, female zebrafish (F0) were exposed to 0, 200 and 2000 μg/L polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) for 42 d, with their offspring (F1) reared in clear water until sexual maturity.

Spatio-temporal change detection of land use and land cover in Malakand Division Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, using remote sensing and geographic information system.

The land use land cover (LULC) change due to the rapidly growing population is a common feature of the urban area. The rapidly growing population in Malakand Division is a greater threat to the LULC of the area due to its negative impact on environment and ecology. This research aims to detect the variations in LULC from 1991 to 2017 in the Malakand Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan.

Effect of acute exposure of triazophos on histological structure and apoptosis of the brain and liver of zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Triazophos (TAP) has become a part of widespread pollutant of the aquatic environment due to its residue. Current study was designed to investigate the toxic effect of TAP at different doses (0.06, 0.

Comparative expression analysis of let-7 microRNAs during ovary development in Megalobrama amblycephala.

As a critical regulator of gene expression, let-7 family miRNAs have been reported to be involved in multiple physiological processes. In this study, in order to elucidate the putative regulatory effect of let-7 miRNAs during fish gonadal development and to identify which member is crucial for this regulation, the expression of ten members including let-7a/b/c/d/e/f/g/h/i/j were quantified in ovary, pituitary, and brain tissues during the different ovarian developmental stages of blunt snout bream Megalobrama amblycephala. According to the data from analysis of expression patterns, let-7a showed the highest expression value in almost all the tested ovaries, pituitaries, and brains, with let-7b and let-7d moderately expressed, following by other let-7 miRNAs.

The association between the perception of crime and walking in gated and non-gated neighbourhoods of Asian developing countries.

It has been reported in the literature that the perception of crime at the neighbourhood level inversely affects the walking behaviour of individuals. On the other hand, the gated neighbourhoods are considered safe from crime, however, there is a lack of research on the association of the perception of crime and walking in gated neighbourhoods. Therefore, the objectives of the study reported in this paper were to investigate the association between the perception of crime and walking in gated and non-gated neighbourhoods.

Molecular response and association analysis of Megalobrama amblycephala fih-1 with hypoxia.

Hypoxia is one of the most important environmental factors which affect fish growth, development and survival, but regulation mechanisms of hypoxia in fish remain unclear. Therefore, to further understand molecular functions of factor inhibiting HIF-1 (Fih-1), an essential hypoxia sensor, the full-length cDNA of fih-1 was cloned from Megalobrama amblycephala, a hypoxia-sensitive cyprinid fish. The deduced amino acid sequence showed high homology with that of other vertebrates, and all structural and functional domains were highly conserved.

Alternative splicing transcription of Megalobrama amblycephala HIF prolyl hydroxylase PHD3 and up-regulation of PHD3 by HIF-1α.

PHD3 is a hydroxylase that hydroxylates prolyl residues on hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) in mammals. In this study, the full-length cDNA and promoter sequences of Megalobrama amblycephala PHD3 gene were isolated by a modified RACE method. PHD3 cDNA was 1622 bp in length, including an ORF of 717 bp encoding 238 amino acid residues.

Molecular characterization and expression analysis of a complement component C3 in large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea).

The complement system has been discovered in invertebrates and vertebrates, and plays a crucial role in the innate defense against common pathogens. Complement component 3 is a key molecule in the complement system, whose activation is essential for all the important functions performed by this system. In this study, the complete C3 cDNA sequence was isolated from the large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea), which was high similarity to other complement C3.

Characterization of muscle morphology and satellite cells, and expression of muscle-related genes in skeletal muscle of juvenile and adult Megalobrama amblycephala.

Hyperplasia and hypertrophy are two distinct processes of skeletal muscle growth regulated by four myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs, contains MyoD, Myf5, Mrf4 and myogenin (MyoG)) and myostatin (MSTN). In this study, characterization of muscle morphology and satellite cells in juvenile (1-year-old) and adult (2-year-old) Megalobrama amblycephala was described. Compared with 1-year-old M.

Molecular cloning and expression analysis of immunoglobulin M heavy chain gene of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala).

Immunoglobulins (Igs), which bind antigens with high specificity, are essential molecules in adaptive immune system of jawed vertebrates. In this study, cDNA encoding the secreted form of the immunoglobulin heavy chain of IgM (sIgM) was cloned from the mesonephros of blunt snout bream (Megalabrama amblycephala) using RT-PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full-length cDNA of sIgM heavy chain gene has 1961 nucleotides encoding a putative protein of 569 amino acids, constant region shares high amino acid identity with that of Ctenopharyngodon idella (80%), Carassius auratus langsdorfii (65%) and Danio rerio (59%).

Anti-stress properties and two HSP70s mRNA expressions of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) fed with all-plant-based diet.

The influence of all-plant-based diet on fingerling blunt snout breams (Megalobrama amblycephala) was tested by examining growth performance, anti-stress properties and related gene expression. Healthy fish were randomly divided into triplicate groups per dietary treatment and fed with different formulated diets. The results showed that both weight gain, specific growth rate and protein efficiency ratio of all-plant-based diet group were significant higher than those of the control (p < 0.

PPARγ, an important gene related to lipid metabolism and immunity in Megalobrama amblycephala: cloning, characterization and transcription analysis by GeNorm.

In order to be able to modulate and improve the function of PPARγ and decrease further some metabolic diseases of M. amblycephala, we have cloned and identified the full-length cDNA of PPARγ in M. amblycephala and examined its transcription patterns at different embryo developmental stages and in different tissues of adult and immature fish.

Flow cytometric determination of genome size for eight commercially important fish species in China.

The genome size (C value) of eight commercially important fish species in China was measured using flow cytometry. Chicken (Gallus domesticus) erythrocytes were used as reference cells. When using propidium iodide (PI) as the fluorescent dye, genome sizes were 1.

DNA extraction from crayfish exoskeleton.

Crayfish exoskeleton (CE) samples are generally less invasive and easy to be collected. However, it is difficult to extract DNA from them. This study was intended to investigate CE as a DNA source and design an easy and efficient DNA extraction protocol for polymerase chain reactions.

Molecular characterization and expression analysis of three hypoxia-inducible factor alpha subunits, HIF-1α/2α/3α of the hypoxia-sensitive freshwater species, Chinese sucker.

Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) are transcription factors that respond to changes in oxygen tension in the cellular environment. In this study, we identified full-length cDNAs of HIF-1α, HIF-2α and HIF-3α in an endangered hypoxia-sensitive fish species, Chinese sucker. The HIF-1α/2α/3α cDNAs are 3890, 3230 and 3374 bp in length, encoding 780, 782 and 632 amino acid residues, respectively.

Expression characterization and the promoter activity analysis of zebrafish hdac4.

Histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) is an important modifier enzyme for chromatin remodeling and plays an essential role in regulating gene expression. Spatio-temporal expression spectrum revealed that zebrafish hdac4 mRNA, ubiquitously distributed in various tissues, were significantly higher at 36 hpf (hours post-fertilization) and 6 dpf (days post-fertilization) than other periods. Trichostatin A (TSA) inhibited the development of zebrafish embryos and transcription of hdac4 and mef2a (myocyte enhancer factor-2A).

Cloning, identification and accurate normalization expression analysis of PPARα gene by GeNorm in Megalobrama amblycephala.

Megalobrama amblycephala suffers from serious liver diseases recently and PPARα gene has been reported to play an important role in the immune system of animal liver. On the basis of these facts, we have cloned and identified full-length cDNA of PPARα and examined its expression patterns at different embryo developmental stages and in different tissues of adult and young fish in order to improve liver disease immunity of M. amblycephala.