Characterization of 70.5% cocoa content dark chocolate incorporated with Bifidobacterium animalis subspecies lactis BB-12®

Currently, probiotics are defined as "live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host” [1].Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12® is one of the most common probiotics used as a food supplement [2]. Chocolate is one of the most popular and appealing culinary products, with various cocoa percentages available to consumers [3;4]. Several studies have suggested that chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, may offer health benefits due to the presence of a diverse array of bioactive compounds [5]. In this sense, a growing interest in using chocolate as a carrier for probiotic delivery has emerged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hydrophobicity and aggregation properties of gut commensals faecalibacterium duncaniae DSM 17677 and akkermansia muciniphila DSM 22959

Probiotics have been emerging as a promising approach to prevent and control foodborne diseases [1]. In the last years, the bacterial species isolated from gut microbiota, such as Faecalibacterium spp. and Akkermansia muciniphila, have been proposed as novel probiotic candidates [2]. The cell surface hydrophobicity, auto-aggregation and co-aggregation with pathogens are considered desirable characteristics of probiotic strains and these properties may be used in preliminary screening to identify potential probiotic microorganisms appropriate for human or animal use [3].info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Climate-driven deoxygenation elevates fishing vulnerability for the ocean’s widest ranging shark

Climate-driven expansions of ocean hypoxic zones are predicted to concentrate pelagic fish in oxygenated surface layers, but how expanding hypoxia and fisheries will interact to affect threatened pelagic sharks remains unknown. Here, analysis of satellite-tracked blue sharks and environmental modelling in the eastern tropical Atlantic oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) shows shark maximum dive depths decreased due to combined effects of decreasing dissolved oxygen (DO) at depth, high sea surface temperatures, and increased surface-layer net primary production. Multiple factors associated with climate-driven deoxygenation contributed to blue shark vertical habitat compression, potentially increasing their vulnerability to surface fisheries. Greater intensity of longline fishing effort occurred above the OMZ compared to adjacent waters. Higher shark catches were associated with strong DO gradients, suggesting potential aggregation along suitable DO gradients contributed to habitat compression and higher fishing-induced mortality. Fisheries controls to counteract deoxygenation effects on shark catches will be needed as oceans continue warming

Reply to: Shark mortality cannot be assessed by fishery overlap alone

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reply to: Caution over the use of ecological big data for conservation

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Global collision-risk hotspots of marine traffic and the world’s largest fish, the whale shark

