Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and Bifidobacterium longum BB536 on the healthy gut microbiota composition at phyla and species level: a preliminary study

AIM: To evaluate the ability of Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and Bifidobacterium longum BB536 to colonize the intestinal environment of healthy subjects and modify the gut microbiota composition. METHODS: Twenty healthy Italian volunteers, eight males and twelve females, participated in the study. Ten subjects took a sachet containing 4 × 109 colony-forming units (CFU) of Bifidobacterium longum BB536 and 109 CFU of Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001, 30 min before breakfast (pre-prandial administration), while ten subjects took a sachet of probiotic product 30 min after breakfast (post-prandial administration). The ability of Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and Bifidobacterium longum BB536 to colonize human gut microbiota was assessed by means of quantitative real-time PCR, while changes in gut microbiota composition were detected by using Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine. RESULTS: Immediately after 1-mo of probiotic administration, B. longum BB536 and L. rhamnosus HN001 load was increased in the majority of subjects in both pre-prandial and post-prandial groups. This increase was found also 1 mo after the end of probiotic oral intake in both groups, if compared to samples collected before probiotic consumption. At phyla level a significant decrease in Firmicutes abundance was detected immediately after 1-mo of B. longum BB536 and L. rhamnosus HN001 oral intake. This reduction persisted up to 1 mo after the end of probiotic oral intake together with a significant decrease of Proteobacteria abundance if compared to samples collected before probiotic administration. Whereas, at species level, a higher abundance of Blautia producta, Blautia wexlerae and Haemophilus ducrey was observed, together with a reduction of Holdemania filiformis, Escherichia vulneris, Gemmiger formicilis and Streptococcus sinensis abundance. In addition, during follow-up period we observed a further reduction in Escherichia vulneris and Gemmiger formicilis, together with a decrease in Roseburia faecis and Ruminococcus gnavus abundance. Conversely, the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila was increased if compared to samples collected at the beginning of the experimental time course. CONCLUSION: B. longum BB536 and L. rhamnosus HN001 showed the ability to modulate the gut microbiota composition, leading to a significant reduction of potentially harmful bacteria and an increase of beneficial ones. Further studies are needed to better understand the specific mechanisms involved in gut microbiota modulation

A Dog with Pseudo-Addison Disease Associated with Trichuris vulpis Infection

A female Rottweiler dog was presented with a history of intermittent vomiting and diarrhoea, dysorexia, weakness, and weight loss. Haemocytometry and biochemistry values were within normal ranges except for electrolyte analyses, that demonstrated hyponatremia and hyperkalemia with a decreased sodium/potassium ratio. A diagnosis of hypoadrenocorticism was suspected. Basal and post-ACTH stimulation cortisolemia were within the normal values. Electrocardiography was normal, and thoracic radiography showed no significant modifications. On abdominal ultrasonography, adrenal glands appeared normal, while the bowel was distended, and several thin linear hyperechoic objects floating in the lumen were observed. Two adult female whipworms (Trichuris vulpis) were collected following bowel irrigation. Anthelmintic treatment against the parasite was curative

Entangling quantum and classical states of light

Entanglement between quantum and classical objects is of special interest in the context of fundamental studies of quantum mechanics and potential applications to quantum information processing. In quantum optics, single photons are treated as light quanta while coherent states are considered the most classical among all pure states. Recently, entanglement between a single photon and a coherent state in a free-traveling field was identified to be a useful resource for optical quantum information processing. However, it was pointed out to be extremely difficult to generate such states since it requires a clean cross-Kerr nonlinear interaction. Here, we devise and experimentally demonstrate a scheme to generate such hybrid entanglement by implementing a coherent superposition of two distinct quantum operations. The generated states clearly show entanglement between the two different types of states. Our work opens a way to generate hybrid entanglement of a larger size and to develop efficient quantum information processing using such a new type of qubits.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

A tale of two hemispheres: Norwegian and Australian approaches to national resilience. A comparative analysis

