Probiotic Fermented Foods:A scalable approach to promote gut health and improve nutrition

Locally produced probiotic fermented foods can be suitable for a range of appropriate, cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable approaches implemented at the household, community, and market levels

Transcriptomes of parents identify parenting strategies and sexual conflict in a subsocial beetle

This work was funded by UK NERC grants to M.G.R. and A.J.M. an NERC studentship to D.J.P. the University of Georgia and a US NSF grant to A.J.M. and M.G.R.Parenting in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides is complex and, unusually, the sex and number of parents that can be present is flexible. Such flexibility is expected to involve specialized behaviour by the two sexes under biparental conditions. Here, we show that offspring fare equally well regardless of the sex or number of parents present. Comparing transcriptomes, we find a largely overlapping set of differentially expressed genes in both uniparental and biparental females and in uniparental males including vitellogenin, associated with reproduction, and takeout, influencing sex-specific mating and feeding behaviour. Gene expression in biparental males is similar to that in non-caring states. Thus, being ‘biparental’ in N. vespilloides describes the family social organization rather than the number of directly parenting individuals. There was no specialization; instead, in biparental families, direct male parental care appears to be limited with female behaviour unchanged. This should lead to strong sexual conflict.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The mass and density of the dwarf planet (225088) 2007 OR10

The satellite of (225088) 2007 OR10 was discovered on archival Hubble Space Telescope images and along with new observations with the WFC3 camera in late 2017 we have been able to determine the orbit. The orbit's notable eccentricity, e$\approx$0.3, may be a consequence of an intrinsically eccentric orbit and slow tidal evolution, but may also be caused by the Kozai mechanism. Dynamical considerations also suggest that the moon is small, D$_{eff}$ $<$ 100 km. Based on the newly determined system mass of 1.75x10$^{21}$ kg, 2007 OR10 is the fifth most massive dwarf planet after Eris, Pluto, Haumea and Makemake. The newly determined orbit has also been considered as an additional option in our radiometric analysis, provided that the moon orbits in the equatorial plane of the primary. Assuming a spherical shape for the primary this approach provides a size of 1230$\pm$50 km, with a slight dependence on the satellite orbit orientation and primary rotation rate chosen, and a bulk density of 1.75$\pm$0.07 g cm$^{-3}$ for the primary. A previous size estimate that assumed an equator-on configuration (1535$^{+75}_{-225}$ km) would provide a density of 0.92$^{+0.46}_{-0.14}$ g cm$^{-3}$, unexpectedly low for a 1000 km-sized dwarf planet.Comment: Accepted for publication in Icaru

Properties of the Distant Kuiper Belt: Results from the Palomar Distant Solar System Survey

We present the results of a wide-field survey using the 1.2-m Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory. This survey was designed to find the most distant members of the Kuiper belt and beyond. We searched ~12,000 deg2 down to a mean limiting magnitude of 21.3 in R. A total number of 52 KBOs and Centaurs have been detected, 25 of which were discovered in this survey. Except for the re-detection of Sedna, no additional Sedna-like bodies with perihelia greater than 45 AU were detected despite sensitivity out to distances of 1000 AU. We discuss the implications for a distant Sedna- like population beyond the Kuiper belt, focusing on the constraints we can place on the embedded stellar cluster environment the early Sun may be have been born in, where the location and distribution of Sedna-like orbits sculpted by multiple stellar encounters is indicative of the birth cluster size. We also report our observed latitude distribution and implications for the size of the plutino population.Comment: 40 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables Accepted by Ap

Development and Validation of the Microbiology for Health Sciences Concept Inventory

Identifying misconceptions in student learning is a valuable practice for evaluating student learning gains and directing educational interventions. By accurately identifying students’ knowledge and misconceptions about microbiology concepts, instructors can design effective classroom practices centered on student understanding. Following the development of ASM’s Curriculum Guidelines in 2012, we developed a concept inventory, the Microbiology for Health Sciences Concept Inventory (MHSCI), that measures learning gains and identifies student misconceptions in health sciences microbiology classrooms. The 23-question MHSCI was delivered to a wide variety of students at multiple institution types. Psychometric analysis identified that the MHSCI instrument is both discriminatory and reliable in measuring student learning gains. The MHSCI results correlated with course outcomes, showing the value of using the instrument alongside course level assessments to measure student learning. The MHSCI is a reliable and efficient way to measure student learning in microbiology and can be used both as a faculty development tool and an effective student assessment tool

Isolation of the Bacteriophage DinoHI from Dichelobacter nodosus and its Interactions with other Integrated Genetic Elements

The Gram-negative anaerobic pathogen Dichelobacter nodosus carries several genetic elements that integrate into the chromosome. These include the intA, intB, intC and intD elements, which integrate adjacent to csrA and pnpA, two putative global regulators of virulence and the virulence-related locus, vrl, which integrates into ssrA. Treatment of D. nodosus strains with ultraviolet light resulted in the isolation of DinoHI, a member of the Siphoviridae and the first bacteriophage to be identified in D. nodosus. Part of the DinoHI genome containing the packaging site is found in all D. nodosus strains tested and is located at the end of the vrl, suggesting a role for DinoHI in the transfer of the vrl by transduction. Like the intB element, the DinoHI genome contains a copy of regA which has similarity to the repressors of lambdoid bacteriophages, suggesting that the maintenance of DinoHI and the intB element may be co-ordinately controlled

The impact of climate change on food systems, diet quality, nutrition, and health outcomes: A narrative review

