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Microplastics, which are tiny plastic particles less than 5 mm in diameter, are widely present in the environment, have become a serious threat to aquatic life and human health, potentially causing ecosystem disorders and health problems. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of microplastics, specifically microplastics-polystyrene (MPs-PS), on the structural integrity, gene expression related to tight junctions, and gut microbiota in mice. A total of 24 Kunming mice aged 30 days were randomly assigned into four groups: control male (CM), control female (CF), PS-exposed male (PSM), and PS-exposed female (PSF)(n = 6). There were significant differences in villus height, width, intestinal surface area, and villus height to crypt depth ratio (V/C) between the PS group and the control group(C) (p <0.05). Gene expression analysis demonstrated the downregulation of Claudin-1, Claudin-2, Claudin-15, and Occludin, in both duodenum and jejunum of the PS group (p < 0.05). Analysis of microbial species using 16S rRNA sequencing indicated decreased diversity in the PSF group, as well as reduced diversity in the PSM group at various taxonomic levels. Beta diversity analysis showed a significant difference in gut microbiota distribution between the PS-exposed and C groups (R2 = 0.113, p<0.01), with this difference being more pronounced among females exposed to MPs-PS. KEGG analysis revealed enrichment of differential microbiota mainly involved in seven signaling pathways, such as nucleotide metabolism(p<0.05). The relative abundance ratio of transcriptional pathways was significantly increased for the PSF group (p<0.01), while excretory system pathways were for PSM group(p<0.05). Overall findings suggest that MPs-PS exhibit a notable sex-dependent impact on mouse gut microbiota, with a stronger effect observed among females; reduced expression of tight junction genes may be associated with dysbiosis, particularly elevated levels of Prevotellaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karyotyping requires chromosome instances to be segmented and classified from the metaphase images. One of the difficulties in chromosome segmentation is that the chromosomes are randomly positioned in the image, and there is a great chance for chromosomes to be touched or overlap with others. It is always much easier for operators and automatic programs to tackle images without overlapping chromosomes than ones with largely overlapped chromosomes. In order to reduce the processing difficulty, adding a smart image selection procedure ahead of segmentation is practical and necessary. In this paper, we introduce the Smart Karyotyping Image Selection (SKIS) based on Commonsense Knowledge Reasoning. The initial experiment demonstrates that the proposed approach can select the expected images based on reasoning and benefit following karyotyping processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Mitochondria‐associated membranes (MAMs) serve pivotal functions in hepatic insulin resistance (IR). Our aim was to explore the potential role of MAMs in mitigating hepatic IR through exercise and to compare the effects of different intensities of exercise on hepatic MAMs formation in high‐fat diet (HFD) mice. Methods: Male C57BL/6J mice were fed an HFD and randomly assigned to undergo supervised high‐intensity interval training (HIIT) or moderate‐intensity continuous training (MICT). IR was evaluated using the serum triglyceride/high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL‐C), glucose tolerance test (GTT), and insulin tolerance test (ITT). Hepatic steatosis was observed using hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) and oil red O staining. The phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase/protein kinase B/glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (PI3K‐AKT‐GSK3β) signaling pathway was assessed to determine hepatic IR. MAMs were evaluated through immunofluorescence (colocalization of voltage‐dependent anion‐selective channel 1 [VDAC1] and inositol 1,4,5‐triphosphate receptor [IP3R]). Results: After 8 weeks on an HFD, there was notable inhibition of the hepatic PI3K/Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway, accompanied by a marked reduction in hepatic IP3R‐VDAC1 colocalization levels. Both 8‐week HIIT and MICT significantly enhanced the hepatic PI3K/Akt/GSK3β signaling and colocalization levels of IP3R‐VDAC1 in HFD mice, with MICT exhibiting a stronger effect on hepatic MAMs formation. Furthermore, the colocalization of hepatic IP3R‐VDAC1 positively correlated with the expression levels of phosphorylation of protein kinase B (p‐AKT) and phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (p‐GSK3β), while displaying a negative correlation with serum triglyceride/high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Conclusion: The reduction in hepatic MAMs formation induced by HFD correlates with the development of hepatic IR. Both HIIT and MICT effectively bolster hepatic MAMs formation in HFD mice, with MICT demonstrating superior efficacy. Thus, MAMs might wield a pivotal role in exercise‐induced alleviation of hepatic IR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), caused by Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic virus (CCHFV), is listed in the World Health Organization's list of priority diseases. The high fatality rate in humans, the widespread distribution of CCHFV, and the lack of approved specific vaccines are the primary concerns regarding this disease. We used microfluidic technology to optimize the mRNA vaccine delivery system and demonstrated that vaccination with nucleoside-modified CCHFV mRNA vaccines encoding GnNSmGc (vLMs), Gn (vLMn), or Gc (vLMc) induced different immune responses. We found that both T-cell and B-cell immune responses induced by vLMc were better than those induced by vLMn. Interestingly, immune responses were found to be lower for vLMs, which employed NSm to link Gn and Gc for non-fusion expression, compared to those for vLMc. In conclusion, our results indicated that NSm could be a factor that leads to decreased specific immune responses in the host and should be avoided in the development of CCHFV vaccine antigens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]