Significant Increase Research Articles

Alterations in CD4+ T Cell Cytokines Profile in Female Patients with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis Following Vitamin D Supplementation: A Double-blind, Randomized Clinical Trial.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the destruction of thyroid cells through immune processes involving T helper (Th)1 cytokines. This clinical trial investigates the impact of vitamin D supplementation on serum cytokine levels and gene expression in CD4+ T cells from HT patients, aiming to understand its effects on Th-1, Th-2, Th-17, and regulatory T (Treg) cell-associated factors. Female patients were randomly assigned in a double-blind design to either a vitamin D-supplemented group, which received cholecalciferol (1, 25(OH)2D3) at a dose of 50,000 IU, or the placebo group, which received a weekly placebo for a duration of three months. Serum cytokine levels were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while genes' expression levels were measured using real-time PCR. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and levels exhibited a significant increase following vitamin D supplementation, in comparison to the placebo group. Additionally, the vitamin D supplementation resulted in a significant elevation of serum calcium (Ca) levels compared to baseline. In the vitamin D group, there was a significant decrease in both serum levels and expression of the interleukin (IL)-17 gene when compared to baseline, although no statistical difference was observed between the placebo and vitamin D groups. The gene expression of transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) was significantly increased in the vitamin D group compared to baseline, with no significant difference between the two study groups. Vitamin D treatment had no effect on serum levels of interferon-gamma (IFNϒ) and IL-4. While the gene expression of IL-4 in the vitamin D group did not exhibit a statistically significant increase, the level of GATA3 transcription factor increased significantly when compared to the placebo group. The expression of IFNϒ and transcription factors, T-bet, RORc, and forkhead box protein 3 (FOXP3) in genes did not show significant changes following vitamin D supplementation. The findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation may hold potential benefits for autoimmune diseases, such as HT. However, further longitudinal clinical trials are necessary to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the specific effects of vitamin D on HT.

Biochar Amendment and its Impacts on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Sustainable Agriculture

Introduction: Biochar application and research have experienced a significant increase in recent decades. It can produce different kinds of organic materials, and it can be employed for different purposes, such as soil conditioning, carbon sequestration and filtration of pollutants from gas and aqueous media. Biochar is a C-rich material, which can be obtained from different types of organic feedstock, such as animal manure, sewage sludge, wood and crop residues and other organic waste. It is also considered an environmentally friendly and resource-saving approach in medicinal and aromatic plants production. Biochar can lead to plant growth improvement and influence on chemical components of medicinal plants, stimulate the growth of soil microflora, increase soil carbonsequestration, bioremediation of soil, regulate carbon fluxes between atmosphere and biosphere, reduce biotic stress in plants, improve soil nutrient availability, decrease abiotic stress in plants, wastewater treatment, immobilization and sorption of soil heavy metal contaminants. Methods: Relevant literature has been obtained using the keywords “biochar”, “organic amendment”, “soil quality”, “medicinal Plants”, “natural products”, “soil quality”, “macronutrient”, and “chemical components” in scientific databases, such as “PubMed”, “SciFinder”, “Elsevier”, and “Web of Science”. Results: The aim of this literature review is to study the impact of different kinds of biochars on medicinal and aromatic plants, soil quality and soil fertility by considering case studies of successful paradigms. Conclusion: Conclusively, we consider our review article will provide an appropriate guide for practitioners and researchers for future studies as well as large-scale field applications.

Does the Duty of Rescue support a moral obligation to vaccinate? Seasonal influenza and the Institutional Duty of Rescue

Seasonal influenza poses a significant public health risk in many countries worldwide. Lower immunity and less influenza virus circulating during the pandemic has resulted in a significant increase in cases...

Loan-Level Disclosure and the Convenience Yield of Asset-Backed Securities

ABSTRACT We examine the impact of transparency on the convenience yield of AAA-rated asset-backed security (ABS) tranches. AAA tranches of ABS are commonly held by investors to manage financial liquidity and therefore enjoy a price premium beyond what is determined solely by the expected monetary payoff (i.e., convenience yield). The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires ABS issuers to provide monthly disclosures about the performance of the underlying individual loans for ABS issued after November 23, 2016 to improve transparency. We document that AAA tranches of ABS experience a significant increase in price volatility after the loan-level disclosure mandate. As a result, the use of these tranches as collateral for short-term funding and their convenience yield decrease significantly after the increased disclosure. Our collective evidence highlights an important unintended consequence of increased transparency in the ABS market; it diminishes the pledgeability of long-term safe assets. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: G14; G23; M48.

