Impact of a probiotic diet on well-being of healthy senior: THE PROBIOSENIOR PROJECT

Aims: The aim of this work was to assess the effects of a probiotic diet on well-being of healthy seniors living in boarding and private homes in Marche Region, Italy. In particular, we focused on the modulation of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (HsCRP), intestinal microbiota and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Methods and Results: Ninety-seven healthy seniors took part in a double-blind, placebo-controlled feeding study (59 fed probiotics, 38 fed placebo) for 6 months. Each volunteer ingested daily one food product or a dietary supplement enriched with Synbio® blend (Synbiotec Srl, Camerino, Italy) or the placebo (control group). Blood and faecal samples were collected before and at the end of the intervention period to perform biochemical and microbiological analyses. The serum HsCRP difference value after 6 months of treatment was significantly higher in the probiotic group than placebo (p < 0.05). After the intervention, a significant increase in faecal lactobacilli and a bifidobacteria increase in more participants were observed in the probiotic group. The 16S NGS analysis on the probiotic group showed a decreasing trend of Proteobacteria at the end of the treatment and conversely, an increasing trend of Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia phyla, to which the increase of Akkermansiaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae contributes at the family level. Finally, total short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and butyric acid were significantly higher in the probiotic group at the end of the treatment respect to the beginning. Conclusions: Overall, this study emphasizes the beneficial anti-inflammageing effect of a prolonged diet based on functional foods enriched with Synbio® through the modulation of the intestinal microbiota and the consequent increase in the SCFA production. Significance and Impact of the Study: Synbio® integration in elderly daily diet may be a preventive strategy to support healthy ageing

Evaluation of Commercial Probiotic Products

Although there is a vast number of probiotic products commercially available due to their acceptability and increasing usage, their quality control has continuously been a major concern. This study aimed to assess some commercially available probiotics on the UK market for content in relation to their label claim. Seven products were used for the study. The bacteria content were isolated, identified and enumerated on selective media. The results revealed that all products evaluated contained viable probiotic bacteria but only three out of the seven products (43%) contained the claimed culture concentration or more. None of the multispecies product contained all the labelled probiotic bacteria. Misidentification of some species occurred. The results concurred with previous studies and showed that quality issues with commercial probiotics remain. Since probiotic activity is linked with probiotic concentration and is strain specific, the need exist for a global comprehensive legislation to control the quality of probiotics whose market is gaining huge momentum

Probiotic lactobacilli inhibit early stages of Candida albicans biofilm development by reducing their growth, cell adhesion, and filamentation

We evaluated the inhibitory effects of the probiotic Lactobacillus species on different phases of Candida albicans biofilm development. Quantification of biofilm growth and ultrastructural analyses were performed on C. albicans biofilms treated with Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus casei, and Lactobacillus acidophilus planktonic cell suspensions as well as their supernatants. Planktonic lactobacilli induced a significant reduction (p\ua0\ua00.05), but significantly reduced the early stages of Candida biofilm formation (p\ua

Non-target impact of fungicide tetraconazole on microbial communities in soils with different agricultural management

Effect of the fungicide tetraconazole on microbial community in silt loam soils from orchard with long history of triazole application and from grassland with no known history of fungicide usage was investigated. Triazole tetraconazole that had never been used on these soils before was applied at the field rate and at tenfold the FR. Response of microbial communities to tetraconazole was investigated during 28-day laboratory experiment by determination of changes in their biomass and structure (phospholipid fatty acids method—PLFA), activity (fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis—FDA) as well as changes in genetic (DGGE) and functional (Biolog) diversity. Obtained results indicated that the response of soil microorganisms to tetraconazole depended on the management of the soils. DGGE patterns revealed that both dosages of fungicide affected the structure of bacterial community and the impact on genetic diversity and richness was more prominent in orchard soil. Values of stress indices—the saturated/monounsaturated PLFAs ratio and the cyclo/monounsaturated precursors ratio, were almost twice as high and the Gram-negative/Gram-positive ratio was significantly lower in the orchard soil compared with the grassland soil. Results of principal component analysis of PLFA and Biolog profiles revealed significant impact of tetraconazole in orchard soil on day 28, whereas changes in these profiles obtained for grassland soil were insignificant or transient. Obtained results indicated that orchards soil seems to be more vulnerable to tetraconazole application compared to grassland soil. History of pesticide application and agricultural management should be taken into account in assessing of environmental impact of studied pesticides. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10646-016-1661-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Metrological Characterization of Therapeutic Devices for Pressure Wave Therapy: Force, Energy Density, and Waveform Evaluation

Pressure wave therapy is widespread for multiple purposes, from cell metabolism stimulation to tendons, ligaments, muscles, and bones pathologies treatment. However, in the literature, there are no quantitative metrological data related to pressure wave devices. On the contrary, it would be extremely important to have more information on the provided therapeutic signal, which could also be exploited as input for a finite-element model able to foresee the pressure wave propagation inside the tissues. The authors investigated three different versions of the same device in terms of force applied to the tissue. The results show high variability of the pulses intensities (up to 25%), highlighting a nonuniformity of the treatment (in particular at low frequencies and high compressed air pressure). Moreover, the dependence from different parameters (i.e., pulse frequency, pressure, opening time of the solenoid valve for the compressed air pushing the bullet) was investigated. It was found that the lower the frequency and the higher the opening time of the valve, the higher the force applied to the tissue. An estimation of energy density was done; sometimes the limit values provided by pressure wave therapy guidelines (i.e., DIGEST and ISMST) are exceeded, in particular for soft tissues

A colour-based image segmentation method for the measurement of masticatory performance in older adults

Masticatory efficiency in older adults is an important parameter for the assessment of their oral health and quality of life. This study presents a measurement method based on the automatic segmentation of two-coloured chewing gum based on a K-means clustering algorithm. The solution proposed aims to quantify the mixed areas of colour in order to evaluate masticatory performance in different dental conditions. The samples were provided by 'two-colour mixing' tests, currently the most used technique for the evaluation of masticatory efficacy, because of its simplicity, low acquisition times and reduced cost. The image analysis results demonstrated a high discriminative power, providing results in an automatic manner and reducing errors caused by manual segmentation. This approach thus provides a feasible and robust solution for the segmentation of chewed samples. Validation was carried out by means of a reference software, demonstrating a good correlation (R2 = 0.64) and the higher sensitivity of the proposed method (+75 %). Tests on patients with different oral conditions demonstrated that the K-means segmentation method enabled the automatic classification of patients with different masticatory conditions, providing results in a shorter time period (20 chewing cycles instead of 50)

DIY Wrist-Worn Device for Physiological Monitoring: Metrological Evaluation at Different Band Tightening Levels

Wearable devices are currently employed in several application fields, especially in the healthcare context, thanks to the advent of IoT technology in the global market. However, there are few studies focused on the reliability of collected data depending on the best wearing conditions, e.g. the band tightness in the case of wrist-worn devices, necessary to optimise the quality of the measured data. The aim of this study is to evaluate the variability of heart rate (HR) and tightening force data measured with a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) wrist-worn device, considering three different band tightening levels: loose, medium and tight. Results show that the increasing tightening levels produce an increasing tightening force, as expected; interestingly, the coefficient of variation is minimum (i.e., 0.16%) when the band tightening level is medium