Paper conducts a comparative analysis of two different national approaches to national resilience in an attempt to identify useful considerations and recommendations for Poland: two models chosen were the Norwegian Total Defence Concept (TDC) and Australia’s National Disaster Response and Resilience approach. They were selected due to their different areas of focus: the Norwegian model is centred on societal mobilisation and its military enablement with the primary purpose of national defence against conventional military and hybrid threats, while the Australian approach is still focused on enhancing national resilience in order to respond to major natural calamities. By examining both models and extrapolating their strengths while noting their vulnerabilities, the basis for a well-rounded national resilience strategy can be identified. While the TDC appears to best suit Poland’s current security challenges, the country would benefit from enhancing its comprehensive local engagement, perhaps through its Territorial Defence Forces. Caution should be exercised with regards to over-committing the Polish military in its support to disaster response at a time when the nation’s eastern flank is once again highly volatile

Individual Differences in the Recognition of Enjoyment Smiles: No Role for Perceptual–Attentional Factors and Autistic-Like Traits

Adults show remarkable individual variation in the ability to detect felt enjoyment in smiles based on the Duchenne marker (Action Unit 6). It has been hypothesized that perceptual and attentional factors (possibly correlated to autistic-like personality traits in the normative range) play a major role in determining individual differences in recognition performance. Here, this hypothesis was tested in a sample of 100 young adults. Eye-tracking methodology was employed to assess patterns of visual attention during a smile recognition task. Results indicate that neither perceptual–attentional factors nor autistic-like personality traits contribute appreciably to individual differences in smile recognition

Commentario breve allo statuto del lavoro autonomo e del lavoro agile

Il volume nasce come primo, approfondito commento alla legge 22 maggio 2017, n. 81, nota alle cronache quale “Statuto del Lavoro Autonomo e del Lavoro Agile”, o, ancora, quale “Jobs Act degli Autonomi”. Invero, la l. n. 81 del 2017 presenta tratti di indiscutibile innovatività rispetto al suo predecessore (il Jobs Act, appunto), indirizzandosi verso un’area, quella del lavoro autonomo tout court, sempre più diffusa nel tessuto occupazionale, non ultimo nell’ambito dei c.d. “nuovi lavori”, legati ai modelli della c.d. “Industry 4.0” e della c.d. “economia delle piattaforme”, al cui esame è dedicata la prima parte del Volume. In rottura con il passato e coerentemente con l’emersione di un lavoro autonomo “di seconda generazione”, il legislatore si è orientato, non già alla tradizionale logica ed azione repressiva dell’utilizzo del lavoro indipendente in chiave fraudolenta (ossia quale mera alternativa “sottocosto” al lavoro subordinato), quanto al riconoscimento a favore dei lavoratori genuinamente autonomi di un corredo di tutele mutuato in parte dal diritto dei contratti e in parte dal diritto del lavoro, oltre ad una serie di garanzie ulteriori sul piano previdenziale e del mercato del lavoro, delle quali viene dato ampiamente conto nella seconda parte del Volume. Al tempo stesso, l’attenzione dei policy makers verso il lavoro autonomo non significa affatto il tramonto del lavoro subordinato quale forma privilegiata di impiego, come dimostra la contestuale promozione del lavoro agile (oggetto di analisi nella terza parte del Volume), inteso quale modalità di esecuzione del rapporto di lavoro subordinato, in larga parte affidata all’accordo tra le parti ed avente lo scopo di rispondere, tanto alle esigenze del datore di lavoro di incremento della produttività, quanto alle aspettative del lavoratore di conciliazione dei tempi di vita e di lavoro. In sintesi, l’opera, che si avvale del fondamentale apporto di autorevoli voci della dottrina lavorista e di operatori di primo piano, in particolare magistrati e avvocati, offre al lettore una panoramica completa e pluralista della l. 22 maggio 2017, n. 81, con la principale finalità di ricondurre l’ulteriore riforma del mercato del lavoro italiano ad una logica di sistema