The Perception and Use of Dexmedetomidine Among Anesthesia Providers: A Quality Improvement Project

PurposeIntraoperative opioid use is associated with postoperative nausea and vomiting, respiratory depression, and persistent postoperative pain, all of which contribute to increased length of stay and health care costs. Although research shows adding dexmedetomidine as an adjunct leads to reduced opioid-related postoperative complications, many anesthesia providers are not using this medication. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase the use of dexmedetomidine among anesthesia providers to improve outcomes among spinal and orthopedic surgery patients. DesignQuality improvement study. MethodsThe project consisted of a preimplementation retrospective chart review, a preimplementation staff survey, the implementation of an anesthesia training bundle, a postimplementation staff survey, and a postimplementation retrospective chart review. The team provided ongoing support for the use of dexmedetomidine with resource flyers, a recorded presentation, and provider support. FindingsPreimplementation surveys indicated staff readiness for change and identified the lack of availability of dexmedetomidine within the operating rooms as the barrier to use. After receiving education, staff requested dexmedetomidine to be stocked within every operating room. Utilization increased by 67% after the implementation of the anesthesia training bundle. ConclusionsWhile there was no significant change in opioid-related complications as is found in the literature, the project education and support led to anesthesia provider interest in using dexmedetomidine, resulting in a significant increase in use. Similar projects should include education for postanesthesia care nurses.

Montelukast Ameliorates Scopolamine-induced Alzheimer's Disease: Role on Cholinergic Neurotransmission, Antioxidant Defence System, Neuroinflammation and Expression of BDNF.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an overwhelming neurodegenerative disease with progressive loss of memory. AD is characterized by the deposition of the senile plaques mainly composed of β-amyloid (Aβ) fragment, BDNF decline, Cholinergic system overactivity and neuroinflammation. Montelukast (MTK), a leukotriene receptor antagonist, showed astounding neuroprotective effects in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders. This study aims to investigate the ameliorative effects of Montelukast in the scopolamineinduced Alzheimer's disease (AD) model in rats and evaluate its activity against neuroinflammation. Thirty rats were split into five groups: Control group (1 mL/kg normal saline, i.p.), Montelukast perse (10 mg/kg, i.p.), Disease group treated with Scopolamine (3 mg/kg, i.p.), Donepezil group (3 mg/kg, i.p.), Montelukast treatment group (10 mg/kg, i.p.) and behavioural and biochemical tests were carried out to assess the neuro protective effect. Scopolamine treatment led to a significant reduction in learning and memory and an elevation in cholinesterase levels when compared with the control group (p < 0.01). Additionally, elevated oxidative stress and Amyloid-β levels were associated with enhanced neuroinflammation (p < 0.05, p < 0.01). Furthermore, the decline in neurotrophic factor BDNF is also observed when compared with the normal control group (p < 0.01). Montelukast pre-treatment significantly attenuated learning and memory impairment and cholinesterase levels. Besides, Montelukast and standard drug donepezil administration significantly suppressed the oxidative stress markers (p < 0.01), Amyloid-β levels, neuroinflammatory mediators (p < 0.05) and caused a significant increase in BDNF levels (p < 0.05). Montelukast bestowed ameliorative effects in scopolamine-induced AD animal models as per the previous studies via attenuation of memory impairment, cholinesterase neurotransmission, oxidative stress, Amyloid-β levels, neuroinflammatory mediators and enhanced BDNF levels.

Automatic Learning Rate Adaption for Memristive Deep Learning Systems.

