Molecular Methods Used for the Identification of Potentially Probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri Strains

Forty potentially probiotic Lactobacillus strains as well as reference strains of different genera were grown under standardised conditions. Cell masses were harvested and DNA was isolated. For identification, all strains were subjected to genus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the affiliation with the genus Lactobacillus was confirmed for all isolates. Using two species-specific primer-pairs for Lactobacillus reuteri, specific amplicons were observed for eight of the forty investigated strains. For differentiation, these eight strains as well as the reference strains of the species L. reuteri and closely related species were subjected to randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR using fourteen arbitrary primers. Two selected strains as well as probiotic and common reference strains were further investigated applying pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). With the latter two methods, individual profiles were found for most strains, but no difference between probiotic and common strains could be made out

Molecular Methods Used for the Identification of Potentially Probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri Strains

Forty potentially probiotic Lactobacillus strains as well as reference strains of different genera were grown under standardised conditions. Cell masses were harvested and DNA was isolated. For identification, all strains were subjected to genus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the affiliation with the genus Lactobacillus was confirmed for all isolates. Using two species-specific primer-pairs for Lactobacillus reuteri, specific amplicons were observed for eight of the forty investigated strains. For differentiation, these eight strains as well as the reference strains of the species L. reuteri and closely related species were subjected to randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR using fourteen arbitrary primers. Two selected strains as well as probiotic and common reference strains were further investigated applying pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). With the latter two methods, individual profiles were found for most strains, but no difference between probiotic and common strains could be made out

Exploring the biophysical option space for feeding the world without deforestation

Safeguarding the world’s remaining forests is a high priority goal. We assess the biophysical option space for feeding the world in 2050 in a hypothetical zero deforestation world. We systematically combine realistic assumptions on future yields, agricultural areas, livestock feed and human diets. For each scenario, we determine whether the supply of crop products meets the demand and whether the grazing intensity stays within plausible limits. We find that many options exist to meet the global food supply in 2050 without deforestation, even at low crop-yield levels. Within the option space, individual scenarios differ greatly in terms of biomass harvest, cropland demand and grazing intensity, depending primarily on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of human diets. Grazing constraints strongly limit the option space. Without the option to encroach into natural or semi-natural land, trade volumes will rise in scenarios with globally converging diets, thereby decreasing the food self-sufficiency of many developing regions

The influence of age, gender and socio-economic status on multimorbidity patterns in primary care. first results from the multicare cohort study

Background: Multimorbidity is a phenomenon with high burden and high prevalence in the elderly. Our previous research has shown that multimorbidity can be divided into the multimorbidity patterns of 1) anxiety, depression, somatoform disorders (ADS) and pain, and 2) cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. However, it is not yet known, how these patterns are influenced by patient characteristics. The objective of this paper is to analyze the association of socio-demographic variables, and especially socio-economic status with multimorbidity in general and with each multimorbidity pattern. Methods: The MultiCare Cohort Study is a multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study of 3.189 multimorbid patients aged 65+ randomly selected from 158 GP practices. Data were collected in GP interviews and comprehensive patient interviews. Missing values have been imputed by hot deck imputation based on Gower distance in morbidity and other variables. The association of patient characteristics with the number of chronic conditions is analysed by multilevel mixed-effects linear regression analyses. Results: Multimorbidity in general is associated with age (+0.07 chronic conditions per year), gender (-0.27 conditions for female), education (-0.26 conditions for medium and -0.29 conditions for high level vs. low level) and income (-0.27 conditions per logarithmic unit). The pattern of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders shows comparable associations with a higher coefficient for gender (-1.29 conditions for female), while multimorbidity within the pattern of ADS and pain correlates with gender (+0.79 conditions for female), but not with age or socioeconomic status. Conclusions: Our study confirms that the morbidity load of multimorbid patients is associated with age, gender and the socioeconomic status of the patients, but there were no effects of living arrangements and marital status. We could also show that the influence of patient characteristics is dependent on the multimorbidity pattern concerned, i.e. there seem to be at least two types of elderly multimorbid patients. First, there are patients with mainly cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, who are more often male, have an older age and a lower socio-economic status. Second, there are patients mainly with ADS and pain-related morbidity, who are more often female and equally distributed across age and socio-economic groups

