Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and Bifidobacterium longum BB536 on the healthy gut microbiota composition at phyla and species level: a preliminary study

AIM: To evaluate the ability of Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and Bifidobacterium longum BB536 to colonize the intestinal environment of healthy subjects and modify the gut microbiota composition. METHODS: Twenty healthy Italian volunteers, eight males and twelve females, participated in the study. Ten subjects took a sachet containing 4 × 109 colony-forming units (CFU) of Bifidobacterium longum BB536 and 109 CFU of Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001, 30 min before breakfast (pre-prandial administration), while ten subjects took a sachet of probiotic product 30 min after breakfast (post-prandial administration). The ability of Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and Bifidobacterium longum BB536 to colonize human gut microbiota was assessed by means of quantitative real-time PCR, while changes in gut microbiota composition were detected by using Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine. RESULTS: Immediately after 1-mo of probiotic administration, B. longum BB536 and L. rhamnosus HN001 load was increased in the majority of subjects in both pre-prandial and post-prandial groups. This increase was found also 1 mo after the end of probiotic oral intake in both groups, if compared to samples collected before probiotic consumption. At phyla level a significant decrease in Firmicutes abundance was detected immediately after 1-mo of B. longum BB536 and L. rhamnosus HN001 oral intake. This reduction persisted up to 1 mo after the end of probiotic oral intake together with a significant decrease of Proteobacteria abundance if compared to samples collected before probiotic administration. Whereas, at species level, a higher abundance of Blautia producta, Blautia wexlerae and Haemophilus ducrey was observed, together with a reduction of Holdemania filiformis, Escherichia vulneris, Gemmiger formicilis and Streptococcus sinensis abundance. In addition, during follow-up period we observed a further reduction in Escherichia vulneris and Gemmiger formicilis, together with a decrease in Roseburia faecis and Ruminococcus gnavus abundance. Conversely, the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila was increased if compared to samples collected at the beginning of the experimental time course. CONCLUSION: B. longum BB536 and L. rhamnosus HN001 showed the ability to modulate the gut microbiota composition, leading to a significant reduction of potentially harmful bacteria and an increase of beneficial ones. Further studies are needed to better understand the specific mechanisms involved in gut microbiota modulation

A summertime investigation on urban PM fine and coarse fractions using hourly elemental concentration data series

The summertime composition of particulate matter in the atmosphere of some Italian towns (Florence, Genoa and Milan) has been studied by means of Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) techniques. The aerosol has been collected simultaneously by two-stage continuous streaker samplers, which separate and collect the PM10 particulate matter in two fractions. The hourly concentrations in air of about 20 elements have been extracted in the fine and coarse fractions of PM10 by Particle Induced X-ray (and Gamma-ray) Emission, PIXE (and PIGE) analysis. Absolute Principal Component Factor Analysis (APCFA) has been used to obtain the apportionment of the sources of particulate matter

High time-resolved measurements of fine aerosol (PM2.5) in a hot-spot area during wintertime: multi-wavelength optical absorption properties and source apportionment

Black Carbon (BC) is the main absorber of solar radiation among the aerosol components, it influences cloud processes, and alters the melting of snow and ice cover. Although it is one of the most important individual climate-warming components, uncertainties on the radiative forcing related to BC-radiation interaction still cover more than one order of magnitude. Moreover, weakly absorbing organic material (brown carbon, BrC) in the form of particle coating or as particle as-is can be considered a further important contributor to aerosol absorption. The peculiarity of BrC is that it is very effective in the absorption of short-\u3bb radiation whereas its contribution to aerosol absorption is negligible in the red or near-IR bands. It is noteworthy that BC and BrC can also be used for source apportionment purposes (e.g. they can be helpful for the discrimination between fossil fuels combustion vs. biomass burning). Thus, aerosol absorption properties possibly related to mixing and/or size information, and BC content are currently of great interest. Moving in this frame, a multi-\u3bb polar photometer (PP_UniMI) has been developed at the Department of Physics of the University of Milan in the last years. The instrument is based on the measurement on the scattering plane of the light transmitted and scattered in the forward and back hemispheres by unloaded and loaded samples using a rotating photodiode. Data reduction aiming at the determination of the sample absorbance follows Petzold et al. (2004) and therein cited literature. Currently, PP_UNIMI allows performing 4-\u3bb measurements (870, 633, 532, 405 nm) on aerosol collected on different substrates, including aerosol collected with high-time resolution using a streaker sampler. Such sampler collects aerosol segregated in two size-classes (fine and coarse) on a rotating frame with hourly resolution. The set-up of the instrument was validated against independent measurements carried out using a Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer for what concerns the red-light results, considering possible artefact effects shown in Vecchi et al. (2013). The results presented here are related to the analysis of the high time-resolved trends of multiwavelength aerosol absorption properties measured on the fine aerosol fraction during a field campaign performed in Milan (Italy) in November 2015 (see an example in Figure 1). Such data will be used to test the possibility of applying source apportionment models based on optical properties (es. Aethalometer model) using off-line hightime resolved data. It is also noteworthy that equivalent BC can be quantified from the polar photometer measurements at 635 nm using a suitable mass absorption coefficient. Such information will be joined to the elemental components (Na-Pb) detected by Particle-Induced X-ray Emission technique carried out at the INFN-LABEC in Florence to perform receptor modelling analysis (e.g. Positive Matrix Factorization). The results of the source apportionment using such data will be also presented

