Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Tsetse Metabolic Gambit: Living on Blood by Relying on Symbionts Demands Synchronization

Tsetse flies have socioeconomic significance as the obligate vector of multiple Trypanosoma parasites, the causative agents of Human and Animal African Trypanosomiases. Like many animals subsisting on a limited diet, microbial symbiosis is key to supplementing nutrient deficiencies necessary for metabolic, reproductive, and immune functions. Extensive studies on the microbiota in parallel to tsetse biology have unraveled the many dependencies partners have for one another. But far less is known mechanistically on how products are swapped between partners and how these metabolic exchanges are regulated, especially to address changing physiological needs. More specifically, how do metabolites contributed by one partner get to the right place at the right time and in the right amounts to the other partner? Epigenetics is the study of molecules and mechanisms that regulate the inheritance, gene activity and expression of traits that are not due to DNA sequence alone. The roles that epigenetics provide as a mechanistic link between host phenotype, metabolism and microbiota (both in composition and activity) is relatively unknown and represents a frontier of exploration. Here, we take a closer look at blood feeding insects with emphasis on the tsetse fly, to specifically propose roles for microRNAs (miRNA) and DNA methylation, in maintaining insect-microbiota functional homeostasis. We provide empirical details to addressing these hypotheses and advancing these studies. Deciphering how microbiota and host activity are harmonized may foster multiple applications toward manipulating host health, including identifying novel targets for innovative vector control strategies to counter insidious pests such as tsetse.
Multiplex Serology for Measurement of IgG Antibodies Against Eleven Infectious Diseases in a National Serosurvey: Haiti 2014–2015

Background Integrated surveillance for multiple diseases can be an efficient use of resources and advantageous for national public health programs. Detection of IgG antibodies typically indicates previous exposure to a pathogen but can potentially also serve to assess active infection status. Serological multiplex bead assays have recently been developed to simultaneously evaluate exposure to multiple antigenic targets. Haiti is an island nation in the Caribbean region with multiple endemic infectious diseases, many of which have a paucity of data for population-level prevalence or exposure. Methods A nationwide serosurvey occurred in Haiti from December 2014 to February 2015. Filter paper blood samples (n = 4,438) were collected from participants in 117 locations and assayed for IgG antibodies on a multiplex bead assay containing 15 different antigens from 11 pathogens: Plasmodium falciparum, Toxoplasma gondii, lymphatic filariasis roundworms, Strongyloides stercoralis, chikungunya virus, dengue virus, Chlamydia trachomatis, Treponema pallidum, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Entamoeba histolytica, and Cryptosporidium parvum. Results Different proportions of the Haiti study population were IgG seropositive to the different targets, with antigens from T. gondii, C. parvum, dengue virus, chikungunya virus, and C. trachomatis showing the highest rates of seroprevalence. Antibody responses to T. pallidum and lymphatic filariasis were the lowest, with <5% of all samples IgG seropositive to antigens from these pathogens. Clear trends of increasing seropositivity and IgG levels with age were seen for all antigens except those from chikungunya virus and E. histolytica. Parametric models were able to estimate the rate of seroconversion and IgG acquisition per year for residents of Haiti. Conclusions Multiplex serological assays can provide a wealth of information about population exposure to different infectious diseases. This current Haitian study included IgG targets for arboviral, parasitic, and bacterial infectious diseases representing multiple different modes of host transmission. Some of these infectious diseases had a paucity or complete absence of published serological studies in Haiti. Clear trends of disease burden with respect to age and location in Haiti can be used by national programs and partners for follow-up studies, resource allocation, and intervention planning.
Partitioning of Space Among Trees in an Old-Growth Spruce Forest in Subarctic Fennoscandia

The distribution of space among forest trees is linked to the availability of resources, among-tree competition, and hence forest dynamics. We studied partitioning of horizontal space among trees and related spatial structures in an old-growth Picea abies (L.) Karst -dominated forest in northeastern subarctic Fennoscandia, where Betula pubescens (Ehrh.) is an important co-dominant. Specifically, we asked (1) how does growing space occupied by trees vary by tree species and size in an old-growth forest with open canopy structure, and (2) at what scales does the variation in tree growing space occur? We mapped an 8.8 ha forest plot with 4,884 live trees. We used Voronoi polygons to quantify the horizontal space potentially available to each tree. We modeled the Voronoi polygon area as a function of tree size and species by using generalized additive models (GAM). We used i-to-any L-functions to study the scale-dependence of tree densities around focal trees, and mark correlation functions to study the relative sizes of trees close to each other. The GAM models showed that tree growing space increased non-linearly with tree size before saturating, and that overall growing space was larger for B. pubescens than for P. abies. Mean space occupied by trees roughly doubled from the smallest diameter class (0–5 cm) to the largest (>25 cm), from 13.7 to 26.7 m2. Depending on diameter class, shade-intolerant B. pubescens occupied on average 5–10 m2 more space than shade-tolerant P. abies. Trees close to each other were smaller than average. Size- and species-dependent differences in local tree densities accumulated mostly at the scale of a few meters but showed also broader-scale variation possibly related to edaphic variation within the study plot. The tree species- and size-related variation in the trees’ growing space suggests that among-tree competition, together with clustering of trees, shape the spatial assembly of the forest.
Reactive Oxygen Species and Metabolism in Leukemia: A Dangerous Liaison

