The capacity of short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides to stimulate faecal bifidobacteria: a dose-response relationship study in healthy humans

BACKGROUND: Short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) are well-known for their bifidogenicity. In a large study comprising 200 healthy volunteers, we determined the bifidogenic properties of 7 non-digestible carbohydrates administered at a dose of 10 g/d in the diet; we analysed dose-response relationships of the bifidogenic substrates at doses ranging from 2.5 to 10 g/d in comparison with a placebo. The aim of this presentation is to give more details about the dose-response effects of short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS). METHODS: Forty healthy volunteers (18 males, 22 females) eating their usual diets were randomly divided into 5 groups of 8 subjects and received scFOS at a dose of 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10 g/d or a placebo for 7 d. Stools were collected before (day (d) 8) and at the end (day (d) 15) of sugar consumption, and tolerance was evaluated using a daily chart. RESULTS (M ± SEM): Bifidobacteria counts increase was higher in scFOS than in placebo group for all doses tested [2.5 g/d (from 9.15 ± 0.59 to 9.39 ± 0.70; P = 0.02); 5 g/d (from 10.21 ± 0.21 to 10.67 ± 0.22; P = 0.03); 7.5 g/d (from 9.28 ± 0.49 to 9.85 ± 0.35;P = 0.01); 10 g/d (from 9.00 ± 0.81 to 10.18 ± 0.60; P = 0.003)]. A significant correlation between the ingested dose of scFOS and faecal bifidobacteria counts was observed at d15 (r(2 )= 0.307, P < 0.001). Total anaerobes increased at the dose of 10 g/d. No significant differences were found for Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, enterobacteria or pH in any group. The frequency of digestive symptoms was not different between scFOS at any of the doses tested and placebo. Bloating was significantly more intense during scFOS ingestion at doses of 2.5 and 5 g/d, but not at doses of 7.5 and 10 g/d. Excess flatus, borborygmi and abdominal pain did not differ from the placebo at any of the doses tested. CONCLUSION: This study showed that scFOS is bifidogenic and well tolerated at doses ranging from 2.5 to 10 g/d, and that there is a dose-response relationship in healthy volunteers

Examining links between anxiety, reinvestment and walking when talking by older adults during adaptive gait

Falls by older adults often result in reduced quality of life and debilitating fear of further falls. Stopping walking when talking (SWWT) is a significant predictor of future falls by older adults and is thought to reflect age-related increases in attentional demands of walking. We examine whether SWWT is associated with use of explicit movement cues during locomotion, and evaluate if conscious control (i.e., movement specific reinvestment) is causally linked to falls-related anxiety during a complex walking task. We observed whether twenty-four older adults stopped walking when talking when asked a question during an adaptive gait task. After certain trials, participants completed a visual-spatial recall task regarding walkway features, or answered questions about their movements during the walk. In a subsequent experimental condition, participants completed the walking task under conditions of raised postural threat. Compared to a control group, participants who SWWT reported higher scores for aspects of reinvestment relating to conscious motor processing but not movement self-consciousness. The higher scores for conscious motor processing were preserved when scores representing cognitive function were included as a covariate. There were no group differences in measures of general cognitive function, visual spatial working memory or balance confidence. However, the SWWT group reported higher scores on a test of external awareness when walking, indicating allocation of attention away from task-relevant environmental features. Under conditions of increased threat, participants self-reported significantly greater state anxiety and reinvestment and displayed more accurate responses about their movements during the task. SWWT is not associated solely with age-related cognitive decline or generic increases in age-related attentional demands of walking. SWWT may be caused by competition for phonological resources of working memory associated with consciously processing motor actions and appears to be causally linked with fall-related anxiety and increased vigilance.This research was supported by The Royal Society (IE131576) and British Academy (SG132820)

Prevention of noncommunicable diseases by interventions in the preconception period: A FIGO position paper for action by healthcare practitioners