First records of the Gull-billed Tern, Gelochelidon nilotica (Gmelin, 1789) (Aves: Sternidae), from Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

Here we report the first documented records of the Gull-billed Tern, Gelochelidon nilotica (Gmelin, 1789), from Rio de Janeiro state, on the coast of southeastern Brazil. The species was recorded in Sepetiba Bay, in Rio de Janeiro municipality, in August and September 2014 and September 2015. In all cases, the birds had full nuptial plumage, which suggests breeding in the austral spring and summer. This is inconsistent with the possibility of a migrant from the Northern Hemisphere. The regular monitoring of the coastal environments of this region should provide more conclusive insights into seasonal patterns and the migration routes of this species

The effect of Brown Carbon on thermal-optical analysis: a correction based on optical multi-wavelength analysis

Carbonaceous aerosol (CA) plays an important role in environmental issues like air quality, human health and global climate change. It mainly consists of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) although a minor fraction of carbonate carbon could be also present. Thermal-optical methods are presently the most widespread approach to OC/EC speciation. Despite their popularity, there is still a disagreement among the results, especially for what concerns EC as differentthermal protocols can be currently used. The main hypothesis at the basis of the technique is that on their different optical properties: while EC is strongly light absorbing, OC is generally transparent in the visible range. However, another fraction of light-absorbing carbon exists which is not black and it is generally called brown carbon (BrC) (Andreae and Gelencs\ue9r, 2006). We introduced a new way to apportion the absorption coefficient (babs) of carbonaceous atmospheric aerosols starting from a multi-wavelength optical analysis (Massab\uf2 et al., 2015). This analysis was performed thanks to the MWAA, an instrument developed at the Physics Department of University of Genoa (Massab\uf2 et al., 2013). The method uses the information gathered at five different wavelengths in a renewed and upgraded version of the approach usually referred to as Aethalometer model (Sandradewi et al., 2008). Moreover, with some assumptions, also the quantification of OC coming from fossil fuels and wood burning can be obtained. Thermal-optical methods are presently the most widespread approach to OC/EC speciation. Despite their popularity, there is still a disagreement among the results, especially for what concerns EC as different thermal protocols can be used. In fact, the pyrolysis occurring during the analysis can heavily affect OC/EC separation, depending on PM composition in addition to the used protocol. Furthermore, the presence in the sample of BrC can shift the split point since it is light absorbing also @ 635nm, the typical laser wavelength used in this technique (Chen et al., 2015). We have recently introduced a new possibility, based on the apportionment of the absorption coefficient of particleloaded filters, for correcting the thermo-optical analysis of PM samples (Massab\uf2 et al, 2016). We present here the results of an apportionment study of carbonaceous aerosol sources performed in an Alpine area, validated against independent measurements of levoglucosan. We also present developments of the thermo-optical analysis correction (Massab\uf2 et al., 2016) which lead to a better homogeneity between the results obtained with different thermal protocols

Toxicological profile of PM from different sources in the bronchial epithelial cell line BEAS-2B

The toxicity of particulate matter (PM) is strictly associated with its physical-chemical characteristics, such as size or chemical composition. While these properties depend on the origin of the particles, the study of the toxicological profile of PM from single sources has rarely been highlighted. Hence, the focus of this research was to investigate the biological effects of PM from five relevant sources of atmospheric PM: diesel exhaust particles, coke dust, pellet ashes, incinerator ashes, and brake dust. Cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, oxidative, and inflammatory response were assessed in a bronchial cell line (BEAS-2B). BEAS-2B cells were exposed to different concentrations (25, 50, 100, and 150 g/mL medium) of particles suspended in water. The exposure lasted 24 h for all the assays performed, except for reactive oxygen species, which were evaluated after 30 min, 1 h, and 4 h of treatment. The results showed a different action of the five types of PM. All the tested samples showed a genotoxic action on BEAS-2B, even in the absence of oxidative stress induction. Pellet ashes seemed to be the only ones able to induce oxidative stress by boosting the formation of reactive oxygen species, while brake dust resulted in the most cytotoxic. In conclusion, the study elucidated the differential response of bronchial cells to PM samples generated by different sources. The comparison could be a starting point for a regulatory intervention since it highlighted the toxic potential of each type of PM tested

Assessing spleen stiffness by point shear‐wave elastography: Is it feasible and reproducible in patients with chronic liver disease? Is it useful to predict portal hypertension?

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Outcomes of music therapy interventions in cancer patients. A review of the literature

Background: Effectiveness of music-based interventions (MI) on cancer patients\u2019 anxiety, depression, pain and quality of life (QoL) is a current research theme. MI are highly variable, making it challenging to compare studies. Objective and methods: To summarize the evidence on MI in cancer patients, 40 studies were reviewed following the PRISMA statement. Studies were included if assessing at least one outcome among anxiety, depression, QoL and pain in patients aged 65 18, with an active oncological/onco-haematological diagnosis, participating to any kind of MT, during/after surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Results: A positive effect of MI on the outcomes measured was supported. Greater reductions of anxiety and depression were observed in breast cancer patients. MI involving patients admitted to a hospital ward were less effective on QoL. Conclusion: The increasing evidence about MI effectiveness, tolerability, feasibility and appreciation, supports the need of MI implementation in Oncology, Radiotherapy and Surgery wards, and promotion of knowledge among health operators