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Exploring the option space for land system futures at regional to global scales: The diagnostic agro-food, land use and greenhouse gas emission model BioBaM-GHG 2.0

Close to 40% of Earth's land area is used for agriculture to provide humankind with plant- and animal-based food, fibers or bioenergy. Future trends in agricultural land use, livestock husbandry and associated environmental pressures are determined by developments in the food sector, agricultural productivity, technology, and many other influencing factors. Scenario analysis helps to understand their complex interaction and obtain quantitative insight. We here present an in-depth description of the agricultural land use model BioBaM-GHG 2.0 (“BioBaM”), designed for evaluating large numbers of agricultural and livestock production scenarios assembled on the basis of exogenous assumptions on food systems, crop yields and other factors. BioBaM determines the feasibility of specific parameter combinations and the corresponding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural activities, livestock husbandry, land-use change and other activities. We provide a description of the software environment, the model's data structures, input and output variables and model algorithms. To illustrate the model's capabilities and the scope of model applications, we describe two exemplary studies performed with BioBaM: We assess implications of agro-ecological innovations and the feasibility of their widespread application in order to illustrate their implications in terms of agricultural self-sufficiency and GHG emissions. This first case study aligns a small number of individual scenarios with qualitative storylines. We also showcase a ”biophysical option space approach”, which represents a comprehensive sensitivity analysis regarding the multidimensional uncertainties inherent to main influencing parameters, i.e. projections for diets and yields; assumptions on cropland use for bioenergy, and regarding grassland intensification. The global potential of forest regeneration for climate change mitigation serves as an example for this second approach. The option space comprises 90 scenarios and encompasses the full range of literature estimates on GHG mitigation from afforestation in 2050 (0.5 – 7 Gt CO2/yr). It further shows that the potential is zero under certain diet-yield-combinations. Assuming zero energy crop cultivation and global convergence to a healthy reference diet, the sequestration potential of afforestation rises to 10 Gt CO2/yr in 2050. These exemplary applications illustrate how option spaces developed with BioBaM can complement scenario-based assessments that usually focus on small numbers of individual scenarios: Option spaces shift attention to a wider scope of conceivable futures and thus support a comprehensive view on systemic relations and dependencies, whereas analyses with few scenarios allow apprehension of much more detailed scenario narratives and qualifications

Estimation de la distribution des concentrations minimales inhibitrices d'antibiotiques pour des souches sauvages au sein du groupe Lactobacillus delbrueckii

Determination of antimicrobial wild-type minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) distributions is a prerequisite before differentiating susceptible bacteria from bacteria with acquired resistance. The antimicrobial susceptibility was determined for 190 strains of eight species of the Lactobacillus delbrueckii group. These were L. acidophilus, L. amylovorus, L. crispatus, L. delbrueckii, L. helveticus, L. gallinarum, L. gasseri and L. johnsonii. For most antimicrobial agents a clear distinction between susceptible and resistant bacteria was observed. Tetracycline resistance was abundant among L. johnsonii and L. amylovorus strains isolated from animals, while the L. delbrueckii and L. helveticus strains isolated from dairy products, and L. gasseri isolated from humans, rarely contained acquired resistance.La détermination de la distribution des concentrations minimales inhibitrices d'antibiotiques sur des souches sauvages est un préalable pour différencier les bactéries sensibles de celles qui ont acquis une résistance. La sensibilité aux antibiotiques a été déterminée chez 190 souches de 8 espèces du groupe Lactobacillus delbrueckii  : L. acidophilus, L. amylovorus, L. crispatus, L. delbrueckii, L. helveticus, L. gallinarum, L. gasseri et L. johnsonii. Pour la plupart des antibiotiques, une distinction claire entre bactéries sensibles et bactéries résistantes était observée. La résistance à la tétracycline était abondante parmi les souches de L. johnsonii et de L. amylovorus isolées d'animaux, alors que la résistance acquise des souches de L. delbrueckii et L. helveticus isolées de produits laitiers, et de L. gasseri isolées d'humains, était rare