As a possible device to further enhance the performance of the hybrid complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology in the hardware, the memristor has attracted widespread attention in implementing efficient and compact deep learning (DL) systems. In this study, an automatic learning rate tuning method for memristive DL systems is presented. Memristive devices are utilized to adjust the adaptive learning rate in deep neural networks (DNNs). The speed of the learning rate adaptation process is fast at first and then becomes slow, which consist of the memristance or conductance adjustment process of the memristors. As a result, no manual tuning of learning rates is required in the adaptive back propagation (BP) algorithm. While cycle-to-cycle and device-to-device variations could be a significant issue in memristive DL systems, the proposed method appears robust to noisy gradients, various architectures, and different datasets. Moreover, fuzzy control methods for adaptive learning are presented for pattern recognition, such that the over-fitting issue can be well addressed. To our best knowledge, this is the first memristive DL system using an adaptive learning rate for image recognition. Another highlight of the presented memristive adaptive DL system is that quantized neural network architecture is utilized, and there is therefore a significant increase in the training efficiency, without the loss of testing accuracy.

Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery: A Bibliometric Analysis and Literature Review.

Drug discovery is a complex and iterative process, making it ideal for using artificial intelligence (AI). This paper uses a bibliometric approach to reveal AI's trend and underlying structure in drug discovery (AIDD). A total of 4310 journal articles and reviews indexed in Scopus were analyzed, revealing that AIDD has been rapidly growing over the past two decades, with a significant increase after 2017. The United States, China, and the United Kingdom were the leading countries in research output, with academic institutions, particularly the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Cambridge, being the most productive. In addition, industrial companies, including both pharmaceutical and high-tech ones, also made significant contributions. Additionally, this paper thoroughly discussed the evolution and research frontiers of AIDD, which were uncovered through co-occurrence analyses of keywords using VOSviewer. Our findings highlight that AIDD is an interdisciplinary and promising research field that has the potential to revolutionize drug discovery. The comprehensive overview provided here will be of significant interest to researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers in related fields. The results emphasize the need for continued investment and collaboration in AIDD to accelerate drug discovery, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes.

SULF1 Activates the VEGFR2/PI3K/AKT Pathway to Promote the Development of Cervical Cancer.

Sulfatase 1 (SULF1) can regulate the binding of numerous signaling molecules by removing 6-O-sulfate from heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) to affect numerous physiological and pathological processes. Our research aimed to investigate the effect of the SULF1-mediated VEGFR2/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway on tumorigenesis and development of cervical cancer (CC). The expression and prognostic values of SULF1 in patients with CC were analyzed through bioinformatics analysis, qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, and western blot. The function and regulatory mechanism of SULF1 in proliferation, migration, and invasion of cervical cancer cells were examined through lentivirus transduction, CCK8, flow cytometry analysis, plate colony formation assay, scratch assay, transwell assay, western blot, VEGFR2 inhibitor (Ki8751), and mouse models. SULF1 expression was significantly upregulated in CC tissues, which was significantly associated with poor prognosis of patients with CC. In vitro, the upregulation of SULF1 expression in HeLa cells promoted cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion while inhibiting apoptosis. Conversely, the downregulation of SULF1 expression had the opposite effect. In vivo, the upregulation of SULF1 expression resulted in a significant increase in both tumor growth and angiogenesis, while its downregulation had the opposite effect. Furthermore, western blot detection and cell function rescue assay confirmed that the upregulation of SULF1 in HeLa cells promoted the tumorigenic behaviors of cancer cells by activating the VEGFR2/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. SULF1 plays an oncogenic role in the tumorigenesis and development of CC, indicating its potential as a novel molecular target for gene-targeted therapy in patients with CC.

Residual inflammatory risk predicts long-term outcomes following stenting for symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis

Background and purposeResidual inflammatory risk (RIR) can predict the unfavourable outcomes in patients with minor ischaemic stroke. However, the impact of preprocedural RIR on long-term outcomes in patients with symptomatic...

Analysis of heart rate variability during emergency flight simulator missions in fighter pilots

IntroductionManaging emergency situations in different simulated flight segments can entail a workload that could affect the performance of military pilots. The aim was to analyse the modifications in neurovegetative balance...

Bietti’s crystalline dystrophy: genotyping and deep qualitative and quantitative phenotyping in preparation for clinical trials

PurposeTo qualitatively and quantitatively characterise the genotypes and phenotypes of Bietti’s crystalline dystrophy (BCD) in a cohort of patients.DesignCross-sectional and observational study.MethodsClinically confirmed BCD patients were recruited for genotyping and...