With the increase in obesity prevalence among women of reproductive age globally, the risks of type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, pre‐eclampsia, and other conditions are rising, with detrimental effects on maternal and newborn health. The period before pregnancy is increasingly recognized as crucial for addressing weight management and reducing malnutrition (both under‐ and overnutrition) in both parents to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the mother as well as the passage of risk to her offspring. Healthcare practitioners, including obstetricians, gynecologists, midwives, and general practitioners, have an important role to play in supporting women in planning a pregnancy and achieving healthy nutrition and weight before pregnancy. In this position paper, the FIGO Pregnancy Obesity and Nutrition Initiative provides an overview of the evidence for preconception clinical guidelines to reduce the risk of NCDs in mothers and their offspring. It encourages healthcare practitioners to initiate a dialogue on women’s health, nutrition, and weight management before conception. While acknowledging the fundamental importance of the wider social and environmental determinants of health, this paper focuses on a simple set of recommendations for clinical practice that can be used even in short consultations. The recommendations can be contextualized based on local cultural and dietary practices as part of a system‐wide public health approach to influence the wider determinants as well as individual factors influencing preconception health

The Interstellar Medium In Galaxies Seen A Billion Years After The Big Bang

Evolution in the measured rest frame ultraviolet spectral slope and ultraviolet to optical flux ratios indicate a rapid evolution in the dust obscuration of galaxies during the first 3 billion years of cosmic time (z>4). This evolution implies a change in the average interstellar medium properties, but the measurements are systematically uncertain due to untested assumptions, and the inability to measure heavily obscured regions of the galaxies. Previous attempts to directly measure the interstellar medium in normal galaxies at these redshifts have failed for a number of reasons with one notable exception. Here we report measurements of the [CII] gas and dust emission in 9 typical (~1-4L*) star-forming galaxies ~1 billon years after the big bang (z~5-6). We find these galaxies have >12x less thermal emission compared with similar systems ~2 billion years later, and enhanced [CII] emission relative to the far-infrared continuum, confirming a strong evolution in the interstellar medium properties in the early universe. The gas is distributed over scales of 1-8 kpc, and shows diverse dynamics within the sample. These results are consistent with early galaxies having significantly less dust than typical galaxies seen at z<3 and being comparable to local low-metallicity systems.Comment: Submitted to Nature, under review after referee report. 22 pages, 4 figures, 4 Extended Data Figures, 5 Extended Data table

Rupture of the ilio-psoas tendon after a total hip arthroplasty: an unusual cause of radio-lucency of the lesser trochanter simulating a malignancy

Avulsion fracture or progressive radiolucency of lesser trochanter is considered a pathognomic finding in patients with malignancies. Although surgical release of the iliopsoas tendon may be required during a total hip arthroplasty (THA), there is no literature on spontaneous rupture of the ilio-psoas tendon after a THA causing significant functional impairment. We report here such a case, which developed progressive radiolucency of the lesser trochanter over six years after a THA, simulating a malignancy. The diagnosis was confirmed by MRI. Because of the chronic nature of the lesion, gross retraction of the tendon into the pelvis, and low demand of our patient, he was treated by physiotherapy and gait training. Injury to the ilio-psoas tendon can occur in various steps of the THA and extreme care should be taken to avoid this injury. Prevention during surgery is better, although there are no reports of repair in the THA setting. This condition should be considered in patients who present with progressive radioluceny of the lesser trochanter, especially in the setting of a hip/pelvic surgery. Awareness and earlier recognition of the signs and symptoms of this condition will aid in diagnosis and will direct appropriate management

Effect of stress relieving heat treatment on surface topography and dimensional accuracy of incrementally formed grade 1 titanium sheet parts

