Publications by authors named "Blouin M"

Palmitic acid (PA) supplementation and greater milking frequency can increase milk production and fat yield in dairy cows. However, the technological impacts of those practices on cheesemaking still need to be determined. This work aimed to evaluate, with Holstein dairy cows, the effects of dietary PA, thrice-daily milking frequency, and their interaction on cheese yield and composition.

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Aims: The accuracy of model-informed precision dosing largely depends on selecting the most appropriate population pharmacokinetic (popPK) model from many available options. This study aims to evaluate the concordance of optimal initial simulated doses among various vancomycin popPK models developed in neonates and to explore the role of predictive performance in explaining the variability in probability of target attainment (PTA).

Methods: A virtual neonatal patient population was created and 26 previously externally evaluated vancomycin popPK models were used to simulate 5 different dosing regimens.

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Introduction: Guidelines for vancomycin therapeutic monitoring recommend using a Bayesian approach with a population pharmacokinetic model to estimate the 24 h area under the concentration-time curve over first-order equations. Thus, we performed an external evaluation of population pharmacokinetic models of vancomycin in neonates and compared Bayesian results with those observed in clinical practice via pharmacokinetic equations to improve therapeutic monitoring by proposing optimized initial dosing nomograms and assessing the feasibility of reduced blood sampling strategies using the most predictive models.

Methods: Models were identified from the literature and evaluated via an external neonatal population.

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Interactions between plants and microorganisms are pivotal for plant growth and productivity. Several plant molecular mechanisms that shape these microbial communities have been identified. However, the importance of nitric oxide (NO) produced by plants for the associated microbiota remains elusive.

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The trematodes that cause schistosomiasis in humans require aquatic snails as intermediate hosts. Identifying the genes in snails at which allelic variation controls resistance to infection by schistosomes could lead to novel ways to break the cycle of transmission. We therefore mapped genetic variation within the BS90 population of Biomphalaria glabrata snails that controls their resistance to infection by the SmLE population of Schistosoma mansoni.

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Background: An increase in Staphylococcus aureus infections has been reported in pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) over the last few years. This pathogen is commonly treated with vancomycin, an antibiotic for which therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is recommended. Updated guidelines were recently published regarding new targets of exposure for the TDM of vancomycin through a Bayesian approach, using population pharmacokinetic (popPK) models.

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To meet the high consumer demand, butter production has increased over the last few years. As a result, the buttermilk (BM) co-produced volumes require new ways of adding value, such as in cheese manufacturing. However, BM use in cheese milk negatively influences the cheesemaking process (e.

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Background: Vancomycin therapeutic monitoring guidelines were revised in March 2020, and a population pharmacokinetics-guided Bayesian approach to estimate the 24-hour area under the concentration-time curve to the minimum inhibitory concentration ratio has since been recommended instead of trough concentrations. To comply with these latest guidelines, we evaluated published population pharmacokinetic models of vancomycin using an external dataset of neonatal patients and selected the most predictive model to develop a new initial dosing regimen.

Methods: The models were identified from the literature and tested using a retrospective dataset of Canadian neonates.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study addresses the challenges of controlling schistosomiasis, particularly focusing on genetic methods to disrupt the transmission of the parasite Schistosoma mansoni, mainly through research on its snail vector, Biomphalaria, with an emphasis on the underrepresented African species.
  • - Researchers generated the first genome assembly of Biomphalaria sudanica from Lake Victoria, revealing a haploid genome size of ~944.2 Mb with 23,598 genes, and demonstrating the presence of immune-related genes similar to those in the South American snail, B. glabrata.
  • - The findings highlight significant genetic diversity in immune-related genomic regions, particularly in the PTC2 region, suggesting a potentially enhanced immune response against S. mans
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Earthworms are known to stimulate soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but the majority of previous studies have used simplified model systems or lacked continuous high-frequency measurements. To address this, we conducted a 2-year study using large lysimeters (5 m area and 1.5 m soil depth) in an ecotron facility, continuously measuring ecosystem-level CO, NO, and HO fluxes.

