Lower leg muscle activation during the ebbets foot drills.

Lateral ankle sprains (LAS) often lead to chronic ankle instability (CAI). The Ebbets foot drills were created to strengthen the lower leg muscles and reduce the risk of LAS. The current study aimed to explore the activation of the lower leg muscles during the Ebbets foot drills.

Traditional Human Populations and Nonhuman Primates Show Parallel Gut Microbiome Adaptations to Analogous Ecological Conditions.

Compared with urban-industrial populations, small-scale human communities worldwide share a significant number of gut microbiome traits with nonhuman primates. This overlap is thought to be driven by analogous dietary triggers; however, the ecological and functional bases of this similarity are not fully understood. To start addressing this issue, fecal metagenomes of BaAka hunter-gatherers and traditional Bantu agriculturalists from the Central African Republic were profiled and compared with those of a sympatric western lowland gorilla group ( ) across two seasons of variable dietary intake.

Convergence of human and Old World monkey gut microbiomes demonstrates the importance of human ecology over phylogeny.

Background: Comparative data from non-human primates provide insight into the processes that shaped the evolution of the human gut microbiome and highlight microbiome traits that differentiate humans from other primates. Here, in an effort to improve our understanding of the human microbiome, we compare gut microbiome composition and functional potential in 14 populations of humans from ten nations and 18 species of wild, non-human primates.

Results: Contrary to expectations from host phylogenetics, we find that human gut microbiome composition and functional potential are more similar to those of cercopithecines, a subfamily of Old World monkey, particularly baboons, than to those of African apes.

Variations in the microbiome due to storage preservatives are not large enough to obscure variations due to factors such as host population, host species, body site, and captivity.

The study of the primate microbiome is critical in understanding the role of the microbial community in the host organism. To be able to isolate the main factors responsible for the differences observed in microbiomes within and between individuals, confounding factors due to technical variations need to be removed. To determine whether alterations due to preservatives outweigh differences due to factors such as host population, host species, body site, and habitat, we tested three methods (no preservative, 96% ethanol, and RNAlater) for preserving wild chimpanzee (fecal), wild lemur (fecal), wild vervet monkey (rectal, oral, nasal, otic, vaginal, and penile), and captive vervet monkey (rectal) samples.

Plasticity in the Human Gut Microbiome Defies Evolutionary Constraints.

The gut microbiome of primates, including humans, is reported to closely follow host evolutionary history, with gut microbiome composition being specific to the genetic background of its primate host. However, the comparative models used to date have mainly included a limited set of closely related primates. To further understand the forces that shape the primate gut microbiome, with reference to human populations, we expanded the comparative analysis of variation among gut microbiome compositions and their primate hosts, including 9 different primate species and 4 human groups characterized by a diverse set of subsistence patterns ( = 448 samples).

Global phylogeography and ancient evolution of the widespread human gut virus crAssphage.

Microbiomes are vast communities of microorganisms and viruses that populate all natural ecosystems. Viruses have been considered to be the most variable component of microbiomes, as supported by virome surveys and examples of high genomic mosaicism. However, recent evidence suggests that the human gut virome is remarkably stable compared with that of other environments.

Mapping gastrointestinal gene expression patterns in wild primates and humans via fecal RNA-seq.

Background: Limited accessibility to intestinal epithelial tissue in wild animals and humans makes it challenging to study patterns of intestinal gene regulation, and hence to monitor physiological status and health in field conditions. To explore solutions to this limitation, we have used a noninvasive approach via fecal RNA-seq, for the quantification of gene expression markers in gastrointestinal cells of free-range primates and a forager human population. Thus, a combination of poly(A) mRNA enrichment and rRNA depletion methods was used in tandem with RNA-seq to quantify and compare gastrointestinal gene expression patterns in fecal samples of wild Gorilla gorilla gorilla (n = 9) and BaAka hunter-gatherers (n = 10) from The Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas, Central African Republic.

Gut microbiome composition of wild western lowland gorillas is associated with individual age and sex factors.

Objectives: Environmental and ecological factors, such as geographic range, anthropogenic pressure, group identity, and feeding behavior are known to influence the gastrointestinal microbiomes of great apes. However, the influence of individual host traits such as age and sex, given specific dietary and social constraints, has been less studied. The objective of this investigation was to determine the associations between an individual's age and sex on the diversity and composition of the gut microbiome in wild western lowland gorillas.

Cardiorespiratory fitness and the relationship between body fat and resting testosterone in men.

To examine the effect of cardiovascular fitness, i.e. VOmax, on the relationship between weight status and resting testosterone level (RTL) in males.

Relationships Between Gastrointestinal Parasite Infections and the Fecal Microbiome in Free-Ranging Western Lowland Gorillas.

Relationships between gastrointestinal parasites (GIPs) and the gastrointestinal microbiome (GIM) are widely discussed topics across mammalian species due to their possible impact on the host's health. GIPs may change the environment determining alterations in GIM composition. We evaluated the associations between GIP infections and fecal microbiome composition in two habituated and two unhabituated groups of wild western lowland gorillas () from Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas, Central African Republic.

The gut microbiome of nonhuman primates: Lessons in ecology and evolution.