Many consequences of climate change undermine the stability of global food systems, decreasing food security and diet quality, and exposing vulnerable populations to multiple forms of malnutrition. The emergence of pandemics such as Covid-19 exacerbate the situation and make interactions even more complex. Climate change impacts food systems at different levels, including changes in soil fertility and crop yield, composition, and bioavailability of nutrients in foods, pest resistance, and risk of malnutrition. Sustainable and resilient food systems, coupled with climate-smart agriculture, are needed to ensure sustainable diets that are adequately diverse, nutritious, and better aligned with contextual ecosystem functions and environmental conservation. Robust tools and indicators are urgently needed to measure the reciprocal food systems-climate change interaction, that is further complicated by pandemics, and how it impacts human health

Micronutrient-fortified rice can increase hookworm infection risk:A cluster randomized trial

Fortification of staple foods is considered an effective and safe strategy to combat micronutrient deficiencies, thereby improving health. While improving micronutrient status might be expected to have positive effects on immunity, some studies have reported increases in infections or inflammation after iron supplementation.To study effects of micronutrient-fortified rice on hookworm infection in Cambodian schoolchildren.A double-blinded, cluster-randomized trial was conducted in 16 Cambodian primary schools partaking in the World Food Program school meal program. Three types of multi-micronutrient fortified rice were tested against placebo rice within the school meal program: UltraRice_original, UltraRice_improved and NutriRice. Four schools were randomly assigned to each study group (placebo n = 492, UltraRice_original n = 479, UltraRice_improved n = 500, NutriRice n = 506). Intestinal parasite infection was measured in fecal samples by Kato-Katz method at baseline and after three and seven months. In a subgroup (N = 330), fecal calprotectin was measured by ELISA as a marker for intestinal inflammation.Baseline prevalence of hookworm infection was 18.6%, but differed considerably among schools (range 0%- 48.1%).Micronutrient-fortified rice significantly increased risk of new hookworm infection. This effect was modified by baseline hookworm prevalence at the school; hookworm infection risk was increased by all three types of fortified rice in schools where baseline prevalence was high (>15%), and only by UltraRice_original in schools with low baseline prevalence. Neither hookworm infection nor fortified rice was related to fecal calprotectin.Consumption of rice fortified with micronutrients can increase hookworm prevalence, especially in environments with high infection pressure. When considering fortification of staple foods, a careful risk-benefit analysis is warranted, taking into account severity of micronutrient deficiencies and local prevalence of parasitic infections.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01706419

Neural underpinnings of threat bias in relation to loss-of-control eating behaviors among adolescent girls with high weight

IntroductionLoss-of-control (LOC) eating, a key feature of binge-eating disorder, may relate attentional bias (AB) to highly salient interpersonal stimuli. The current pilot study used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to explore neural features of AB to socially threatening cues in adolescent girls with and without LOC-eating.MethodsGirls (12–17 years old) with overweight or obesity (BMI &gt;85th percentile) completed an AB measure on an affective dot-probe AB task during MEG and evoked neural responses to angry or happy (vs. neutral) face cues were captured. A laboratory test meal paradigm measured energy intake and macronutrient consumption patterns.ResultsGirls (N = 34; Mage = 15.5 ± 1.5 years; BMI-z = 1.7 ± 0.4) showed a blunted evoked response to the presentation of angry face compared with neutral face cues in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a neural region implicated in executive control and regulation processes, during attention deployment (p &lt; 0.01). Compared with those without LOC-eating (N = 21), girls with LOC-eating (N = 13) demonstrated a stronger evoked response to angry faces in the visual cortex during attention deployment (p &lt; 0.001). Visual and cognitive control ROIs had trends suggesting interaction with test meal intake patterns among girls with LOC-eating (ps = 0.01).DiscussionThese findings suggest that girls with overweight or obesity may fail to adaptively engage neural regions implicated in higher-order executive processes. This difficulty may relate to disinhibited eating patterns that could lead to excess weight gain

Invasion of the Red Seaweed \u3cem\u3eHeterosiphonia japonica\u3c/em\u3e Spans Biogeographic Provinces in the Western North Atlantic Ocean

The recent invasion of the red alga Heterosiphonia japonica in the western North Atlantic Ocean has provided a unique opportunity to study invasion dynamics across a biogeographical barrier. Native to the western North Pacific Ocean, initial collections in 2007 and 2009 restricted the western North Atlantic range of this invader to Rhode Island, USA. However, through subtidal community surveys, we document the presence of Heterosiphonia in coastal waters from Maine to New York, USA, a distance of more than 700 km. This geographical distribution spans a well-known biogeographical barrier at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Despite significant differences in subtidal community structure north and south of Cape Cod, Heterosiphonia was found at all but two sites surveyed in both biogeographic provinces, suggesting that this invader is capable of rapid expansion over broad geographic ranges. Across all sites surveyed, Heterosiphonia comprised 14% of the subtidal benthic community. However, average abundances of nearly 80% were found at some locations. As a drifting macrophyte, Heterosiphonia was found as intertidal wrack in abundances of up to 65% of the biomass washed up along beaches surveyed. Our surveys suggest that the high abundance of Heterosiphonia has already led to marked changes in subtidal community structure; we found significantly lower species richness in recipient communities with higher Heterosiphona abundances. Based on temperature and salinity tolerances of the European populations, we believe Heterosiphonia has the potential to invade and alter subtidal communities from Florida to Newfoundland in the western North Atlantic