Investigating Remote Collaboration Over Time: The Case of a US Telemedicine Network

The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence the continuous use of collaborative technologies over time. We conducted a case study on a major telemedicine network in the U.S. The analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data suggests that integration with the regular workflow, stable availability of professionals at remote locations, and the emergence of spontaneous knowledge diffusion are associated with the success of telemedicine practices over time. Moreover, it shows that the limited awareness of the coordinating staff about the activities performed remotely reduces the use of telemedicine. However, this effect is mitigatedby the activation of telemedicine collaborations with other organizations, which belong to the same subnetworks. Based on the findings, we derive theoretical and practical implications for telemedicine and work at distance

Ultratransparent glass-ceramics: the structure factor and the quenching of the Rayleigh scattering

Glass-ceramics with nanocrystals present a transparency higher than that expected from the theory of Rayleigh scattering. This ultra-transparency is attributed to the spatial correlation of the nanoparticles. The structure factor is calculated for a simple model system, the random sequential addition of equal spheres, at different volume filling factor. The spatial correlation given by the constraint that particles cannot superimpose produces a diffraction peak with a low $S(q)$ in its low-$q$ tail, which is relevant for light scattering. The physical mechanism producing high transparency in glass-ceramics is demonstrated to be the low density fluctuation in the number of scatterers.Comment: 9 pages, 2 fi

Correction to: Assessment of Biolog Ecoplate™ method for functional metabolic diversity of aerotolerant pig fecal microbiota

Correction to: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, (2021), 105, 14-15, (6033-6045), 10.1007/s00253-021-11449-

International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Subcommittee on the Taxonomy of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and related organisms. Minutes of the closed meeting by videoconference, 3 September 2020

International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Subcommittee on the Taxonomy of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and related organisms. Minutes of the closed meeting by videoconference, 3 September 202

A pilot study of the role of corn dextrin and milk peptides supplementation on faecal microbiota in healthy adults

The gastrointestinal microbiota has an important role in human health. Dietary interventions are of great interest to modulate the composition and metabolic functions of the gut microbial communities and to improve health, and prevent or treat diseases. Consumption of prebiotics is one dietary strategy for beneficial manipulation of the gut microbiota, because it allows increasing the fibre intake, especially in people with western dietary habits, who do not take the recommended daily amount of fiber. Interestingly, milk peptides can also positively affect the beneficial gut microorganisms. The present work is a pilot study aimed to investigate the effect of a prebiotic supplementation on composition and metabolic activity of microorganisms living in the human gut. In this trial, 12 healthy subjects received 10g/die of supplement Biotransit\uae, composed by corn derived dextrin and milk peptides, produced and marketed in Italy by Depofarma (Italy), for 4 weeks with a 2 weeks washout. Outcome measures were assessed at four time points (before the supplementation T0-1, T0-2, at the end of intervention, T30 and after washout, T45), including gut microbiota profiling by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and intestinal functional metabolism measuring faecal Short Chain Fatty Acid concentrations (SCFAs). The effects of the Biotransit supplementation on bifidobacteria were also assessed with culture dependent techniques. Gut microbiota analysis revealed that Biotransit\uae supplementation after 30 days did not exert effects on the overall gut microbiota structure. Although no significant differences on alpha diversity were obtained, we observed an increase of diversity after 30 days of treatment. Beta diversity analysis, calculated on Bray-Curtis distances revealed significant differences comparing T0 vs T45 and T30 vs T45. Interestingly, at T45, we found an enrichment of Porphyromonadaceae. Biotransit\uae induced quantitative changes in cultivable bifidobacteria with increased amount at T45, even if the total number of species has not been influenced. Biotransit\uae supplementation is also associated to an increase total SCFAs concentration in T30 and T45, in particular related to acetate, propionate and butyrate (p < 0.05). Future study will be aimed to follow the time course of the persistence of this effect after the end of treatment

Potential Applications of Essential Oils for Environmental Sanitization and Antimicrobial Treatment of Intensive Livestock Infections

The extensive use of antibiotics has contributed to the current antibiotic resistance crisis. Livestock infections of Salmonella spp, Clostridium spp. and E. coli antimicrobial-resistant bacteria represent a public threat to human and animal health. To reduce the incidence of these zoonoses, essential oils (EOs) could be effective antibiotic alternatives. This study aims at identifying EOs safe for use, effective both in complementary therapy and in the environmental sanitization of intensive farming. Natural products were chemo-characterized by gas chromatography. Three S. Typhimurium, three C. perfringens and four E. coli strains isolated from poultry and swine farms were used to assess the antimicrobial properties of nine EOs and a modified GR-OLI (mGR-OLI). The toxicity of the most effective ones (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cz; Origanum vulgare, Ov) was also evaluated on porcine spermatozoa and Galleria mellonella larvae. Cz, Ov and mGR-OLI showed the strongest antimicrobial activity; their volatile components were also able to significantly inhibit the growth of tested strains. In vitro, Ov toxicity was slightly lower than Cz, while it showed no toxicity on G. mellonella larvae. In conclusion, the study confirms the importance of evaluating natural products to consolidate the idea of safe EO applications in reducing and preventing intensive livestock infections

