Abstract There is growing evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the mental health and professional identity of nursing students. This study aimed to explore the trajectories of psychological distress and professional identity and examine their causal relationship among graduate nursing students. A prospective longitudinal study was conducted with 556 graduate nursing students in China who were asked to complete the Questionnaires for Emergent Events of Public Health and the Professional Identity Questionnaire for Nursing Students at three timepoints during the pandemic (T1 = onset of the outbreak, T2 = state-wide isolation, T3 = school reopening). The results showed that psychological distress and psychological identity changed over time, with the lowest psychological distress and highest professional identity at T3. The cross-lagged analysis showed that professional identity at T1 and T2 negatively predicted psychological distress at T2 and T3. We concluded that nurse educators should develop programs and strategies to cultivate professional identity in graduate nursing education to improve mental health during public health crises.

Resumen: Cada vez hay más evidencia de que la reciente epidemia de que la COVID-19 puede afectar a la salud mental y la identidad profesional de los estudiantes de posgrado en enfermería. Es por ello que el propósito de este estudio fue explorar las trayectorias del estrés psicológico y la identidad ocupacional y examinar su relación causal de dichos estudiantes de posgrado durante la nueva epidemia. Se llevó a cabo un estudio prospectivo longitudinal con 556 estudiantes de posgrado en enfermería en China, a los que se les pidió que completaran los cuestionarios de emergencia de salud pública y el de identidad ocupacional para estudiantes de enfermería en tres etapas del brote (T1 = brote, T2 = aislamiento estatal, T3 = reapertura escolar). Los resultados mostraron que estrés psicológico y la identidad psicológica de los estudiantes universitarios habían cambiado con el tiempo. En T3, la perturbación emocional fue la más baja y la identidad ocupacional la más alta. El análisis de retraso cruzado mostró que la identidad ocupacional de T1 y T2 tenía un efecto predictivo negativo sobre la perturbación psicológica de T2 y T3. Conclusión: los educadores de enfermería deberían formular programas y estrategias que cultiven la identidad profesional de sus estudiantes a fin de mejorar la salud mental en emergencias públicas.

Abstract Wetting of metal droplet on the solid substrate is a fundamental phenomenon which is applicable to the surface chemistry. When an oscillation field is included in the wetting condition, the wetting process shows significant advancing and receding behaviors. Also, the use of ultrasonic oscillation field is promising in welding. However, some odd morphologies led by the ultrasonic-treatment have shown wetting kinetics which have not been fully investigated. The high frequency ultrasonic vibration brings hysteresis to the contact angle, whose extra energy is attributed by the oscillation field. The ultrasonic wetting process is excited by the 20 kHz frequency periodic oscillation, during which droplet is swaying cyclically. However, after capturing the transformation of droplet morphologies, it is found that the frequency of each swaying cycle is identified to be 180 ms. Theoretical investigations have also quantitively proved that the energy for the contact angle decrease origins from the ultrasonic field, and the wettability is in a great enhancement. Thermal and kinetic effects of ultrasonic are investigated by making theoretical calculations, the 20 kHz ultrasonic field lasting for 5 seconds. Thermodynamics, vibrational mechanics, and interfacial phenomena affect the sonochemistry of wetting.

Abstract This study explored effects of microbial preparation (MIP, developed by our research team) on production performance and body health of Boer goat to reveal the function of it in goat breeding industry. Compound yeast and enzyme preparation (CYP) was used to compare the function of MIP. Healthy male Boer goats (n = 15, BW = 25.31±4.06 kg) were allocated randomly into three groups as NC (Basal diet), MI (Basal diet + MIP) and CY (Basal diet + CYP). This study lasted for 71 days including 15 days for adaptation and 56 days for growth trial. Both MIP and CYP enhanced production performance such as average daily gain of goats, MIP enhanced the level of fat synthesis such as total cholesterol level significantly on day 28. As for rumen fermentation and microbial communities of goat, MIP decreased rumen pH. PCoA analysis showed that the rumen bacterial community on day 28 was significantly separated. In conclusion, MIP increased production performance, ameliorating rumen fermentation and shifting microflora. Our findings provide the evidence for the influence of probiotics on goat production performance as well as health condition.

Abstract As one of the most promising formulations for poorly water-soluble drugs, nanocrystals have been attracting increasing attention in recent years. Isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is a flavonoid with a chalcone structure, and possesses many biological activities. However, its clinical application is significantly limited mainly due to its low oral bioavailability caused by poor hydrophilicity. To address this, ISL nanocrystals were developed in this study to improve its oral bioavailability. Three types of nanocrystals with differing particle size; R1, R2, and R3, were prepared by anti- solvent precipitation or anti-solvent precipitation combined with sonication, which was optimized by single-factor experiments. These nanocrystals were characterized based on their physical properties, in vitro release, and in vivo absorption performance. The mean particle size of R1, R2, and R3 was 555.7, 271.0, and 46.2, respectively. The dissolution ratio of ISL in the nanocrystals was significantly improved, with the quickest rate recorded in R2. Peak concentration and area under the concentration-time curve of R2 after oral administration in rats was 5.83- and 2.72-fold higher than that of the ISL solution, respectively. These findings indicate that the dissolution and absorption of ISL can be significantly enhanced by nanocrystals, and the dissolution behavior and pharmacokinetic properties of nanocrystals is significantly influenced by particle size.