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Background: Control and elimination of schistosomiasis is an arduous task, with current strategies proving inadequate to break transmission. Exploration of genetic approaches to interrupt transmission, the causative agent for human intestinal schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa and South America, has led to genomic research of the snail vector hosts of the genus Few complete genomic resources exist, with African species being particularly underrepresented despite this being where the majority of infections occur. Here we generate and annotate the first genome assembly of sensu lato, a species responsible for transmission in lake and marsh habitats of the African Rift Valley.

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Multispecies biofilms are important models for studying the evolution of microbial interactions. Co-cultivation of Xanthomonas retroflexus (XR) and Paenibacillus amylolyticus (PA) systemically leads to the appearance of an XR wrinkled mutant (XRW), increasing biofilm production. The nature of this new interaction and the role of each partner remain unclear.

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Hookworm infection is a major public health problem in many regions of the world. Given the high levels of host morbidity and even mortality of the host caused by these infections, it is crucial to understand the genetic structure of hookworm populations. This understanding can provide insights into the ecology, transmission patterns, mechanisms of drug resistance, and the development of vaccines and immunotherapeutic strategies.

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Interspecific interactions play an important role in the establishment of a community phenotype. Furthermore, the evolution of a community can both occur through an independent evolution of the species composing the community and the interactions among them. In this study, we investigated how important the evolution of interspecific interactions was in the evolutionary response of eight two-bacterial species communities regarding productivity.

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Article Synopsis
  • BS90 is a snail strain notable for its resistance to schistosomiasis, but recent testing reveals that its genetic haplotype actually leads to increased susceptibility instead.
  • The study employed marker-assisted backcrossing to assess the effects of specific genetic regions on resistance and confirmed that the previously thought resistant haplotype does not function as expected.
  • The findings challenge prior research and suggest that the causal gene for resistance may be located outside the analyzed region, prompting further investigation into candidate genes and reasons for these differing results.
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Artificial selection can be conducted at the community level in the laboratory through a differential propagation of the communities according to their level of expression of a targeted function. Working with communities instead of individuals as selection units brings in additional sources of variation in the considered function that can influence the outcome of the artificial selection. In this study, we wanted to assess the effect of manipulating the initial community richness on artificial selection efficiency, defined as the change in the targeted function over time.

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Background/purpose: Type 2 diabetes and obesity increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Metformin may reduce colorectal cancer but the mechanisms mediating this effect remain unclear. In mice and humans, a high-fat diet (HFD), obesity and metformin are known to alter the gut microbiome but whether this is important for influencing tumor growth is not known.

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Salmonid fish raised in hatcheries often have lower fitness (number of returning adult offspring) than wild fish when both spawn in the wild. Body size at release from hatcheries is positively correlated with survival at sea. So one explanation for reduced fitness is that hatcheries inadvertently select for trait values that enhance growth rate under the unnatural environment of a hatchery, but that are maladaptive in the wild environment.

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Artificial selection of microbiota opens new avenues for improving plants. However, reported results lack consistency. We hypothesised that the success in artificial selection of microbiota depends on the stabilisation of community structure.

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Many separate fields and practices nowadays consider microbes as part of their legitimate focus. Therefore, microbiome studies may act as unexpected unifying forces across very different disciplines. Here, we summarize how microbiomes appear as novel major biological players, offer new artistic frontiers, new uses from medicine to laws, and inspire novel ontologies.

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Background: Androgen deficiency is common among prostate cancer survivors, but many guidelines consider history of prostate cancer a contraindication for testosterone replacement. We determined the safety and efficacy of a selective androgen receptor modulator (OPK-88004) in symptomatic, testosterone-deficient men who had undergone radical prostatectomy for low-grade, organ-confined prostate cancer.

Methods: In this placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind trial, 114 men, ≥19 years of age, who had undergone radical prostatectomy for low-grade, organ-localized prostate cancer, undetectable PSA (<0.

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Background: One of the most important prognostic factors for mortality in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the development of nodal metastasis. There is no consensus regarding which patient with cSCC should be offered sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB).

Objective: This study aimed to establish the rate of positive SLNBs among patients with high-risk cSCCs and to identify which high-risk features are associated with a positive SLNB.

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