Effect of Red Blood Cell Transfusion on Central Venous-to-Arterial Carbon Dioxide Difference in Anemic Surgical Patients – A Pilot Study

Background: Biochemical markers for monitoring adequacy of cardiac output and tissue perfusion such as blood lactate and central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) are meanwhile well established in clinical routine. In addition, in recent years, the central venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide difference (dCO2) has been evaluated as a further marker, and studies meanwhile have demonstrated the validity of an increased dCO2 to identify capillary perfusion mismatches. However, results from animal studies suggest that dCO2 may be influenced by altered hemoglobin values during severe bleeding. It was the aim of our study to evaluate if dCO2 changes upon Red Blood Cell (RBC) transfusion in humans. Methods: Patients of the ongoing LIBERAL trial were prospectively evaluated. Participants were aged ≥70 years and scheduled for elective intermediate or high risk orthopedic or trauma surgery with the clinical need for invasive blood pressure monitoring and central venous catheterization. During surgery, drop of hemoglobin triggered administration of one single RBC unit, together with arterial and central venous blood analysis immediately before as well as after transfusion. Results: In total, 46 patients were analyzed. Baseline median hemoglobin before RBC transfusion was 8.35 (7.48–8.73)g/dl, while dCO2 was 6.2 (3.4–9.6)mmHg. According to Spearman correlation, there was a linear association between pre-transfusion dCO2 and ScvO2. Transfusion of one RBC unit resulted in a significant increase of median hemoglobin by 1.2 (0.7–1.63)g/dl (p&lt;0.0001), and hemoglobin increase was more pronounced when pre-transfusion hemoglobin was low, as evidenced by a significant negative association between both parameters (r=-0.61, p &lt;0.0001). Neither lactate nor ScvO2 nor dCO2 were significantly influenced by transfusion. When the whole cohort was divided according to pre-transfusion dCO2 levels using a cut-off value of 6 mmHg, median dCO2 decreased significantly more pronounced following RBC transfusion when pre-transfusion values were high (&gt;6 mmHg), compared to those patients with a pre-transfusion dCO2 below 6 mmHg. Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that crude dCO2 is not influenced by moderate hemoglobin increases in orthopedic and trauma surgery patients. However, including dCO2 into the decision whether to administer RBC or not may be an interesting reasonable approach for further investigations on the way towards more individualized transfusion regimens.

The Deep-Match Framework: R-Peak Detection in Ear-ECG.

The Ear-ECG provides a continuous Lead I like electrocardiogram (ECG) by measuring the potential difference related to heart activity by electrodes which are embedded within earphones. However, the significant increase in wearability and comfort enabled by Ear-ECG is often accompanied by a degradation in signal quality - an obstacle that is shared by the majority of wearable technologies. We aim to resolve this issue by introducing a Deep Matched Filter (Deep-MF) for the highly accurate detection of R-peaks in wearable ECG, thus enhancing the utility of Ear-ECG in real-world scenarios. The Deep-MF consists of an encoder stage, partially initialised with an ECG template, and an R-peak classifier stage. Through its operation as a Matched Filter, the encoder searches for matches with an ECG template in the input signal, prior to filtering these matches with the subsequent convolutional layers and selecting peaks corresponding to the ground-truth ECG. The latent representation of R-peak information is then fed into a R-peak classifier, of which the output provides precise R-peak locations. The proposed Deep Matched Filter is evaluated using leave-one-subject-out cross-validation over 36 subjects with an age range of 18-75, with the Deep-MF outperforming existing algorithms for R-peak detection in noisy ECG. The Deep-MF achieves a median R-peak recall of 94.9% and a median precision of 91.2% across subjects when evaluated with leave-one-subject-out cross validation. Overall, this Deep-Match framework serves as a valuable step forward for the real-world functionality of Ear-ECG and, through its interpretable operation, the acceptance of deep learning models in e-Health.

Sentenced to shame: Moral injury exposure in former lifers.

