Explore the vast range of titles available.

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is parasomnia characterized by the loss of physiological muscle atonia during REM sleep, resulting in dream-enacting behaviors that often manifest as complex, violent motor activity. While RBD may occur idiopathically, it is frequently associated with neurodegenerative disorders, particularly α -synucleinopathies such as Parkinson’s disease. However, secondary RBD linked to acute cerebrovascular events remains poorly documented. Here, we present a novel case of acute pontine infarction precipitating RBD, highlighting the brainstem’s critical role in REM sleep regulation and expanding the spectrum of secondary RBD etiologies. This case report underscores the importance of neuroanatomical localization in evaluating acute-onset RBD, particularly in the context of cerebrovascular pathology.

Alternaria alternata is a critical phytopathogen that causes foodborne spoilage and produces a polyketide mycotoxin, alternariol (AOH), and its derivative, alternariol monomethyl ether (AME). In this study, the inhibitory effects of the essential oil citral on the fungal growth and mycotoxin production of A. alternata were evaluated. Our findings indicated that 0.25 μL/mL (222.5 μg/mL) of citral completely suppressed mycelial growth as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Moreover, the 1/2MIC of citral could inhibit more than 97% of the mycotoxin amount. Transcriptomic profiling was performed by comparative RNA-Seq analysis of A. alternata with or without citral treatment. Out of a total of 1334 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 621 up-regulated and 713 down-regulated genes were identified under citral stress conditions. Numerous DEGs for cell survival, involved in ribosome and nucleolus biogenesis, RNA processing and metabolic processes, and protein processing, were highly expressed in response to citral. However, a number of DEGs responsible for the metabolism of several carbohydrates and amino acids, sulfate and glutathione metabolism, the metabolism of xenobiotics and transporter activity were significantly more likely to be down-regulated. Citral induced the disturbance of cell integrity through the disorder of gene expression, which was further confirmed by the fact that exposure to citral caused irreversibly deleterious disruption of fungal spores and the inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis. Citral perturbed the balance of oxidative stress, which was likewise verified by a reduction of total antioxidative capacity. In addition, citral was able to modulate the down-regulation of mycotoxin biosynthetic genes, including pksI and omtI. The results provide new insights for exploring inhibitory mechanisms and indicate citral as a potential antifungal and antimytoxigenic alternative for cereal storage.

The development of cost-effective, robust, and durable electrocatalysts to replace the expensive Pt-based catalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the trending frontier research topic in renewable energy and electrocatalysis. Particular attention has been paid to metal-nitrogen-carbon (M-N-C) single atom catalysts (SACs) due to their maximized atom utilization efficiency, biomimetic active site, and distinct electronic structure. More importantly, their catalytic properties can be further tailored by rationally regulating the microenvironment of active sites (i.e., M–N coordination number, heteroatom doping and substitution. Herein, we present a comprehensive summary of the recent advancement in the microenvironment regulation of M-N-C SACs towards improved ORR performance. The coordination environment manipulation regarding central metal and coordinated atoms is first discussed, focusing on the structure—function relationship. Apart from the near-range coordination, long-range substrate modulation including heteroatom doping, defect engineering is discussed as well. Besides, the synergy mechanism of nanoparticles and single atom sites to tune the electron cloud density at the active sites is summarized. Finally, we provide the challenges and outlook of the development of M-N-C SACs.

Background Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) is a group of hereditary myopathies. This group of diseases is highly heterogeneous in terms of genetic mode, age at onset, and disease progression; therefore, they are easily misdiagnosed and missed in clinical practice. Case presentation We describe a case of adult late-onset LGMD R1/2A in a 56-year-old female patient. The patient experienced elevated creatine kinase levels lasting 5 years, muscle soreness of the limbs lasting 4 years, and exacerbation of limb fatigue lasting 1 month. Early in the course of the disease, the patient experienced severe bradycardia and was later diagnosed with sick sinus syndrome. In addition to cardiac involvement, our patient also had primary hyperparathyroidism during the disease course, which was confirmed pathologically as a parathyroid adenoma. A biopsy of the left biceps showed pathological manifestations of mild myogenic damage. All-exon gene sequencing confirmed the diagnosis of LGMD R1/2A, and she was treated with vitamin E, vitamin B2, and coenzyme Q. Due to atrial fibrillation secondary to sick sinus syndrome, a pacemaker was implanted. Conclusion The patient in this case study had adult late-onset LGMD R1/2A with cardiac involvement and functional parathyroid adenoma, which is rare and clinically significant. Therefore, early clinical identification, diagnosis, as well as targeted and active treatments can improve the prognosis of such patients.

Ochratoxin A (OTA), mainly produced by Aspergillus and Penicillum species, is one of the most important mycotoxin contaminants in agricultural products. It is detrimental to human health because of its nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, and immunosuppression. OTA structurally consists of adihydrocoumarin moiety linked with l-phenylalanine via an amide bond. OTA biosynthesis has been putatively hypothesized, although several contradictions exist on some processes of the biosynthetic pathway. We discuss recent information on molecular studies of OTA biosynthesis despite insufficient genetic background in detail. Accordingly, genetic regulation has also been explored with regard to the interaction between the regulators and the environmental factors. In this review, we focus on three aspects of OTA: OTA-producing strains, OTA biosynthetic pathway and the regulation mechanisms of OTA production. This can pave the way to assist in protecting food and feed from OTA contamination by understanding OTA biosynthetic pathway and regulatory mechanisms.

