Identification of food and nutrient components as predictors of colonization.

A previous double-blind, randomized clinical trial of 42 healthy individuals conducted with N6.2 found that the probiotic's mechanistic tryptophan pathway was significantly modified when the data was stratified based on the individuals' lactic acid bacteria (LAB) stool content. These results suggest that confounding factors such as dietary intake which impact stool LAB content may affect the response to the probiotic treatment.

Timing of Sexuality Education: Hong Kong Preteens' Perception of Sexual Health.

Although young people want to know more about sexuality, they do not feel they have received what they need to learn. In Chinese societies, scant research has solicited direct input from the youth to obtain their views on sexuality education (SE) deliverables. We found research gaps in the lack of Chinese preteens' input regarding SE timing, knowledge perception, learning readiness, and preteens' reasons for obtaining information about sexual health.

First insights into coral recruit and juvenile abundances at remote Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles.

Coral recruitment and successive growth are essential for post-disturbance reef recovery. As coral recruit and juvenile abundances vary across locations and under different environmental regimes, their assessment at remote, undisturbed reefs improves our understanding of early life stage dynamics of corals. Here, we first explored changes in coral juvenile abundance across three locations (lagoon, seaward west and east) at remote Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles) between 2015 and 2019, which spanned the 2015/16 global coral bleaching event.

Generating single-stranded DNA circles with minimal resources.

Single-stranded circular oligonucleotides are heavily utilized in rolling circle amplification and rolling circle transcription technologies. Although various reported methodologies are available to synthesize circular, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), the unduly complicated protocols and the associated cost minimize the utility of these methodologies to a non-expert or a beginner in the field. Our protocol provides the simplest yet robust synthesis of circular ssDNA templates to be utilized in various applications, using minimal resources.

First insights into the impacts of benthic cyanobacterial mats on fish herbivory functions on a nearshore coral reef.

Benthic cyanobacterial mats (BCMs) are becoming increasingly common on coral reefs. In Fiji, blooms generally occur in nearshore areas during warm months but some are starting to prevail through cold months. Many fundamental knowledge gaps about BCM proliferation remain, including their composition and how they influence reef processes.

Early trajectories of benthic coral reef communities following the 2015/16 coral bleaching event at remote Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles.

Documenting post-bleaching trajectories of coral reef communities is crucial to understand their resilience to climate change. We investigated reef community changes following the 2015/16 bleaching event at Aldabra Atoll, where direct human impact is minimal. We combined benthic data collected pre- (2014) and post-bleaching (2016-2019) at 12 sites across three locations (lagoon, 2 m depth; seaward west and east, 5 and 15 m depth) with water temperature measurements.

In older women, a high-protein diet including animal-sourced foods did not impact serum levels and urinary excretion of trimethylamine-N-oxide.

Diets including red meat and other animal-sourced foods may increase proteolytic fermentation and microbial-generated trimethylamine (TMA) and, subsequently, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a metabolite associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia. It was hypothesized that compared to usual dietary intake, a maintenance-energy high-protein diet (HPD) would increase products of proteolytic fermentation, whereas adjunctive prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic supplementation may mitigate these effects. An exploratory aim was to determine the association of the relative abundance of the TMA-generating taxon, Emergencia timonensis, with serum and urinary TMAO.

Safety and Effect of a Low- and High-Dose Multi-Strain Probiotic Supplement on Microbiota in a General Adult Population: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.

Few studies have focused on dose-response analyses of multi-strain probiotics in the general adult population. This study aimed at comparing how a low- and high-dose of a multi-strain probiotic supplement (containing R0052, R0011, R0215, R1001, R0070, ssp. BB536, R1012, ssp.

Microbiota Stability and Gastrointestinal Tolerance in Response to a High-Protein Diet with and without a Prebiotic, Probiotic, and Synbiotic: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Older Women.

Background: Higher protein intakes may help reduce sarcopenia and facilitate recovery from illness and injury in older adults. However, high-protein diets (HPDs) including animal-sourced foods may negatively perturb the microbiota, and provision of probiotics and prebiotics may mitigate these effects.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of HPD, with and without a probiotic and/or prebiotic, on gut microbiota and wellness in older women.

Positive association between epiphytes and competitiveness of the brown algal genus against corals.

Observations of coral-algal competition can provide valuable information about the state of coral reef ecosystems. Here, we report contact rates and apparent competition states for six shallow lagoonal reefs in Fiji. A total of 81.

Effects of sandfish () removal on shallow-water sediments in Fiji.

Sea cucumbers play an important role in the recycling and remineralization of organic matter (OM) in reef sands through feeding, excretion, and bioturbation processes. Growing demand from Asian markets has driven the overexploitation of these animals globally. The implications of sea cucumber fisheries for shallow coastal ecosystems and their management remain poorly understood.

