Amidst increasing concern about antibiotic resistance resulting from the overuse of antibiotics, there is a growing interest in exploring alternative agents. One such agent is citric acid, an organic compound commonly used for various applications. Our research findings indicate that the inclusion of citric acid can have several beneficial effects on the tight junctions found in the mouse intestine. Firstly, the study suggests that citric acid may contribute to weight gain by stimulating the growth of intestinal epithelial cells (IE-6). Citric acid enhances the small intestinal villus–crypt ratio in mice, thereby promoting intestinal structural morphology. Additionally, citric acid has been found to increase the population of beneficial intestinal microorganisms, including Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. It also promotes the expression of important protein genes such as occludin, ZO-1, and claudin-1, which play crucial roles in maintaining the integrity of the tight junction barrier in the intestines. Furthermore, in infected IEC-6 cells with H9N2 avian influenza virus, citric acid augmented the expression of genes closely associated with the influenza virus infection. Moreover, it reduces the inflammatory response caused by the viral infection and thwarted influenza virus replication. These findings suggest that citric acid fortifies the intestinal tight junction barrier, inhibits the replication of influenza viruses targeting the intestinal tract, and boosts intestinal immune function.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are critical regulators of various biological processes, yet their roles in chicken host-virus interactions remain largely unknown. This study investigated the impact of influenza A virus (IAV) H9N2 infection on the expression of two lncRNAs, Lnc9101 and Lnc8475, and the regulatory roles of these lncRNAs in the innate immune response. The results demonstrated that the expression of both lncRNAs were significantly upregulated in H9N2-infected chickens and could be induced by viral genomic RNA, poly (I:C) or LPS. Disruption of Lnc9101 expression in DF-1 cells enhanced the IAV replication, while its overexpression suppressed it. Conversely, Lnc8475 had the opposite effect on the IAV replication compared with Lnc9101. Silencing Lnc8475 expression in DF-1 cells attenuated IAV replication, while its overexpression promoted viral replication. Furthermore, we found that both lncRNAs regulated the expression of type I and type III interferons (IFNs), thereby affecting multiple interferon-stimulating genes (ISGs) expression and STAT1 activation upon IAV infection. Moreover, Lnc9101 knockdown impaired the expression of TLR7 and MDA5 and reduced IRF7 phosphorylation, whereas Lnc8475 knockdown promoted the expression of TLR3 and TLR7. In summary, Lnc9101 inhibits IAV replication by positively regulating the innate immune response, whereas Lnc8475 promotes IAV replication by suppressing it. These findings suggest that LncRNA9101 and Lnc8475 play important roles in pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)-dependent innate immune signaling and antiviral responses, advancing a better understanding of lncRNA functioning in chickens.

With the continuous development and progress of network science and technology, virtual reality technology has been accelerated into the field of education. Intelligent Q&A is integrated with virtual technology to create a virtual classroom in this paper. In the process of constructing the virtual classroom, the most crucial terrain modeling is completed using image drawing technology, and the general framework of the virtual classroom is obtained. BERT matches the possible statements in the Q&A system, starting with text recognition. The hypotheses related to the virtual scene are proposed. The validity of the hypotheses is verified, and the effect of using the teaching system is analyzed from three aspects, namely, learning satisfaction, professional course grades, and lecture effect. The results showed that the perceived usefulness of the teaching system had the most significant impact on student’s attitudes toward its use, with a regression coefficient of 0.6452 and a p-value of less than 0.01, and the hypotheses were all valid. The head-up rates of students in the two majors were 56.4061% and 70.2056%, respectively, which ranged from 50% to 75%. The evaluation grade was “good,” and the overall performance of the simulation teaching system was good.