A significant increase in the release of individuals who served life sentences (i.e., lifers) in California has created the opportunity to study aspects of their psychological wellness for the first time. Moral injury may be a particularly relevant factor to consider in this population but has not been previously studied. This study is the first to explore the concept of moral injury within a currently or formerly incarcerated population. Former lifers currently in reentry in California (N = 41) completed a survey that measured their moral injury exposure (MIE), MIE-related guilt, MIE-related shame, MIE-related rumination, religiosity, attempts at making amends, and flourishing. As expected, a high rate of lifetime MIEs was endorsed (97.6%). Events linked to life sentence crimes (75.6%) and time in prison (56.1%) were very common. Lower levels of MIE-related shame (r = -.58, p < .01) and higher levels of religiosity (r = .35, p < .05) were significantly associated with greater flourishing. By contrast, degree of MIE exposure, MIE-related guilt, and MIE-related rumination, and making amends were all weakly associated with flourishing. Our results highlight that MIE is pervasive in this population and extends beyond life sentence crimes. Moreover, our findings suggest that it is lifers' self-concept following MIEs that appears to affect well-being upon release, rather than the extent and nature of moral injury exposure. Further research exploring moral injury in incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations is needed to improve their well-being and chances of successful reentry. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Articulate Chemotherapeutic Strategies for the Development of Effective Drugs against a Fatal Disease, Visceral Leishmaniasis.

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) control relies mainly on chemotherapy in the absence of no effective vaccines. However, available anti-VL drugs are limited in number, having toxicity issues, adverse reactions, low efficacy, and resistance observed against antileishmanial. A significant decrease in efficacy (~tenfold increase in dosage and duration) was reported against the usual treatment with Pentavalent antimonials (the most recommended antileishmanial drug discovered 90 years ago). Amphotericin B is the second line of treatment but limits wider use due to its high cost. Pentamidine is another anti-VL drug, but its therapeutic efficacy has decreased significantly in different areas. These conventional therapeutics for VL have become almost outdated due to a significant increase in therapeutic failure in terms of percentage. Due to this, the search for an effective future anti-VL drug spans several decades, and now it is in high demand in the current situation. Some conventional therapeutics are modified, but they are also not satisfactory. Therefore, this article aimed to discuss conventional and modified therapeutics while emphasizing innovative chemotherapeutic measures against VL that could speed up the slow pace of antileishmanial drugs and overcome the drug resistance problem in the future.

Effect of Experience and Professional Role on Psychophysiological Stress Response in an Underwater Evacuation Training

Background: This research aimed to analyze the effect of experience and professional role on psychophysiological stress response in underwater evacuation training. Methods: We analyzed 36 participants (39.06±9.01 years), divided into two different groups; 17 crew members (38.6±7.2 years) and 19 medical members (39.5±10.5 years). modifications in the rating of perceived exertion, subjective stress perception, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, cortical arousal, heart rate variability, spirometry, isometric hand strength, and short-term memory before and after underwater evacuation training were analyzed. Results: The maneuver produced a significant increase in SSP, RPE, IHS, FVC, and SatO2 at different moments of the intervention, being higher in crew members. Conclusions: We found that the underwater evacuation training produced an anticipatory anxiety response, and an increase in autonomous sympathetic nervous system modulation not affecting strength capacities, cortical arousal, and memory independently of the aircraft role (medical or crew).

The Efficacy of a Mental Skills Training Course for Collegiate Athletes.