Procyanidins are the oligomeric or polymeric forms of epicatechin and catechin. In this study, we isolated and purified dimer to tetramer procyanidins from black soybean seed coat and investigated the anti-hyperglycemic effects by focusing on glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) translocation and the underlying molecular mechanism in skeletal muscle of mice. The anti-hyperglycemic effects of procyanidins were also compared with those of monomer (-)-epicatechin (EC) and major anthocyanin, cyanidin-3-O-β-glucoside (C3G). To investigate GLUT4 translocation and its related signaling pathways, ICR mice were orally given procyanidins, EC and C3G in water at 10 μg/kg body weight. The mice were sacrificed 60 min after the dose of polyphenols, and soleus muscle was extracted from the hind legs. The results showed that trimeric and tetrameric procyanidins activated both insulin- and AMPK-signaling pathways to induce GLUT4 translocation in muscle of ICR mice. We confirmed that procyanidins suppressed acute hyperglycemia with an oral glucose tolerance test in a dose-dependent manner. Of these beneficial effects, cinnamtannin A2, one of the tetramers, was the most effective. In conclusion, procyanidins, especially cinnamtannin A2, significantly ameliorate postprandial hyperglycemia at least in part by promoting GLUT4 translocation to the plasma membrane by activating both insulin- and AMPK-signaling pathways.

This paper presents a flapping airflow energy harvester based on oscillations of a horizontal cantilever beam facing the direction of airflow. A wing is attached to the free end of a cantilever beam and a bluff body is placed in front of the wing from where vortex falls off, producing vortices under the wing and driving it to oscillate. An electromagnetic transducer is integrated to convert the flow induced vibration into electrical energy. This flapping energy harvester, however, may stop oscillating or vibrate in the second mode under high electrical damping, and thus may be unable to achieve its optimum performance. Simple yet effective mechanical interventions can be applied to the harvester to enhance its power output, i.e., to increase flow velocity and to apply external magnetic interaction. The effect of airflow velocities on output power was investigated experimentally and the results show that the energy harvester scavenges more power in airflow at higher Reynolds numbers (higher flow velocity at R e < 24,000). The external magnetic excitation is achieved though placing one magnet to the wing and another one above the wing to induce a repelling force, aiding the beam to oscillate in high electrical damping. Experimental results show that the power output can be enhanced by 30% when the magnet interaction is properly integrated.

Alternaria alternata is an important phytopathogen causing fruit black rot and also producing a variety of mycotoxins, such as alternariol (AOH) and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) as two main contaminants. This could lead to economic losses of agricultural products as well as human health risks. In this study, magnolol extracted from the traditional Chinese herb, Mangnolia officinalis, exhibited an obvious antifungal property and could completely suppress the mycelial growth at 100 μM. Morphological differences of A. alternata were observed to be significantly shrunk and wrinkled after the exposure to magnolol. Furthermore, AOH and AME were no longer produced in response to 50 μM of magnolol. To uncover the antifungal and antimycotoxigenic mechanisms, the transcriptomic profiles of A. alternata—treated with or without magnolol—were evaluated. The clustered genes responsible for AOH and AME biosynthesis were obviously less transcribed under magnolol stress and this was further confirmed by qRT-PCR. The global regulators of carbon and nitrogen utilization, such as CreA and NmrA, were significantly down-regulated and this possibly caused the reduction in mycotoxins. In addition, fatty acid β-oxidation was regarded to contribute to polyketide mycotoxin production for the supply of precursor acetyl-CoA while the expression of these related genes was inhibited. The response to magnolol led to the marked alteration of oxidative stress and the down-expression of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway from the transcriptome data and the determination of peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) assays. This above might be the very reason for the growth supression and mycotoxin production of A. alternata by magnolol. This study provides new insights into its potential as an important active ingredient for the control of A. alternata and its mycotoxins in fruits and their products.

The current optogenetic toolkit lacks a robust single-component Ca 2+ -selective ion channel tailored for remote control of Ca 2+ signaling in mammals. Existing tools are either derived from engineered channelrhodopsin variants without strict Ca 2+ selectivity or based on the stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) that might crosstalk with other targets. Here, we describe the design of a light-operated Ca 2+ channel (designated LOCa) by inserting a plant-derived photosensory module into the intracellular loop of an engineered ORAI1 channel. LOCa displays biophysical features reminiscent of the ORAI1 channel, which enables precise optical control over Ca 2+ signals and hallmark Ca 2+ -dependent physiological responses. Furthermore, we demonstrate the use of LOCa to modulate aberrant hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal, transcriptional programming, cell suicide, as well as neurodegeneration in a Drosophila model of amyloidosis. Existing optogenetic methods to induce calcium mobilisation lack selectivity and specificity. Here, the authors design and engineer a single-component light-operated calcium channel to provide optical control over calcium signals and calcium-dependent physiological responses: LOCa.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) show therapeutic potential for ischemia in young-adult animals. However, the effect of aging on NSC therapy is largely unknown. In this work, NSCs were transplanted into aged (24-month-old) and young-adult (3-month-old) rats at 1 day after stroke. Infarct volume and neurobehavioral outcomes were examined. The number of differentiated NSCs was compared in aged and young-adult ischemic rats and angiogenesis and neurogenesis were also determined. We found that aged rats developed larger infarcts than young-adult rats after ischemia (P<0.05). The neurobehavioral outcome was also worse for aged rats comparing with young-adult rats. Brain infarction and neurologic deficits were attenuated after NSC transplantation in both aged and young-adult rats. The number of survived NSCs in aged rats was similar to that of the young-adult rats (P>0.05) and most of them were differentiated into glial fibrillary acidic protein+ (GFAP+) cells. More importantly, angiogenesis and neurogenesis were greatly enhanced in both aged and young-adult rats after transplantation compared with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) control (P<0.05), accompanied by increased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Our results showed that NSC therapy reduced ischemic brain injury, along with increased angiogenesis and neurogenesis in aged rats, suggesting that aging-related microenvironment does not preclude a beneficial response to NSCs transplantation during cerebral ischemia.