maturity

OBJECTIVES: In recent years, adjunctive therapies for epilepsy management are being explored due to considerable side effects carried by antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and widespread reports of drug-resistant epilepsy. One such approach is non-invasive musical neurostimulation. Within this context, Mozart's sonata K448 has received particular attention following reports of reduced seizure frequency and a decrease in epileptiform discharges during and after music exposure; often described as the 'Mozart effect'...

AIM: Aortic aneurysms (AA) frequently involve dysregulation of transforming growth factor β (TGF-β)-signaling in the aorta. Here, FURIN was tested as aneurysm predisposition gene given its role as proprotein convertase in pro-TGF-β maturation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Rare FURIN variants were detected by whole-exome sequencing of 781 unrelated aortic aneurysm patients and affected relatives. Thirteen rare heterozygous FURIN variants occurred in 3.7% (29) unrelated index AA patients, of which 72% had multiple aneurysms or a dissection...

The red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) represents North America's most important aquaculture species. Its hepatopancreas is rich in cellulases and other polysaccharide-degrading enzymes, which provide it the remarkable ability to digest cellulose-rich macroalgae; nevertheless, its cellulolytic systems are poorly explored. This manuscript describes some functional and structural properties of an endogenous trimeric glycosylated endoglucanase from H. rufescens. The purified enzyme showed a molecular mass of 23...

Digitally enabled higher education involves the in-depth use of new-generation digital technology, which has subverted and innovated the traditional teaching mode, driven the development of high-quality teaching and learning, and improved teachers' teaching experience, and increased efficiency. Based on ecosystem theory, this paper constructs a higher education ecosystem with the government, enterprises, and universities as the core participating subjects. It considers the participating subjects' effort level and the ecosystem's overall benefits under the three scenarios of noncooperative research and development (R&D), cost sharing, and cooperative R&D...

Our objective was to understand how maternal age influences the mitochondrial population and ATP content of in vivo matured bovine oocytes. We hypothesized that in vivo matured oocytes from older cows would have altered mitochondrial number and distribution patterns and lower cytoplasmic ATP content compared to the oocytes obtained from younger cows. Follicles ≥5mm were ablated in old cows (13 to 22 yrs, Old Group, n = 7) and their younger daughters (4 to 10 years old, Young Group; n = 7) to induce the emergence of a new follicular wave...

BACKGROUND: Cognitive function, including moral decision-making abilities, can be impaired by sleep loss. Blue-enriched light interventions have been shown to ameliorate cognitive impairment during night work. This study investigated whether the quality of moral decision-making during simulated night work differed for night work in blue-enriched white light, compared to warm white light. METHODS: Using a counterbalanced crossover design, three consecutive night shifts were performed in blue-enriched white light (7000 K) and warm white light (2500 K) provided by ceiling-mounted LED luminaires (photopic illuminance: ∼200 lx)...

Although oligodendrocytes (OLs) synthesize laminin-γ1, the most widely used γ subunit, its functional significance in the CNS remains unknown. To answer this important question, we generated a conditional knockout mouse line with laminin-γ1 deficiency in OL lineage cells (γ1-OKO). γ1-OKO mice exhibit weakness/paralysis and die by post-natal day 33. Additionally, they develop blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption in the cortex and striatum. Subsequent studies reveal decreased major facilitator superfamily domain containing 2a expression and increased endothelial caveolae vesicles, but unaltered tight junction protein expression and tight junction ultrastructure, indicating a transcellular, rather than a paracellular, mechanism of BBB breakdown...

Thin-film piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducers (PMUTs) are an increasingly relevant and well-researched field, and their biomedical importance has been growing as the technology continues to mature. This review paper briefly discusses their history in biomedical use, provides a simple explanation of their principles for newer readers, and sheds light on the materials selection for these devices. Primarily, it discusses the significant applications of PMUTs in the biomedical industry and showcases recent progress that has been made in each application...

The conversion of raw barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) to malt requires a process of controlled germination, where the grain is submerged in water to raise the moisture content to >40%. The transmembrane proteins, aquaporins, influence water uptake during the initial stage of controlled germination, yet little is known of their involvement in malting. With the current focus on sustainability, understanding the mechanisms of water uptake and usage during the initial stages of malting has become vital in improving efficient malting practices...

Lithium-based batteries (LBBs) are highly researched and recognized as a mature electrochemical energy storage (EES) system in recent years. However, their stability and effectiveness are primarily confined to room temperature conditions. At temperatures significantly below 0 °C or above 60 °C, LBBs experience substantial performance degradation. Under such challenging extreme contexts, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) emerge as a promising complementary technology, distinguished by their fast dynamics at low temperature region and superior safety under elevated temperatures...