Psychological skills training improves performance in athletes. However, authors of few studies have looked at the efficacy and satisfaction of mental skills training programs for collegiate athletes. To evaluate the satisfaction of collegiate athletes with a 6-session mental skills course and to assess changes in mental toughness and coping skills before and after the course. Cohort study. Division I collegiate athletic teams. Fifty-four Division I female athletes (mean age = 19.8 years) participated in the program, and 42 (77.7%) completed precourse assessments, which subsequent evaluations were matched to. The Athletic Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI; range, 0-84) and Mental Toughness Index (MTI; range, 8-56) assessed coping skills and mental toughness precourse, immediately postcourse, and 4 months postcourse. Satisfaction was assessed on a 10-point scale. For participants with paired precourse and immediately postcourse data (n = 37, 68.5%), MTI scores improved by a mean 2.6 points (95% CI = 1.1, 4.1; P = .001), and ACSI scores improved by a mean 4.0 points (95% CI = 0.6, 7.4; P = .02). At the 4-month follow-up (n = 25, 46.2%), no change was detected from precourse in mean MTI score (P = .72), but a significant increase of 3.4 points in mean ACSI (95% CI = 0.4, 6.4; P = .03) occurred. Overall satisfaction had a median score of 9/10 (interquartile range, 8-10) at postcourse, and 18 participants (48.6%) shared positive free-text comments regarding course delivery, content, and impact. No negative feedback was reported. Mental toughness and coping skills scores significantly improved at postcourse assessment, with coping skills scores maintaining their effect at 4 months. The improvements identified spark the question of the potential impact of mental skills training programs when studied in larger athlete populations or over more sustained periods of time. Athletes reported being highly satisfied with course content and reported overall positive experiences.

Computational Drug Discovery in Diaphragm Dysfunction via Text Mining and Biomedical Database.

The diaphragm, which is crucial for ventilation, is the primary muscle responsible for inspiration. Patients with severe burns who experience diaphragmatic dysfunction have an increased risk of mortality. Unfortunately, there are currently no effective medications available to prevent or treat this condition. The objective of our study is to utilize bioinformatics to identify potential genes and drugs associated with diaphragmatic dysfunction. In this study, text-mining techniques were utilized to identify genes associated with diaphragmatic dysfunction and recovery. Common genes were then analyzed using GO and KEGG pathway analysis, as well as protein-protein interaction network analysis. The obtained hub genes were processed using Cytoscape software, and their expression levels in diaphragmatic dysfunction were validated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in severe burn rats. Genes that were confirmed were then examined in drug-gene interaction databases to identify potential drugs associated with these genes. Our analysis revealed 96 genes that were common to both the "diaphragm dysfunction" and "functional recovery" text mining concepts. Gene enrichment analysis identified 19 genes representing 10 pathways. qRT-PCR showed a significant increase in expression levels of 13 genes, including CCL2, CCL3, CD4, EGF, HGF, IFNG, IGF1, IL17A, IL6, LEP, PTGS2, TGFB1, and TNF, in samples with diaphragmatic dysfunction. Additionally, we found that a total of 56 drugs targeted 5 potential genes. These findings provide new insights into the development of more effective drugs for treating diaphragmatic dysfunction and also present substantial opportunities for researching new target pharmacology and promoting drugs in the pharmaceutical industry.

Altered Morpho-Functional Features of Neurogenesis in Zebrafish Embryos Exposed to Non-Combustion-Derived Magnetite.

Neurogenesis is the process by which new brain cells are formed. This crucial event emerges during embryonic life and proceeds in adulthood, and it could be influenced by environmental pollution. Non-combustion-derived magnetite represents a portion of the coarse particulate matter (PM) contributing to air and water pollution in urban settings. Studies on humans have reported that magnetite and other iron oxides have significant damaging effects at a central level, where these particles accumulate and promote oxidative stress. Similarly, magnetite nanoparticles can cross the placenta and damage the embryo brain during development, but the impact on neurogenesis is still unknown. Furthermore, an abnormal Fe cation concentration in cells and tissues might promote reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and has been associated with multiple neurodegenerative conditions. In the present study, we used zebrafish as an in vivo system to analyze the specific effects of magnetite on embryonic neurogenesis. First, we characterized magnetite using mineralogical and spectroscopic analyses. Embryos treated with magnetite at sub-lethal concentrations showed a dose-response increase in ROS in the brain, which was accompanied by a massive decrease in antioxidant genes (sod2, cat, gsr, and nrf2). In addition, a higher number of apoptotic cells was observed in embryos treated with magnetite. Next, interestingly, embryos exposed to magnetite displayed a decrease in neural staminal progenitors (nestin, sox2, and pcna markers) and a neuronal marker (elavl3). Finally, we observed significative increases in apoeb (specific microglia marker) and interleukin-1b (il1b), confirming a status of inflammation in the brain embryos treated with magnetite. Our study represents the very first in vivo evidence concerning the effects of magnetite on brain development.