N6.2 Modulates the Host Immune Responses: A Double-Blind, Randomized Trial in Healthy Adults.

Unlabelled: N6.2 mitigates the onset of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in biobreeding diabetes-prone rats, in part, through changes in kynurenine:tryptophan (K:T) ratios. The goal of this pilot study was to determine the safety, tolerance, and general immunological response of N6.

Evaluation of Handgrip Strength and Nutritional Risk of Congregate Nutrition Program Participants in Florida.

The aim of this study was to determine if handgrip strength (HGS) is a predictor of nutritional risk in community-dwelling older adults. A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the relationship between HGS and nutritional risk using SCREEN 1. The setting was Congregate Nutrition program meal sites (n = 10) in North Central Florida and included community-dwelling older adults participating in the Congregate Nutrition program.

Calcium Supplementation Does Not Contribute to Constipation in Healthy Women.

Purpose: It is commonly suggested that calcium supplementation contributes to constipation; however, little research has explored the effects of calcium supplementation on gut motility.

Methods: In an 8-week, randomized, double-blind, crossover pilot study, healthy females (n = 27, aged 43.0 ± 10.

Engagement of the GABA to KCC2 signaling pathway contributes to the analgesic effects of A3AR agonists in neuropathic pain.

More than 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from chronic pain, yet current treatment strategies often lack efficacy or have deleterious side effects in patients. Adenosine is an inhibitory neuromodulator that was previously thought to mediate antinociception through the A1 and A2A receptor subtypes.

Bifidobacterium bifidum R0071 results in a greater proportion of healthy days and a lower percentage of academically stressed students reporting a day of cold/flu: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Acute psychological stress is positively associated with a cold/flu. The present randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study examined the effect of three potentially probiotic bacteria on the proportion of healthy days over a 6-week period in academically stressed undergraduate students (n 581) who received Lactobacillus helveticus R0052, Bifidobacterium longum ssp. infantis R0033, Bifidobacterium bifidum R0071 or placebo.

Endogenous adenosine A3 receptor activation selectively alleviates persistent pain states.

Chronic pain is a global burden that promotes disability and unnecessary suffering. To date, efficacious treatment of chronic pain has not been achieved. Thus, new therapeutic targets are needed.

Fast detection of nutrient limitation in macroalgae and seagrass with nutrient-induced fluorescence.

Background: Rapid determination of which nutrients limit the primary production of macroalgae and seagrasses is vital for understanding the impacts of eutrophication on marine and freshwater ecosystems. However, current methods to assess nutrient limitation are often cumbersome and time consuming. For phytoplankton, a rapid method has been described based on short-term changes in chlorophyll fluorescence upon nutrient addition, also known as Nutrient-Induced Fluorescence Transients (NIFTs).

Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in the management of locally advanced oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomata (SCC): disease control and functional outcome using the therapy outcome measure (TOM) score--report from a single U.K. institution.

Introduction: This paper evaluates tumour control and toxicity especially in relation to swallowing dysfunction in those patients with locally advanced oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who have undergone either primary chemo-radiation or post-operative parotid sparing IMRT. The TOM scoring system was used to assess dysphagia.

Methods: All patients with locally advanced (stage 3/4) squamous cell oropharyngeal cancer and who required either primary or post-operative RT were identified.

Ebs1p, a negative regulator of gene expression controlled by the Upf proteins in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Mutations in EBS1 were identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae that cosuppress missense, frameshift, and nonsense mutations. Evidence from studies of loss of function and overexpression of EBS1 suggests that Ebs1p affects gene expression by inhibiting translation and that a loss of EBS1 function causes suppression by increasing the rate of translation. Changes in EBS1 expression levels alter the expression of wild-type genes, but, in general, no changes in mRNA abundance were associated with a loss of function or overexpression of EBS1.

mRNAs encoding telomerase components and regulators are controlled by UPF genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Telomeres, the chromosome ends, are maintained by a balance of activities that erode and replace the terminal DNA sequences. Furthermore, telomere-proximal genes are often silenced in an epigenetic manner. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, average telomere length and telomeric silencing are reduced by loss of function of UPF genes required in the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway.

Nuclear import of Upf3p is mediated by importin-alpha/-beta and export to the cytoplasm is required for a functional nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway in yeast.

Upf3p, which is required for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) in yeast, is primarily cytoplasmic but accumulates inside the nucleus when UPF3 is overexpressed or when upf3 mutations prevent nuclear export. Upf3p physically interacts with Srp1p (importin-alpha). Upf3p fails to be imported into the nucleus in a temperature-sensitive srp1-31 strain, indicating that nuclear import is mediated by the importin-alpha/beta heterodimer.