Neurogenesis occurs throughout life in the hippocampus of the brain, and many environmental toxicants inhibit neural stem cell (NSC) function and neuronal generation. Bisphenol-A (BPA), an endocrine disrupter used for surface coating of plastic products causes injury in the developing and adult brain; thus, many countries have banned its usage in plastic consumer products. BPA analogs/alternatives such as bisphenol-F (BPF) and bisphenol-S (BPS) may also cause neurotoxicity; however, their effects on neurogenesis are still not known...

ASH1L potentially contributes to Tourette syndrome (TS) and other neuropsychiatric disorders, as our previous studies have shown. It regulates essential developmental genes by counteracting polycomb-mediated transcriptional repression, which restricts chromatin accessibility at target genes. ASH1L is highly expressed in the adult brain, playing a crucial role in the early stage. However, it remains unclear how ASH1L mutations carried by patients with TS participate in regulating neuronal growth processes leading to TS traits...

Prostate inflammation is often treated with drugs which are ineffective. Antibacterial agents fail to reach the prostate epithelium, and the blood-prostate barrier (BPB) may affect the drug transport process. Factors affecting drug efficacy remain unclear.Rats were categorized into groups A and B, corresponding to adulthood and puberty, respectively. Group C included the model of chronic prostate infection. Dialysates of levofloxacin and cefradine were collected from the prostate gland and jugular vein and evaluated...

To observe developmental changes in the ovarian tissue structure and distribution characteristics of oestrogen receptors (ERs) in the ovaries of Huanghuai goats at different ages, we selected healthy Huanghuai goats ewes and divided them into five groups (i.e. 3-, 30-, 60-, 90- and 120-day-old groups), with 10 animals in each group. The serum was separated after blood collection through the jugular vein, and the contents of oestrogen (E) and progesterone (P) in the serum of Huanghuai goats at each age were determined...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Anopheles stephensi is responsible for the transmission of malaria in urban areas. Vector competence of An. stephensi from a non-malarious (Coimbatore) and highly malarious (Chennai) urban areas in Tamil Nadu state of India, was investigated to find the reason for non-transmission of malaria in Coimbatore. METHODS: Vector competence (susceptibility/refractoriness) of An. stephensi mosquitoes from Chennai (malarious) and Coimbatore (non-malarious) to Plasmodium vivax (Chennai) was investigated...

BACKGROUND: Tissue resident memory T (TRM ) cells are a T-cell subset that resides at the site of prior antigen recognition to protect the body against reoccurring encounters. Besides their protective function, TRM cells have also been implicated in inflammatory disorders. TRM cells are characterized by the expression of CD69 and transcription factors Hobit (homolog of Blimp-1 [B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein 1] in T cells) and Blimp-1. As the majority of T cells in the arterial intima expresses CD69, TRM cells may contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis as well...

BACKGROUND: Reconstructed epidermis models, obtained from 3D keratinocytes culture, have gained significant prominence as prototypes for safety and efficacy testing in skin research. To effectively evaluate these models, it is essential to perform molecular and functional characterization. The skin's barrier function is one of the essential aspects of the epidermis that needs to be assessed. A noninvasive method is thus required for the evaluation of the skin barrier in these models. With this perspective, the aim of this feasibility study is to apply the speckle technique for the assessment of the skin barrier in the Reconstructed Human Epidermis (RHE)...

The noncanonical NFκB signaling pathway mediates the biological functions of diverse cell survival, growth, maturation, and differentiation factors that are important for the development and maintenance of hematopoietic cells and immune organs. Its dysregulation is associated with a number of immune pathologies and malignancies. Originally described as the signaling pathway that controls the NFκB family member RelB, we now know that noncanonical signaling also controls NFκB RelA and cRel. Here, we aim to clarify our understanding of the molecular network that mediates noncanonical NFκB signaling and review the human diseases that result from a deficient or hyper-active noncanonical NFκB pathway...

Urothelium forms a distensible yet impermeable barrier, senses and transduces stimuli, and defends the urinary tract from mechanical, chemical and bacterial injuries. Biochemical and genetic labeling studies support the existence of one or more progenitor populations with the capacity to rapidly regenerate the urothelium following injury, but slow turnover, a low mitotic index, and inconsistent methodologies obscure progenitor identity. The progenitor properties of basal Keratin 5 urothelial cells (K5-UC) have been previously investigated, but those studies focused on embryonic or adult bladder urothelium...

Understanding the genetic basis of cortical bone traits can allow for the discovery of novel genes or biological pathways regulating bone health. Mice are the most widely used mammalian model for skeletal biology and allow for the quantification of traits that cannot easily be evaluated in humans, such as osteocyte lacunar morphology. The goal of our study was to investigate the effect of genetic diversity on multi-scale cortical bone traits of 3 long bones in skeletally-mature mice. We measured bone morphology, mechanical properties, material properties, lacunar morphology, and mineral composition of mouse bones from 2 populations of genetic diversity...