Investigating the collaborative process of subtitles creation and sharing for videos on the Web

In this paper we concentrate on the study of the collaborative practices of enthusiasts that create and share subtitles for third party videos. Based on preliminary results from interviews with some volunteers, we formalize the subtitles creation and sharing process using a business process management model and compare it with other collaborative and crowdsourcing models. We expect that our initial observations can bring a new understanding of the process and, thus, help in the design of next generation video enriching tools

Why do people subtitle movies? A survey research of the subtitler motivations and practices

In this paper we investigate the reasons why enthusiasts dedicate time and effort to create subtitles for third-party videos shared on-line. Based on results obtained from a survey research with a community of Brazilian subtitlers, we highlight basic features of these enthusiasts as well as their motivations and main objectives. Our observations suggest that this is a volunteering and collaborative activity after all.CNPq (#312148/2014-3); FAPES (#67927378/2015

Specific signatures of the gut microbiota and increased levels of butyrate in children treated with fermented cow's milk containing heat-killed Lactobacillus paracasei CBA L74

We recently demonstrated that cow's milk fermented with the probiotic L.paracasei CBA L74 (FM-CBAL74) reduces the incidence of respiratory and gastrointestinal tract infections in young children attending school. This effect apparently derives from a complex regulation of non-immune and immune protective mechanisms. We investigated wheter FM-CBAL74 could regulate gut microbiota composition and butyrate production.We randomly selected 20 healthy children (12-48 months) from the previous randomized controlled trial, before (t0) and after 3 months (t3) of dietary treatment with FM-CBAL74 (FM), or placebo (PL). Fecal microbiota was profiled using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and fecal butyrate concentration was also measured. Microbial alpha and beta-diversity were not significantly different between groups prior to treatment. FM-CBAL74 but not PL treatment increased the relative abundance of Lactobacillus. Individual Blautia, Roseburia and Faecalibacterium oligotypes were associated to FM-CBAL74 treatment and demonstrated correlative associations with immune biomarkers. Accordingly, PICRUSt analysis predicted an increase in the proportion of genes involved in butyrate production pathways, consistent with an increase in fecal butyrate observed only in the FM group. Dietary supplementation with FM-CBAL74 induces specific signatures in gut microbiota composition and stimulates butyrate production. These effects are associated with changes in innate and acquired immunity.Importance: The use of a fermented milk product containing the heat-killed probiotic strain L.paracasei CBAL74 induces changes in the gut microbiota, promoting the development of butyrate-producers. These changes in the gut microbiota composition correlate with increased levels of innate and acquired immunity biomarkers

Gut microbiota composition and butyrate production in children affected by non-IgE-mediated cow’s milk allergy

Cow’s milk allergy (CMA) is one of the earliest and most common food allergy and can be elicited by both IgE- or non-IgE-mediated mechanism. We previously described dysbiosis in children with IgE-mediated CMA and the effect of dietary treatment with extensively hydrolyzed casein formula (EHCF) alone or in combination with the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG). On the contrary, the gut microbiota in non-IgE-mediated CMA remains uncharacterized. In this study we evaluated gut microbiota composition and fecal butyrate levels in children affected by non-IgE-mediated CMA. We found a gut microbiota dysbiosis in non-IgE-mediated CMA, driven by an enrichment of Bacteroides and Alistipes. Comparing these results with those previously obtained in children with IgE-mediated CMA, we demonstrated overlapping signatures in the gut microbiota dysbiosis of non-IgE-mediated and IgE-mediated CMA children, characterized by a progressive increase in Bacteroides from healthy to IgE-mediated CMA patients. EHCF containg LGG was more strongly associated with an effect on dysbiosis and on butyrate production if compared to what observed in children treated with EHCF alone. If longitudinal cohort studies in children with CMA will confirm these results, gut microbiota dysbiosis could be a relevant target for innovative therapeutic strategies in children with non-IgE-mediated CMA

Clinical characteristics of patients with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis carrying the pathogenic GGGGCC hexanucleotide repeat expansion of C9ORF72