Abstract Background: Mast cells (MCs) have been found to play a critical role during development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that characterized by dysregulation of inflammation and impaired intestinal barrier function. However, the function of MCs in IBD remains to be fully elucidated. Results: In our study, we used exosomes isolated from human mast cells-1 (HMCs-1) to culture with NCM460, HT-29 or CaCO2 of intestinal epithelial cells (lECs) to investigate the communication between MCs and lECs. We found that MCs-derived exosomes significantly increased intestinal epithelial permeability and destroyed intestinal barrier function, which is attributed to exosome-mediated functional miRNAs were transferred from HMCs-1 into lECs, leading to inhibit tight junction-related proteins expression, including tight junction proteins 1 (TJP1, ZO-1), Occludin (OCLN), Claudin 8 (CLDN8). Microarray and bioinformatic analysis have further revealed that a panel of miRNAs target different tight junction-related proteins. Interestingly, miR-223 is enriched in mast cell-derived exosome, which inhibit CLDN8 expression in IECs, while treatment with miR-223 inhibitor in HT-29 cells significantly reversed the inhibitory effect of HMCs-1-derived exosomes on CLDN 8 expression. Most importantly, enrichment of MCs accumulation in intestinal mucosa of patients with IBD compared with those healthy control. Conclusions: These results indicated that enrichment of exosomal miR-223 from HMCs-1 inhibited CLDN8 expression, leading to destroy intestinal barrier function. These finding provided a novel insight of MCs as a new target for therapeutic treatment of IBD.

The experiment aimed to specifically monitor the passage of lactobacilli in vivo after oral administration. The green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene was cloned downstream from the constitutive p32 promoter from L. lactis subsp. cremoris Wg2. The recombinant expression vector, pLEM415-gfp-p32, was electroporated into Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) isolated from goat. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) was successfully expressed in L. plantarum. After 2 h post-administration, transformed Lactobacillus could be detectable in all luminal contents. In the rumen, bacteria concentration initially decreased, reached the minimum at 42 h post-oral administration and then increased. However, this concentration decreased constantly in the duodenum. This result indicated that L. plantarum could colonize in the rumen but not in the duodenum.

Background The objective of this study was to compare the level differences of mRNA transcription and protein expression of PPARγ, FAS and HSL in different parts of the carcass in different tail-type sheep. Six Tan sheep and six Shaanbei fine-wool sheep aged 9 months were slaughtered and samples were collected from the tail adipose, subcutaneous adipose, and longissimus dorsi muscle. The levels of mRNA transcription and protein expression of the target genes in these tissues were determined by real-time quantitative PCR and western blot analyses. Results The results showed that PPARγ, FAS, and HSL were expressed with spatial differences in tail adipose, subcutaneous adipose and longissimus dorsi muscle of Tan sheep and Shaanbei fine-wool sheep. Differences were also observed between the two breeds. The mRNA transcription levels of these genes were somewhat consistent with their protein expression levels. Conclusion The present results indicated that PPARγ, FAS and HSL are correlated with fat deposition, especially for the regulating of adipose deposition in intramuscular fat, and that the mRNA expression patterns are similar to the protein expression patterns. The mechanism requires clarification in further studies.

Background The objective of this study was to investigate proliferator-activated receptor (PPARγ), fatty acid synthase (FAS) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) mRNA and protein expression in fat tails of Tan sheep. Rams from different developmental stages (aged 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 months) were selected, and their tail measurements including length (L), width (W) and girth (G) were recorded. The mRNA and protein expressions of PPARγ, FAS and HSL were examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot. Results The tail measurements increased with age. We observed no significant differences (P > 0.05) of PPARγ mRNA expression between ages 9 and 15 months, and between 12 and 15 months; FAS mRNA expression levels at each developmental stage were observed significantly in Tan sheep (P < 0.05); HSL mRNA expression with no significant differences were only observed between 6 and 15 months (P > 0.05). Significant differences (P < 0.05) of PPARγ, FAS and HSL protein expressions at each developmental stage were observed in Tan sheep. Conclusion We observed that the mRNA expression patterns of PPARγ and FAS decreased first before they increased again and then this process repeated. Conversely, the mRNA expression patterns of HSL increased first before they decreased and then this process repeated. The protein expression patterns of PPARγ and FAS decreased first before they increased again and then this process repeated. Conversely, the protein expression pattern of HSL increased first before it decreased again and then increased again.