as monocyte count increased in HS compared to PFTN (P less then 0.04) but did not differ from TN and likely linked to altered feed intake. CAPS-SUC increased basophil count (P less then 0.02), irrespective of environment. Ileal villus height tended to decrease during HS and PFTN compared to TN (P less then 0.08), indicating an effect of intake. Overall, CAPS-SUC supplementation increased pig feed efficiency and may improve immune response. selleck products © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail [email protected] Muscle strength and brain volume decline with aging; changes in the brain manifested as change in volume may play a role in age-related strength loss, but this hypothesis has never been tested longitudinally. We examined longitudinal associations between brain volume changes and knee extension peak torque change in participants of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. METHODS Brain volumes and isokinetic concentric knee extension peak torque at 30 deg/sec were measured in 678 participants (55.2% women; baseline age, 50.1-97.2 years; median follow-up time in those who visited two or more times (n = 375), 4.0 [IQR, 2.3 - 5.0] years). Correlations between longitudinal changes in brain volumes and knee extension peak torque were examined using bivariate linear mixed-effects models, adjusted for baseline age, sex, race, education, and intracranial volume. RESULTS Greater decline in muscle strength was associated with greater atrophies in global gray matter, temporal lobe, frontal gray matter, temporal gray matter, superior frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, and occipital pole (r ranging from 0.30 to 0.77, p less then 0.05). After multiple comparison adjustment, only larger decrease in middle temporal gyrus remained significantly related to larger decrease in muscle strength (q = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS In older adults, declines in knee extension muscle strength co-occurred with atrophies in frontal, temporal and occipital gray matter. These findings support the idea that age-related knee extension muscle strength is linked with atrophy in some specific brain regions related to motor control. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America 2020. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.Persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) endovascular infections represent a significant clinical-therapeutic challenge. Of particular concern is antibiotic treatment failure in infections caused by MRSA that are 'susceptible' to antibiotic in vitro. In the current study, we investigate specific purine biosynthetic pathways and stringent response mechanism(s) related to this life-threatening syndrome using genetic matched persistent and resolving MRSA clinical bacteremia isolates (PB; RB, respectively), and isogenic MRSA strain sets. We demonstrate that PB isolates (vs. RB isolates) have significantly higher (p)ppGpp production, phenol-soluble-modulin expression, polymorphonuclear leukocyte lysis and survival, fibronectin /endothelial cells (ECs) adherence, and ECs damage. Importantly, an isogenic strain set, including JE2 parental, relP-mutant and -complemented strains, translated the above findings into significant outcome differences in an experimental endocarditis model. These observations indicate a significant regulation of purine biosynthesis on stringent response, and suggest the existence of a previously unknown adaptive genetic mechanism in persistent MRSA infection. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail [email protected] To assess the extent of familial aggregation of non-medullary thyroid cancer (NMTC) and the relative risks (RRs) of chronic thyroid diseases and common malignancies in first-degree relatives of NMTC patients. METHODS In the National Health Insurance Research database of Taiwan, all eligible individuals in 2016 were analyzed (n = 23,696,659) and the family structures of 38,686 patients diagnosed with NMTC between 1997 and 2016 were identified. The prevalence and RRs of NMTC, chronic thyroid diseases, and common malignancies in individuals with first-degree relatives with NMTC were examined. The accountability of heritability and environmental factors to NMTC susceptibility was estimated using the polygenic liability model. RESULTS The prevalence of NMTC was 0.16% in the general population and 0.64% in individuals with first-degree relatives with NMTC. Regarding affected relatives, the RR (95% confidence interval) for NMTC was 20.12 (4.86-83.29) for twins, 6.43 (4.80-8.62) for siblings, 5.24 (4.55-6.03) for offspring, 5.07 (4.41-5.81) for parents, and 2.07 (1.53-2.81) for spouses. The estimated genetic, common environmental, and non-shared environmental contributions to NMTC was 28.0%, 14.3%, and 57.7%, respectively. A family history of NMTC was associated with higher risks of thyroid nodules (RR, 2.26; 95% CI, 2.18-2.35), Hashimoto's thyroiditis (2.11; 1.89-2.36), Graves' disease (1.49; 1.42-1.57), lung cancer (1.56; 1.32-1.85), and leukemia and lymphoma (1.24; 1.03-1.50). CONCLUSION Our findings demonstrate the importance of genetic and environmental contributions to NMTC susceptibility and highlight the coaggregation of chronic thyroid diseases and multiple malignancies with NMTC. © Endocrine Society 2020. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail [email protected] roots are the major organs that take up water and dissolved nutrients. It has been widely shown that apoplastic barriers such as Casparian bands and the suberin lamellae in the endo- and exodermis of roots have an important effect on regulating radial water and nutrient transport. Furthermore, it has been described that silicon can promote plant growth and survival under different conditions. However, the potential effects of silicon on the formation and structure of apoplastic barriers are discussed controversially so far. A delayed, as well as an enhanced suberization of root apoplastic barriers with silicon has been described in the literature. Here we (i) review the effects of silicon on the formation of suberized apoplastic barriers in roots, and (ii) we present results of own experiments on barley seminal roots and the effect of Si treatment on the formation of endodermal suberized barriers under control conditions, and when exposed to osmotic stress. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.