Origanum vulgare essential oil vs. A commercial mixture of essential oils: In vitro effectiveness on salmonella spp. from poultry and swine intensive livestock

open11noSalmonella spp. represent a public health concern for humans and animals due to the increase of antibiotic resistances. In this scenario, the use of essential oils (EOs) could be a valid tool against Salmonella contamination of meat. This work compares the in vitro effectiveness of an Italian mixture of feed additives based on EOs (GR-OLI) with EO of Origanum vulgare L., recently admitted by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for animal use. Twenty-nine Salmonella serotypes isolated from poultry and pig farms were used to assess GR-OLI and O. vulgare EO antimicrobial propeties. O. vulgare EO was active on the disaggregation of mature biofilm, while GR-OLI was capable of inhibiting biofilm formation and disaggregating preformed biofilm. Furthermore, GR-OLI inhibited bacterial adhesion to Caco-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Both products showed inhibition of bacterial growth at all time points tested. Finally, the synergistic action of GR-OLI with commonly used antibiotics against resistant strains was investigated. In conclusion, the mixture could be used both to reduce the meat contamination of Salmonella spp. before slaughter, and in synergy with low doses of ciprofloxacin against resistant strains. Although EOs as feed additives are already used in animal husbandry, no scientific study has ever highlighted their real antimicrobial potential.openDi Vito M.; Cacaci M.; Barbanti L.; Martini C.; Sanguinetti M.; Benvenuti S.; Tosi G.; Fiorentini L.; Scozzoli M.; Bugli F.; Mattarelli P.Di Vito M.; Cacaci M.; Barbanti L.; Martini C.; Sanguinetti M.; Benvenuti S.; Tosi G.; Fiorentini L.; Scozzoli M.; Bugli F.; Mattarelli P

Potenziale utilizzo di idrolati per il controllo delle infezioni microbiche

Introduzione. Come \ue8 noto, diversi microrganismi costituiscono un diretto pericolo per la nostra salute in quanto possono infettare l'ospite umano: le malattie infettive causate da batteri e funghi sono ogni anno responsabili di morbilit\ue0 e mortalit\ue0 in un numero crescente di individui ospedalizzati e immunocompromessi. Inoltre, negli ultimi anni, la diffusione di ceppi microbici multi-resistenti ai farmaci, (ad es. Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa e Candida spp.), ha provocato infezioni difficili o impossibili da controllare con antimicrobici convenzionali. La necessit\ue0 di nuove terapie per il trattamento delle infezioni microbiche ha portato i ricercatori a concentrarsi su possibili alternative di tipo naturale. L'idrolato (Id), noto anche come idrosol o acqua aromatica, \ue8 la frazione idrofila ottenuta durante il processo di distillazione in corrente di vapore assieme all\u2019olio essenziale (OE), capace di esercitare attivit\ue0 anti-microbiche grazie al contenuto in componenti terpeniche pari a circa l\u20191% v/v. Sebbene entrambe i prodotti della distillazione abbiano una nota azione antimicrobica, non \ue8 mai stata paragonata la loro attivit\ue0 quando estratti dalla stessa pianta. Scopo. Gli scopi di questo lavoro sono stati: (i) quello di paragonare l'attivit\ue0 antimicrobica dell\u2019OE e dell\u2019Id estratti da Monarda citriodora (MC) verso 30 ceppi fungini e batterici coinvolti in infezioni umane, (ii) valutare l\u2019efficacia dell\u2019Id di C. aurantium var. amara (CA) nei confronti di 18 ceppi fungini e batterici potenzialmente responsabili di infezioni cutanee. Materiali e metodi. L\u2019OE e l\u2019Id di MC sono stati ottenuti mediante distillazione in corrente di vapore partendo da piante fiorite coltivate presso l\u2019istituto Scarabelli-Ghini di Imola (fig.1), mentre l\u2019Id-CA era di tipo commerciale. Sono stati eseguiti test di micro-brodo diluizione secondo linee guida internazionali EUCAST per valutare l\u2019efficacia antimicrobica dell\u2019OE-MC (concentrazioni comprese tra 0,0078% e 4%), dell'Id-MC (concentrazioni tra 12,5% e 50%) e dell\u2019Id-CA (concentrazioni tra 3.12% e 50%) vs i ceppi testati. Inoltre, l'OE e gli Id sono stati analizzati in GC-MS per valutarne la composizione terpenica e, nel caso di M. citriodora, paragonare l\u2019efficacia dell\u2019OE a quella dell\u2019Id in funzione del loro contenuto terpenico. Risultati. L'OE-MC e l\u2019Id-CA sono risultati efficaci, a concentrazioni variabili, su tutti i ceppi testati, mentre, l'Id-MC era attivo su tutti i microrganismi tranne che sui ceppi di P. aeruginosa (MIC>4% v/v). Le analisi GC-MS hanno individuato come principali componenti terpeniche il timolo per OE-MC e di Id-MC (19,6% e 66,4% rispettivamente) e il linalolo per Id-CA. Conclusioni. Nonostante sia necessaria una maggiore concentrazione di Id-MC per ottenere lo stesso effetto inibente dell\u2019OE-MC, la quantit\ue0 di terpeni presenti per unit\ue0 di volume nell\u2019Id \ue8 risultata inferiore rispetto all'EO. La maggiore efficacia dei terpeni contenuti nell\u2019Id \ue8 probabilmente dovuta all'ambiente idrofilo che ne promuove una maggiore disponibilit\ue0