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), previously considered toxic by-products of aerobic metabolism, are increasingly recognized as regulators of cellular signaling. Keeping ROS levels low is essential to safeguard the self-renewal capacity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). HSC reside in a hypoxic environment and have been shown to be highly dependent on the glycolytic pathway to meet their energy requirements. However, when the differentiation machinery is activated, there is an essential enhancement of ROS together with a metabolic shift toward oxidative metabolism. Initiating and sustaining leukemia depend on the activity of leukemic stem cells (LSC). LSC also show low ROS levels, but unlike HSC, LSC rely on oxygen to meet their metabolic energetic requirements through mitochondrial respiration. In contrast, leukemic blasts show high ROS levels and great metabolic plasticity, both of which seem to sustain their invasiveness. Oxidative stress and metabolism rewiring are recognized as hallmarks of cancer that are intimately intermingled. Here we present a detailed overview of these two features, sustained at different levels, that support a two-way relationship in leukemia. Modifying ROS levels and targeting metabolism are interesting therapeutic approaches. Therefore, we provide the most recent evidence on the modulation of oxidative stress and metabolism as a suitable anti-leukemic approach.
Cardiometabolic Effects of a 12-Month, COVID-19 Lockdown-Interrupted Lifestyle Education Program for Arab Adolescents

Background Childhood obesity and pediatric metabolic syndrome (MetS) have steadily increased during the last decade in Saudi Arabia. Intervention programs to prevent cardiometabolic disorders in Arab youth are needed. Objective In this multi-school intervention study which was disrupted by COVID-19-imposed lockdowns (September 2019–April 2021), a 12-month lifestyle education program focused on improving the cardiometabolic status of Arab adolescents was investigated. Methods A total of 2,677 Saudi students aged 12–18 years were recruited from 60 different secondary and preparatory year schools in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. The intervention was initially in-person counseling sessions and the subsequent sessions conducted virtually post-pandemic. Baseline anthropometrics and fasting blood samples for glucose, HbA1c, and lipid assessments were collected at baseline and after 12 months (704 participants). Results Only 704 out of 2,677 (73.7% dropout) completed the intervention. At baseline, 19.6% of the participants were overweight and 18.1% were obese. A modest but significant decrease in the prevalence of central obesity [11.2 vs. 6.7% (−4.5% change, p = 0.002)], hypertension [22.3 vs. 11.4% (−10.9% change, p < 0.001)], and low-HDL cholesterol [61.6 vs. 23.3% (−38.3% change, p < 0.001)] was noted. Consequently, the prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia increased from 22.7 to 56.3% (+ 33.6%, p < 0.001) overtime. Also, the proportion of subjects who were able to change their status from MetS to non-MetS was significantly more in overweight/obese at baseline than normal weight (16.9 vs. 3.6%, adjusted OR = 3.42, p < 0.001). Conclusion Interrupted lifestyle education programs secondary to COVID-19-imposed lockdowns still provided modest effects in improving cardiometabolic indices of Arab adolescents. Given the high digital literacy of Arab youth, improving the delivery of virtual lifestyle education programs may prove beneficial.
Back to the Roots of Nursing: Qualitative Study on the Experience of Nurses in the Front Line During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 emergency has led many health facilities to reorganize themselves in a very short time to meet the urgent needs for intensive, semi-intensive or ordinary care of SARS-CoV-2 patients. In this pandemic, characterized by speed of transmission and severity of respiratory symptoms, care has been affected by the increase in volume and clinical complexity of patients, the sudden and unpredictable staff decrease and the lack of support from family members / caregivers. At the same time, experience in the field has shown how “informal” resources have been activated, which enabled to treat the highest possible number of patients above the real availability of resources. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of nurses involved in frontline care (COVID Centers) during the pandemic with a particular focus on professional motivation and on the development of technical-professional and personal skills. A study with a qualitative research design using focus group technique was conducted. Two focus groups were held with nine nurses. Data were analyzed with inductive content analysis. The findings can be summarized in five main categories: professional identity; motivation and sense of mission; development of professional and personal skills; spirituality; person-centered care; uniqueness of the lived experience. These findings shed new light on the correlation between motivation, professional identity and value, sense of duty and sense of belonging to the professional group. Moreover, the experience in the COVID Centers represented a valuable opportunity for participants to rediscover some specific issues related to nursing professional identity and to develop new personal and technical-professional skills in a very short time. Finally, nurses experienced once again how the nurse-patient relationship and basic care are essential to provide effective and excellent care, even and especially for patients in critical conditions. Nurses re-discovered, in a careful body care and basic care, irreplaceable elements to give back to patients, often dying, their own dignity, and all the needed closeness and attention necessary also to compensate the absence of the loved ones. These elements represent a way to concretely and deeply express the ethics of a job well done in nursing.
Epidemiology and Clinical Features of Listeriosis in Gipuzkoa, Spain, 2010–2020