The mammalian gastrointestinal (GI) tract is home to trillions of bacteria that play a substantial role in host metabolism and immunity. While progress has been made in understanding the role that microbial communities play in human health and disease, much less attention has been given to host-associated microbiomes in nonhuman primates (NHPs). Here we review past and current research exploring the gut microbiome of NHPs.

Social behaviour and gut microbiota in red-bellied lemurs (Eulemur rubriventer): In search of the role of immunity in the evolution of sociality.

Vertebrate gut microbiota form a key component of immunity and a dynamic link between an individual and the ecosystem. Microbiota might play a role in social systems as well, because microbes are transmitted during social contact and can affect host behaviour. Combining methods from behavioural and molecular research, we describe the relationship between social dynamics and gut microbiota of a group-living cooperative species of primate, the red-bellied lemur (Eulemur rubriventer).

Impact of stress on the gut microbiome of free-ranging western lowland gorillas.

Exposure to stressors can negatively impact the mammalian gastrointestinal microbiome (GIM). Here, we used 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA bacterial gene amplicons to evaluate the impact of physiological stress, as evidenced by faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGCM; ng/g), on the GIM composition of free-ranging western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Although we found no relationship between GIM alpha diversity (H) and FGCM levels, we observed a significant relationship between the relative abundances of particular bacterial taxa and FGCM levels.

The Effect of a Backpack Hip Strap on Energy Expenditure While Walking.

Objective To examine the effect of backpack hip strap use on walking energy expenditure while carrying a loaded backpack. Background Previous studies have demonstrated that energy cost increases as the mass of the load carried increases. However, few investigations have focused on backpack carriage design.

Patterns in Gut Microbiota Similarity Associated with Degree of Sociality among Sex Classes of a Neotropical Primate.

Studies of human and domestic animal models indicate that related individuals and those that spend the most time in physical contact typically have more similar gut microbial communities. However, few studies have examined these factors in wild mammals where complex social dynamics and a variety of interacting environmental factors may impact the patterns observed in controlled systems. Here, we explore the effect of host kinship and time spent in social contact on the gut microbiota of wild, black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra).

Modulated-Alignment Dual-Axis (MAD) Confocal Microscopy Optimized for Speed and Contrast.

Modulated-alignment dual-axis (MAD) confocal microscopy combines the benefits of dual-axis confocal (DAC) microscopy and focal-modulation microscopy (FMM) for rejecting out-of-focus and multiply scattered light in tissues. The DAC architecture, which utilizes off-axis and separated beam paths for illumination and detection, has previously been shown to be superior to single-axis confocal (SAC) microscopy for the spatial filtering (rejection) of unwanted background light. With the MAD approach, a modulation of the alignment between the illumination and collection beam paths tags ballistic photons emanating from the focal volume with a characteristic radio frequency that can be extracted and separated from background signal using lock-in detection.

Effect of Antibiotic Treatment on the Gastrointestinal Microbiome of Free-Ranging Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla).

The mammalian gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome, which plays indispensable roles in host nutrition and health, is affected by numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Among them, antibiotic (ATB) treatment is reported to have a significant effect on GI microbiome composition in humans and other animals. However, the impact of ATBs on the GI microbiome of free-ranging or even captive great apes remains poorly characterized.

Host age, social group, and habitat type influence the gut microbiota of wild ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta).

The gut microbiota contributes to host health by maintaining homeostasis, increasing digestive efficiency, and facilitating the development of the immune system. The composition of the gut microbiota can change dramatically within and between individuals of a species as a result of diet, age, or habitat. Therefore, understanding the factors determining gut microbiota diversity and composition can contribute to our knowledge of host ecology as well as to conservation efforts.

Sex differences in the behavior of wild Alouatta caraya infants.

Several primates show sex-based differences in activity patterns and social interactions during infancy. These differences have been associated with adult social and reproductive functions of males and females and are related to male-male competition. Our goal was to describe behavioral patterns of wild Alouatta caraya male and female infants, a species with sexual dimorphism in body size and behavioral strategies during adulthood.

Gut Microbiome of Coexisting BaAka Pygmies and Bantu Reflects Gradients of Traditional Subsistence Patterns.

To understand how the gut microbiome is impacted by human adaptation to varying environments, we explored gut bacterial communities in the BaAka rainforest hunter-gatherers and their agriculturalist Bantu neighbors in the Central African Republic. Although the microbiome of both groups is compositionally similar, hunter-gatherers harbor increased abundance of Prevotellaceae, Treponema, and Clostridiaceae, while the Bantu gut microbiome is dominated by Firmicutes. Comparisons with US Americans reveal microbiome differences between Africans and westerners but show western-like features in the Bantu, including an increased abundance of predictive carbohydrate and xenobiotic metabolic pathways.

Quantitative molecular phenotyping with topically applied SERS nanoparticles for intraoperative guidance of breast cancer lumpectomy.

There is a need to image excised tissues during tumor-resection procedures in order to identify residual tumors at the margins and to guide their complete removal. The imaging of dysregulated cell-surface receptors is a potential means of identifying the presence of diseases with high sensitivity and specificity. However, due to heterogeneities in the expression of protein biomarkers in tumors, molecular-imaging technologies should ideally be capable of visualizing a multiplexed panel of cancer biomarkers.