Is Continuous Heart Rate Monitoring of Livestock a Dream or Is It Realistic? A Review.

For all homoeothermic living organisms, heart rate (HR) is a core variable to control the metabolic energy production in the body, which is crucial to realize essential bodily functions. Consequently, HR monitoring is becoming increasingly important in research of farm animals, not only for production efficiency, but also for animal welfare. Real-time HR monitoring for humans has become feasible though there are still shortcomings for continuously accurate measuring. This paper is an effort to estimate whether it is realistic to get a continuous HR sensor for livestock that can be used for long term monitoring. The review provides the reported techniques to monitor HR of living organisms by emphasizing their principles, advantages, and drawbacks. Various properties and capabilities of these techniques are compared to check the potential to transfer the mostly adequate sensor technology of humans to livestock in term of application. Based upon this review, we conclude that the photoplethysmographic (PPG) technique seems feasible for implementation in livestock. Therefore, we present the contributions to overcome challenges to evolve to better solutions. Our study indicates that it is realistic today to develop a PPG sensor able to be integrated into an ear tag for mid-sized and larger farm animals for continuously and accurately monitoring their HRs.

Directional induction of neural stem cells, a new therapy for neurodegenerative diseases and ischemic stroke.

Due to the limited capacity of the adult mammalian brain to self-repair and regenerate, neurological diseases, especially neurodegenerative disorders and stroke, characterized by irreversible cellular damage are often considered as refractory diseases. Neural stem cells (NSCs) play a unique role in the treatment of neurological diseases for their abilities to self-renew and form different neural lineage cells, such as neurons and glial cells. With the increasing understanding of neurodevelopment and advances in stem cell technology, NSCs can be obtained from different sources and directed to differentiate into a specific neural lineage cell phenotype purposefully, making it possible to replace specific cells lost in some neurological diseases, which provides new approaches to treat neurodegenerative diseases as well as stroke. In this review, we outline the advances in generating several neuronal lineage subtypes from different sources of NSCs. We further summarize the therapeutic effects and possible therapeutic mechanisms of these fated specific NSCs in neurological disease models, with special emphasis on Parkinson's disease and ischemic stroke. Finally, from the perspective of clinical translation, we compare the strengths and weaknesses of different sources of NSCs and different methods of directed differentiation, and propose future research directions for directed differentiation of NSCs in regenerative medicine.

Environmental Enrichment for Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury: Mechanisms and Translational Implications.

Acquired brain injuries, such as ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and traumatic brain injury (TBI), can cause severe neurologic damage and even death. Unfortunately, currently, there are no effective and safe treatments to reduce the high disability and mortality rates associated with these brain injuries. However, environmental enrichment (EE) is an emerging approach to treating and rehabilitating acquired brain injuries by promoting motor, sensory, and social stimulation. Multiple preclinical studies have shown that EE benefits functional recovery, including improved motor and cognitive function and psychological benefits mediated by complex protective signaling pathways. This article provides an overview of the enriched environment protocols used in animal models of ischemic stroke, ICH, and TBI, as well as relevant clinical studies, with a particular focus on ischemic stroke. Additionally, we explored studies of animals with stroke and TBI exposed to EE alone or in combination with multiple drugs and other rehabilitation modalities. Finally, we discuss the potential clinical applications of EE in future brain rehabilitation therapy and the molecular and cellular changes caused by EE in rodents with stroke or TBI. This article aims to advance preclinical and clinical research on EE rehabilitation therapy for acquired brain injury. © 2024 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 14:5291-5323, 2024.