Background Listeriosis continues to be one of the most important notifiable foodborne diseases. Nonetheless, in Spain, there are few data on the molecular epidemiology of Listeria monocytogenes infections in recent years. Aim To describe clinical features and the molecular epidemiology of human listeriosis over an 11-year period (2010–2020) in Gipuzkoa, Northern Spain. Methods A total of 111 isolates, all but one from invasive disease, were studied. Serotyping (agglutination and multiplex polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) and multilocus sequence typing were performed for all isolates. Antibiotic susceptibility was assessed by the broth microdilution method. Results The average annual incidence of listeriosis in non-pregnancy-associated cases was 1.55 per 100,000 population, with a 1-month mortality rate of 22.2%. In pregnant women, the average incidence was 0.45 cases per 1,000 pregnancies. Twenty-four sequence types were identified, serotype 4b ST1 (24.3%) being the most frequent followed by 1/2b ST87 (18.9%), which caused two long outbreaks in 2013–2014. A significant association was observed between ST219 and meningitis (p < 0.001). All isolates were susceptible to ampicillin as well as other antibiotics used in listeriosis treatment. Conclusion Despite current control measures, listeriosis continues to be an important cause of mortality in the elderly, preterm birth, and miscarriages in pregnant women. Improvements in the control and diagnosis of listeriosis are needed to reduce the impact of this infection on vulnerable populations.
Spontaneous Riboflavin-Overproducing Limosilactobacillus reuteri for Biofortification of Fermented Foods

Riboflavin-producing lactic acid bacteria represent a promising and cost-effective strategy for food biofortification, but production levels are typically insufficient to support daily human requirements. In this study, we describe the novel human isolate Limosilactobacillus reuteri AMBV339 as a strong food biofortification candidate. This strain shows a high natural riboflavin (vitamin B2) overproduction of 18.36 μg/ml, biomass production up to 6 × 1010 colony-forming units/ml (in the typical range of model lactobacilli), and pH-lowering capacities to a pH as low as 4.03 in common plant-based (coconut, soy, and oat) and cow milk beverages when cultured up to 72 h at 37°C. These properties were especially pronounced in coconut beverage and butter milk fermentations, and were sustained in co-culture with the model starter Streptococcus thermophilus. Furthermore, L. reuteri AMBV339 grown in laboratory media or in a coconut beverage survived in gastric juice and in a simulated gastrointestinal dialysis model with colon phase (GIDM-colon system) inoculated with fecal material from a healthy volunteer. Passive transport of L. reuteri AMBV339-produced riboflavin occurred in the small intestinal and colon stage of the GIDM system, and active transport via intestinal epithelial Caco-2 monolayers was also demonstrated. L. reuteri AMBV339 did not cause fecal microbiome perturbations in the GIDM-colon system and inhibited enteric bacterial pathogens in vitro. Taken together, our data suggests that L. reuteri AMBV339 represents a promising candidate to provide riboflavin fortification of plant-based and dairy foods, and has a high application potential in the human gastrointestinal tract.
Utility of Dendrochronology Crossdating Methods in the Development of Arctic Coralline Red Algae Clathromorphum compactum Growth Increment Chronology for Sea Ice Cover Reconstruction

Paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental reconstructions from increment-yielding archives strongly depend on precise age models. Like bivalves, corals, trees, and speleothems, the coralline alga Clathromorphum compactum produces annual growth increments and shows considerable promise as an environmental archive for arctic and subarctic regions. Though their growth increment widths correlate with temperature and sea ice cover in high Arctic regions, existing timeseries have not been crossdated. In fact, previous studies have shown a lack of inter-sample correlation in non-crossdated timeseries suggesting possible age model dating errors. Here, we use dendrochronology crossdating techniques and COFECHA software to ensure and validate synchrony between C. compactum timeseries (<141 years) from three specimens collected near Beechey Island, Nunavut, Canada. Results showed that non-crossdated timeseries constructed by four coralline red algae researchers using annual increments of the same C. compactum samples were highly variable and showcase the likelihood of dating errors in non-crossdated timeseries. Crossdating improved inter-series correlations, and correlations to sea ice-related records, suggesting that at least three crossdated timeseries are required to isolate paleoclimate signals. Our findings suggest that future reconstructions with C. compactum should employ crossdating techniques to reduce dating errors and allow for more precise climate reconstructions. Lay Abstract Long-term environmental records provide a critical baseline to examine how humans have impacted Earth’s natural climate. An important piece to consider is sea ice’s role in natural climate variability because its brightness limits warming by reflecting solar irradiation back to space. However, instrumental records of sea ice rarely extend beyond the early satellite era (late 1970s), limiting our understanding of how sea ice affects natural climate variability in the preindustrial era. A lack of historical baseline prompted the development of sea ice proxies, including the long-lived marine alga, Clathromorphum compactum. Similar to tree-rings, C. compactum produces a new mineralized layer each year, and layer thicknesses have been shown to respond to sea ice cover, making them useful to record long-term sea ice variability. However, a recent study showed that records had replicability problems, maybe due to dating mistakes. Our study applies tree-ring dating methods (dendrochronology) to match annual algal growth layers across algal specimens. Results showed that these new methods reduced dating errors, allowing for more precise past sea ice cover reconstructions.
The Evolution of Playfulness, Play and Play-Like Phenomena in Relation to Sexual Selection

By conceptualizing Sexual Selection, Darwin showed a way to analyze intra-specific individual differences within an evolutionary perspective. Interestingly, Sexual Selection is often used to investigate the origins of sports, arts, humor, religion and other phenomena that, in several languages, are simply called “play. ” Despite their manifested differences, these phenomena rely on shared psychological processes, including playfulness. Further, in such behaviors there is usually considerable individual variability, including sex differences, and positive relationship with mating success. However, Sexual Selection is rarely applied in the study of play, with exception to what is concerned as infant training behavior for adult sex roles. We offer an integrated grounding of playful phenomena aligning evolutionary propositions based on sexual selection, which might stimulate further exploration of playfulness within evolutionary perspective.
High Serum Vitamin D Concentrations, Induced via Diet, Trigger Immune and Intestinal Microbiota Alterations Leading to Type 1 Diabetes Protection in NOD Mice

The hormonally-active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, can modulate both innate and adaptive immunity, through binding to the nuclear vitamin D receptor expressed in most immune cells. A high dose of regular vitamin D protected non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice against type 1 diabetes (T1D), when initiated at birth and given lifelong. However, considerable controversy exists on the level of circulating vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D3, 25(OH)D3) needed to modulate the immune system in autoimmune-prone subjects and protect against T1D onset. Here, we evaluated the impact of two doses of dietary vitamin D supplementation (400 and 800 IU/day), given to female NOD mice from 3 until 25 weeks of age, on disease development, peripheral and gut immune system, gut epithelial barrier function, and gut bacterial taxonomy. Whereas serum 25(OH)D3 concentrations were 2.6- (400 IU/day) and 3.9-fold (800 IU/day) higher with dietary vitamin D supplementation compared to normal chow (NC), only the 800 IU/day vitamin D-supplemented diet delayed and reduced T1D incidence compared to NC. Flow cytometry analyses revealed an increased frequency of FoxP3+ Treg cells in the spleen of mice receiving the 800 IU/day vitamin D-supplemented diet. This vitamin D-induced increase in FoxP3+ Treg cells, also expressing the ecto-5’-nucleotidase CD73, only persisted in the spleen of mice at 25 weeks of age. At this time point, the frequency of IL-10-secreting CD4+ T cells was also increased in all studied immune organs. High-dose vitamin D supplementation was unable to correct gut leakiness nor did it significantly modify the increased gut microbial diversity and richness over time observed in NOD mice receiving NC. Intriguingly, the rise in alpha-diversity during maturation occurred especially in mice not progressing to hyperglycaemia. Principal coordinates analysis identified that both diet and disease status significantly influenced the inter-individual microbiota variation at the genus level. The abundance of the genera Ruminoclostridium_9 and Marvinbryantia gradually increased or decreased, respectively in faecal samples of mice on the 800 IU/day vitamin D-supplemented diet compared to mice on the 400 IU/day vitamin D-supplemented diet or NC, irrespective of disease outcome. In summary, dietary vitamin D reduced T1D incidence in female NOD mice at a dose of 800, but not of 400, IU/day, and was accompanied by an expansion of Treg cells in various lymphoid organs and an altered intestinal microbiota signature.