Preparation of Bispecific IgY-scFvs Inhibition Adherences of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (K88 and F18) to Porcine IPEC-J2 Cell.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains are significant contributors to postweaning diarrhea in piglets. Of the ETEC causing diarrhea, K88 and F18 accounted for 92.7%. Despite the prevalence of ETEC K88 and F18, there is currently no effective vaccine available due to the diversity of these strains. This study presents an innovative approach by isolating chicken-derived single-chain variable fragment antibodies (scFvs) specific to K88 and F18 fimbrial antigens from chickens immunized against these ETEC virulence factors. These scFvs effectively inhibited adhesion of K88 and F18 to porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2), with the inhibitory effect demonstrating a dose-dependent increase. Furthermore, a bispecific scFv was designed and expressed in Pichia pastoris. This engineered construct displayed remarkable potency; at a concentration of 25.08 µg, it significantly reduced the adhesion rate of ETEC strains to IPEC-J2 cells by 72.10% and 69.11% when challenged with either K88 or F18 alone. Even in the presence of both antigens, the adhesion rate was notably decreased by 57.92%. By targeting and impeding the initial adhesion step of ETEC pathogenesis, this antibody-based intervention holds promise as a potential alternative to antibiotics, thereby mitigating the risks associated with antibiotic resistance and residual drug contamination in livestock production. Overall, this study lays the groundwork for the development of innovative treatments against ETEC infections in piglets.

Brain mechanism of acupuncture for children with anisometropic amblyopia: a resting functional magnetic resonance imaging study based on voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity.

AIM: To explore the brain mechanism of acupuncture for children with anisometropic amblyopia using the voxel-mirror homotopic connectivity (VMHC) analysis method of resting functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) technology based on clinical effectiveness. METHODS: Eighty children with anisometropic monocular amblyopia were randomly divided into two groups: control (40 cases, 1 case of shedding) and acupuncture (40 cases, 1 case of shedding) groups. The control group was treated with glasses, red flash, grating, and visual stimulations, with each procedure conducted for 5min per time. Based on routine treatment, the acupuncture group underwent acupuncture of "regulating qi and unblocking meridians to bright eyes", Jingming (BL1), Cuanzhu (BL2), Guangming (GB37), Fengchi (GB20) acupoints were taken on both sides, with the needle kept for 30min each time. Both groups were treated once every other day, three times per week, for a total of 4wk. After the treatment, the overall curative effect of the two groups and the latency and amplitude changes of P100 wave of pattern visual-evoked potential were counted. At the same time, nine children with left eye amblyopia were randomly selected from the two groups and were scanned with rs-fMRI before and after treatment. The differences in the brain regions between the two groups were compared and analyzed with VMHC. RESULTS: Chi-square test showed a notable difference in the total efficiency rate between the acupuncture (94.87%) and control groups (79.49%). Regarding the P100 wave latency and amplitude, the acupuncture group had significantly shorter latency and higher amplitude of P100 wave than the control group. Moreover, the VMHC values of the bilateral temporal lobe, superior temporal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus were notably increased in the acupuncture group after treatment. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture combined with conventional treatment can significantly improve the corrected visual acuity and optic nerve conduction in children with anisometropic amblyopia. Compared with the conventional treatment, the regulation of acupuncture on the functional activities of the relevant brain areas in the anterior cerebellum may be an effective acupuncture mechanism for anisometropic amblyopia.

A new triboelectric nanogenerator based on a multi-material stacking structure achieves efficient power conversion from discrete mechanical movement.

Due to its invaluable potential in discrete mechanical energy collection, TENG (triboelectric nanogenerator) is considered to satisfy the power requirements of intelligent electronic devices and drive the development of the Internet of Things (IoT). Nowadays, the promotion of TENGs has been hindered due to the limitation of their output performance and service life. Herein, a brand new triboelectric nanogenerator based on a multi-material stacking structure is proposed. By stacking various triboelectric materials in a specific order, a special charge balance state could be achieved inside the system such that the conductive layer generates more induced charges, and the output performance is significantly enhanced. Besides, due to the usage of the electropositive elastomer PU (polyurethane sponge), the design also effectively alleviates abrasion on the contact surface and adjusts its own output according to different compression environments. The experimental results show that the stacked PTFE/FKM/PU TENG (PFP-TENG) presents a more than 50% increase in transferred charge and almost 5 times the current output compared with the general contact-separation type TENG. When connected to the application circuit, the maximum output power reached 10.2 W m-2 and 145.2 W m-3, and more than 1400 LEDs could be easily lit. Finally, the PFP-TENG was also used to collect mechanical energy from simple motion and realize considerable power generation. This study not only provides new ideas for the design of TENGs by reasoning the theoretical model but also presents improved output performance, thus exemplifying the strong potential of this design in developing a power-generation device that can collect discrete mechanical energy.