Deficiency in Prader-Willi syndrome gene leads to attenuated cardiac contractility.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder characterized by behavioral disturbances, hyperphagia, and intellectual disability. Several surveys indicate that PWS is also associated with cardiac abnormalities, possibly contributing to a high incidence of sudden death. However, the pathological mechanisms underlying cardiac dysfunction in PWS remain unclear.

Soluble dietary fiber from (Munro) Kurz shoot improves liver injury by regulating gut microbial disorder in mice.

Bamboo shoot has long been regarded as a nutritious and healthy food. It is low in calorie and rich in high-quality dietary fiber (DF), making them a potential DF resource. However, the protective mechanism of soluble dietary fibers from (Munro) Kurz shoot (DS-SDF) on methionine and choline deficient (MCD) diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is still unclear.

Characteristics of bioaerosol emissions from a municipal wastewater treatment plant: Health risk assessment and microbial composition.

Bioaerosols released from municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) contain pathogenic microorganisms, if dispersed into the atmosphere, which pose potential health risks to humans. In this study, the concentrations and size distribution of bioaerosol, factors on the bioaerosol emission, exposure risk, and microbial composition in different treatment units of a MWWTP were investigated. The results showed that bioaerosol was released to different degrees in each treatment unit, with the concentrations of bioaerosol varied widely, ranging from 978 to 3710 CFU/m.

Multi-dimension analysis of volatile sulfur compound emissions from an urban wastewater treatment plant.

Long-term monitoring of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) released at the water-air interface from different treatment units of an anaerobic/oxic (A/O) wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was carried out to assess the temporal and spatial emission characteristics of VSCs, to explore relationships between wastewater quality and VSC release. The VSC from non-aerated and aerated units were collected using dynamic and static chambers, respectively, and determined using gas chromatography. The VSC emission fluxes diminished in the order of primary sedimentation tank (PST) > anaerobic areas (ANA) > oxic section 1 (OX1).

Effects of ultrasonic assisted high-temperature cooking method on the physicochemical structure characteristics and in vitro antioxidant capacities of dietary fiber from Dendrocalamus brandisii Munro shoots.

In this study, the ultrasonic assisted high-temperature cooking extraction method of soluble dietary fiber from bamboo shoots was optimized by response surface methodology, and the effects of ultrasonic assisted high-temperature cooking extraction on the structural characteristics, physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of soluble dietary fiber (SDF) from bamboo shoots were evaluated. The yield of modified UH-SDF was significantly higher than that of untreated D-SDF. FTIR and XRD confirmed that UH-SDF had more hydrophilic groups and higher crystallinity (28.

Awakening from anesthesia switches cortical wave modes.

Spontaneous cortical activity exhibits diverse spatiotemporal dynamics across brain states, but the organizational principles during state transitions remain unclear. In a recent study combining cortex-wide voltage imaging and neural modeling, Liang and colleagues revealed that global-local competition and long-range connections underlie the emergence of complex cortical wave patterns during awakening from anesthesia.

Comparison of physicochemical and hypoglycemic activity of bamboo shoot dietary fibers from different regions of Yunnan.

In this study, the physicochemical properties, thermal characteristics, and hypoglycemic activity of dietary fibers extracted from four bamboo shoots were characterized and compared. The results showed that Munro (C-BSDF) had the highest dietary fiber content (6.1%) and the smallest particle size (222.

Cortical regulation of two-stage rapid eye movement sleep.

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a sleep state characterized by skeletal muscle paralysis and cerebral cortical activation. Yet, global cortical dynamics and their role in regulating REM sleep remain unclear. Here we show that in mice, REM sleep is accompanied by highly patterned cortical activity waves, with the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) as a major initiation site.

Necdin regulates BMAL1 stability and circadian clock through SGT1-HSP90 chaperone machinery.

Circadian clocks are endogenous oscillators that control ∼24-hour physiology and behaviors in virtually all organisms. The circadian oscillator comprises interconnected transcriptional and translational feedback loops, but also requires finely coordinated protein homeostasis including protein degradation and maturation. However, the mechanisms underlying the mammalian clock protein maturation is largely unknown.

Hyperactive Akt-mTOR pathway as a therapeutic target for pain hypersensitivity in Cntnap2-deficient mice.

Contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2 or CASPR2) is a neuronal transmembrane protein of the neurexin superfamily that is involved in many neurological diseases, such as autism and pain hypersensitivity. We recently found that Cntnap2 mice showed elevated Akt-mTOR activity in the brain, and suppression of the Akt-mTOR pathway rescued the social deficit in Cntnap2 mice. In this study, we found that the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) from Cntnap2 mice also showed hyperactive Akt-mTOR signaling.