The forming of parts with an optimized surface roughness and high dimensional accuracy is important in many applications of incremental sheet forming (ISF). To realize this, the effect of stress relieving heat treatment of grade-1 Ti parts performed before and after forming on the surface finish and dimensional accuracy was studied. It was found that heat treatment at a temperature of 540 °C for 2 h improves the surface finish of formed parts resulting in a surface with little or no visible tool marks. Additionally, it improves the dimensional accuracy of parts after unclamping from the rig used for forming, in particular, that of parts with shallow wall angles (typically <25°). It was also noted that post-forming heat treatment improves the surface finish of parts. The surface topography of formed parts was studied using interferometry to yield areal surface roughness parameters and subsequently using secondary electron imaging. Back-scatter electron microscopy imaging results coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis showed that heat treatment prior to forming leads to tool wear as indicated by the presence of Fe in samples. Furthermore, post-forming heat treatment prevents curling up of formed parts due to compressive stresses if the formed part is trimmed

Early star-forming galaxies and the reionization of the Universe

Star forming galaxies represent a valuable tracer of cosmic history. Recent observational progress with Hubble Space Telescope has led to the discovery and study of the earliest-known galaxies corresponding to a period when the Universe was only ~800 million years old. Intense ultraviolet radiation from these early galaxies probably induced a major event in cosmic history: the reionization of intergalactic hydrogen. New techniques are being developed to understand the properties of these most distant galaxies and determine their influence on the evolution of the universe.Comment: Review article appearing in Nature. This posting reflects a submitted version of the review formatted by the authors, in accordance with Nature publication policies. For the official, published version of the review, please see http://www.nature.com/nature/archive/index.htm

FIGS-Faint Infrared Grism Survey: Description and Data Reduction

The Faint Infrared Grism Survey (FIGS) is a deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFC3/IR (Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared) slitless spectroscopic survey of four deep fields. Two fields are located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North (GOODS-N) area and two fields are located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-South (GOODS-S) area. One of the southern fields selected is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Each of these four fields were observed using the WFC3/G102 grism (0.8 μm–1.15 μm continuous coverage) with a total exposure time of 40 orbits (≈100 kilo-seconds) per field. This reaches a $3\sigma$ continuum depth of $\approx 26$ AB magnitudes and probes emission lines to $\sim {10}^{-17}\,\mathrm{erg}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}\,{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$. This paper details the four FIGS fields and the overall observational strategy of the project. A detailed description of the Simulation Based Extraction (SBE) method used to extract and combine over 10,000 spectra of over 2000 distinct sources brighter than ${m}_{F105W}=26.5$ mag is provided. High fidelity simulations of the observations is shown to significantly improve the background subtraction process, the spectral contamination estimates, and the final flux calibration. This allows for the combination of multiple spectra to produce a final high quality, deep, 1D spectra for each object in the survey

Small but crucial : the novel small heat shock protein Hsp21 mediates stress adaptation and virulence in Candida albicans

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Control of CydB and GltA1 Expression by the SenX3 RegX3 Two Component Regulatory System of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Two component regulatory systems are used widely by bacteria to coordinate changes in global gene expression profiles in response to environmental signals. The SenX3-RegX3 two component system of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has previously been shown to play a role in virulence and phosphate-responsive control of gene expression. We demonstrate that expression of SenX3-RegX3 is controlled in response to growth conditions, although the absolute changes are small. Global gene expression profiling of a RegX3 deletion strain and wild-type strain in different culture conditions (static, microaerobic, anaerobic), as well as in an over-expressing strain identified a number of genes with changed expression patterns. Among those were genes previously identified as differentially regulated in aerobic culture, including ald (encoding alanine dehydrogenase) cyd,encoding a subunit of the cytochrome D ubiquinol oxidase, and gltA1, encoding a citrate synthase. Promoter activity in the upstream regions of both cydB and gltA1 was altered in the RegX3 deletion strain. DNA-binding assays confirmed that RegX3 binds to the promoter regions of ald, cydB and gltA1 in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. Taken together these data suggest a direct role for the SenX-RegX3 system in modulating expression of aerobic respiration, in addition to its role during phosphate limitation