A large hexanucleotide (GGGGCC) repeat expansion in the first intron of C9ORF72, a gene located on chromosome 9p21, has been recently reported to be responsible for similar to 40% of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases of European ancestry. The aim of the current article was to describe the phenotype of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases carrying the expansion by providing a detailed clinical description of affected cases from representative multi-generational kindreds, and by analysing the age of onset, gender ratio and survival in a large cohort of patients with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We collected DNA and analysed phenotype data for 141 index Italian familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases (21 of Sardinian ancestry) and 41 German index familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases. Pathogenic repeat expansions were detected in 45 (37.5%) patients from mainland Italy, 12 (57.1%) patients of Sardinian ancestry and nine (22.0%) of the 41 German index familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases. The disease was maternally transmitted in 27 (49.1%) pedigrees and paternally transmitted in 28 (50.9%) pedigrees (P = non-significant). On average, children developed disease 7.0 years earlier than their parents [children: 55.8 years (standard deviation 7.9), parents: 62.8 (standard deviation 10.9); P = 0.003]. Parental phenotype influenced the type of clinical symptoms manifested by the child: of the 13 cases where the affected parent had an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-frontotemporal dementia or frontotemporal dementia, the affected child also developed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-frontotemporal dementia in nine cases. When compared with patients carrying mutations of other amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-related genes, those with C9ORF72 expansion had commonly a bulbar onset (42.2% compared with 25.0% among non-C9ORF72 expansion cases, P = 0.03) and cognitive impairment (46.7% compared with 9.1% among non-C9ORF72 expansion cases, P = 0.0001). Median survival from symptom onset among cases carrying C9ORF72 repeat expansion was 3.2 years lower than that of patients carrying TARDBP mutations (5.0 years; 95% confidence interval: 3.6-7.2) and longer than those with FUS mutations (1.9 years; 95% confidence interval: 1.7-2.1). We conclude that C9ORF72 hexanucleotide repeat expansions were the most frequent mutation in our large cohort of patients with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis of Italian, Sardinian and German ancestry. Together with mutation of SOD1, TARDBP and FUS, mutations of C9ORF72 account for similar to 60% of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Italy. Patients with C9ORF72 hexanucleotide repeat expansions present some phenotypic differences compared with patients with mutations of other genes or with unknown mutations, namely a high incidence of bulbar-onset disease and comorbidity with frontotemporal dementia. Their pedigrees typically display a high frequency of cases with pure frontotemporal dementia, widening the concept of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

MODULAZIONE DEL MICROBIOTA INTESTINALE ATTRAVERSO UN INTERVENTO CON DIETA MEDITERRANEA IN SOGGETTI OBESI

Introduzione. Le diete tipiche dei paesi occidentali sono state associate all’alta incidenza di malattie metaboliche e cardiovascolari. In un recente studio osservazionale [1] è stato suggerito che gli effetti benefici spesso riportati per la dieta Mediterranea (DM) possano essere mediati dal microbioma intestinale. Pertanto è stato disegnato un intervento nutrizionale basato sui principi della DM per valutare l’effetto sul microbioma intestinale e sul relativo metaboloma. Metodi. Sono stati reclutati 80 soggetti sani, obesi e sovrappeso (età:18-60; BMI:25–35 kg/m2), con bassa aderenza alla DM. Quaranta soggetti hanno seguito per 2 mesi una dieta personalizzata ed isocalorica basata sulla DM, per aumentare il loro livello di aderenza senza avere perdite di peso, mentre 40 soggetti sono stati inseriti nel gruppo di controllo. È stato analizzato il microbiota fecale ed il metaboloma urinario e plasmatico. Risultati. Nonostante l’aderenza al protocollo è stata elevata in tutti i soggetti, è stata osservata una risposta diversa all’intervento nel gruppo DM, probabilmente legata alle caratteristiche individuali del microbiota. Nei soggetti DM che mostravano una migliore risposta metabolica all’intervento (riduzione dell’insulino-resistenza) è stato osservato un aumento di Faecalibacterium, Roseburia e altri Clostridia, riconosciuti come produttori di acidi grassi a corta catena. Inoltre, il gruppo di soggetti responders mostrava anche più bassi livelli di Prevotella prima del trattamento, rispetto ai non-responders, in accordo con recenti studi che correlano P. copri all’insulino-resistenza [2]. Conclusioni. Questo studio dimostra la possibilità di modulare il microbiota intestinale e le sue attività attraverso interventi nutrizionali mirati e che le caratteristiche individuali del microbiota possono influenzare la risposta al trattamento e pertanto devono essere prese in considerazione. Bibliografia [1] De Filippis F, et al. Gut 2016;65:1812-21 [2] Pedersen HK, et al. Nature 2016;535:376-8