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Womersley, F. C., Humphries, N. E., Queiroz, N., Vedor, M., da Costa, I., Furtado, M., Tyminski, J. P., Abrantes, K., Araujo, G., Bach, S. S., Barnett, A., Berumen, M. L., Bessudo Lion, S., Braun, C. D., Clingham, E., Cochran, J. E. M., de la Parra, R., Diamant, S., Dove, A. D. M., Dudgeon, C. L., Erdmann, M. V., Espinoza, E., Fitzpatrick, R., González Cano, J., Green, J. R., Guzman, H. M., Hardenstine, R., Hasan, A., Hazin, F. H. V., Hearn, A. R., Hueter, R. E., Jaidah, M. Y., Labaja, J., Ladinol, F., Macena, B. C. L., Morris Jr., J. J., Norman, B. M., Peñaherrera-Palmav, C., Pierce, S. J., Quintero, L. M., Ramırez-Macías, D., Reynolds, S. D., Richardson, A. J., Robinson, D. P., Rohner, C. A., Rowat, D. R. L., Sheaves, M., Shivji, M. S., Sianipar, A. B., Skomal, G. B., Soler, G., Syakurachman, I., Thorrold, S. R., Webb, D. H., Wetherbee, B. M., White, T. D., Clavelle, T., Kroodsma, D. A., Thums, M., Ferreira, L. C., Meekan, M. G., Arrowsmith, L. M., Lester, E. K., Meyers, M. M., Peel, L. R., Sequeira, A. M. M., Eguıluz, V. M., Duarte, C. M., & Sims, D. W. Global collision-risk hotspots of marine traffic and the world’s largest fish, the whale shark. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(20), (2022): e2117440119, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117440119.Marine traffic is increasing globally yet collisions with endangered megafauna such as whales, sea turtles, and planktivorous sharks go largely undetected or unreported. Collisions leading to mortality can have population-level consequences for endangered species. Hence, identifying simultaneous space use of megafauna and shipping throughout ranges may reveal as-yet-unknown spatial targets requiring conservation. However, global studies tracking megafauna and shipping occurrences are lacking. Here we combine satellite-tracked movements of the whale shark, Rhincodon typus, and vessel activity to show that 92% of sharks’ horizontal space use and nearly 50% of vertical space use overlap with persistent large vessel (>300 gross tons) traffic. Collision-risk estimates correlated with reported whale shark mortality from ship strikes, indicating higher mortality in areas with greatest overlap. Hotspots of potential collision risk were evident in all major oceans, predominantly from overlap with cargo and tanker vessels, and were concentrated in gulf regions, where dense traffic co-occurred with seasonal shark movements. Nearly a third of whale shark hotspots overlapped with the highest collision-risk areas, with the last known locations of tracked sharks coinciding with busier shipping routes more often than expected. Depth-recording tags provided evidence for sinking, likely dead, whale sharks, suggesting substantial “cryptic” lethal ship strikes are possible, which could explain why whale shark population declines continue despite international protection and low fishing-induced mortality. Mitigation measures to reduce ship-strike risk should be considered to conserve this species and other ocean giants that are likely experiencing similar impacts from growing global vessel traffic.Funding for data analysis was provided by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through a University of Southampton INSPIRE DTP PhD Studentship to F.C.W. Additional funding for data analysis was provided by NERC Discovery Science (NE/R00997/X/1) and the European Research Council (ERC-AdG-2019 883583 OCEAN DEOXYFISH) to D.W.S., Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) under PTDC/BIA/28855/2017 and COMPETE POCI-01–0145-FEDER-028855, and MARINFO–NORTE-01–0145-FEDER-000031 (funded by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Program [NORTE2020] under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund–ERDF) to N.Q. FCT also supported N.Q. (CEECIND/02857/2018) and M.V. (PTDC/BIA-COM/28855/2017). D.W.S. was supported by a Marine Biological Association Senior Research Fellowship. All tagging procedures were approved by institutional ethical review bodies and complied with all relevant ethical regulations in the jurisdictions in which they were performed. Details for individual research teams are given in SI Appendix, section 8. Full acknowledgments for tagging and field research are given in SI Appendix, section 7. This research is part of the Global Shark Movement Project (https://www.globalsharkmovement.org)

Global Spatial Risk Assessment of Sharks Under the Footprint of Fisheries

Effective ocean management and conservation of highly migratory species depends on resolving overlap between animal movements and distributions and fishing effort. Yet, this information is lacking at a global scale. Here we show, using a big-data approach combining satellite-tracked movements of pelagic sharks and global fishing fleets, that 24% of the mean monthly space used by sharks falls under the footprint of pelagic longline fisheries. Space use hotspots of commercially valuable sharks and of internationally protected species had the highest overlap with longlines (up to 76% and 64%, respectively) and were also associated with significant increases in fishing effort. We conclude that pelagic sharks have limited spatial refuge from current levels of high-seas fishing effort. Results demonstrate an urgent need for conservation and management measures at high-seas shark hotspots and highlight the potential of simultaneous satellite surveillance of megafauna and fishers as a tool for near-real time, dynamic management

Unreported discards of internationally protected pelagic sharks in a global fishing hotspot are potentially large

Global abundances of oceanic pelagic sharks have declined due to overfishing. Internationally protected shark species remain at risk due to indiscriminate bycatch in longline fisheries with under-reported catches affecting reliability of population assessments for management. However, the scale of under-reporting remains poorly understood. Here we use detailed shark species catch data in a global fishing hotspot to show that the discards of three globally or regionally ‘Endangered’ or ‘Critically Endangered’ species (bigeye thresher Alopias superciliosus; oceanic whitetip Carcharhinus longimanus; smooth hammerhead Sphyrna zygaena) are potentially under-reported on a large scale: the total discards made by a single observed vessel in April–June 2018 in the eastern tropical Atlantic exceeded by 1.3–11.0 times the discards reported officially for these species Atlantic-wide for all of 2018. Scaling up observed catches (discards) of a single vessel to potential discards made by a single nation's fleet in the region, we estimate a mean annual total of 1526.2 t (±1 S.D. range: 415.3–2637.0 t), which exceeds by 89.2 times (±1 S.D. range: 24.3–154.2 times) the official reported discards for these three species. Without reducing bycatch mortality, which at present appears obscured by substantial under-reporting, Atlantic populations remain at serious risk

Incorporation of Akkermansia muciniphila DSM 22959 in chocolate matrices

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Potential of Akkermansia muciniphila DSM 22959 and Faecalibacterium duncaniae DSM 17677 as live biotherapeutics for intestinal infections

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio