bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Continent‐wide differences in diet breadth of large terrestrial carnivores: the effect of large prey and competitors
Authors: Ferretti Francesco , Lovari Sandro , Lucherini Mauro , Hayward Matt W. , Stephens Philip A. 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Despite their importance for understanding consumer‐resource dynamics, the dietary responses of large terrestrial predators to variations in prey richness and competition pressure are unclear. While a greater predator selectivity along with increasing prey abundance would be expected under an optimal foraging scenario, there is some evidence that predators may broaden their diet where there is a greater resource diversity. Furthermore, the use of large prey may be limited by increasing presence of competitors.

We considered three widespread large carnivores (the grey wolf Canis lupus, the puma Puma concolor and the leopard Panthera pardus), whose distribution range encompasses different continents, with different communities of prey/competitors. We expected that the potential to modulate their use of large prey according to prey richness would vary according to different levels of potential competition.

We collated data from more than 240 studies of the diets of wolf, puma and leopard to model whether the relationships between the diversity of used large prey (i.e. the Large Prey Index) and prey richness was modulated by carnivore richness, in different continents.

The wolf showed an increase in the Large Prey Index with prey richness across its distribution range, where it is usually the apex predator in areas from which data are available. Conversely, the leopard showed this pattern in Asia, but not in Africa, where it often coexists with a greater array of potential competitors. For the puma, the Large Prey Index increased with prey richness throughout its distribution range, except in the areas where the larger and dominant jaguar also occurred.

By emphasising the complex relationships between prey richness and predator diets, our results testify to the suppressive effects of larger competitors over the use of large prey by subordinate carnivores.
Usefulness of 18F‐FDG PET‐CT for the management of invasive fungal infections: A retrospective cohort from a tertiary university hospital
Authors: Gutiérrez‐Martín Isabel , García‐Prieto Sonia , Velásquez Karina , Gutiérrez‐Abreu Edith Vanessa , Diego‐Yagüe Itziar , Calderón‐Parra Jorge , Gutiérrez‐Villanueva Andrea , Ramos‐Martínez Antonio , Múñez‐Rubio Elena , Callejas‐Díaz Alejandro , De la Fuente Moral Sara , Díaz de Santiago Alberto , Sánchez Romero Isabel , Rodríguez Alfonso Begoña , Fernández‐Cruz Ana 
Published: February 2024

AbstractBackground18F‐FDG PET‐CT is a potentially useful technique to help manage invasive fungal infection (IFI), but information on this topic is scarce.ObjectivesTo describe our experience using 18F‐FDG PET‐CT for IFI management.Patients/MethodsRetrospective cohort of IFI episodes in a university hospital from 2018 to 2023 with a18F‐FDG PET‐CT performed during the episode. We analysed its impact on IFI management compared to conventional imaging.ResultsThirty‐five patients diagnosed with 36 episodes of IFI (52.8% moulds, 44.4% yeasts and 2.8% Pneumocystis) underwent 55 18F‐FDG PET‐CT. 74.3% were immunocompromised, including 45.7% solid organ transplant recipients. Indications for 18F‐FDG PET‐CT were diagnostic (10.9%), staging (47.3%) and follow‐up (41.8%). Altogether 18F‐FDG PET‐CT added value to IFI management in 50.9% episodes. In 26 patients who had both staging 18F‐FDG PET‐CT and conventional imaging, sites of IFI dissemination were detected in 53.8% and 19.2%, respectively. Staging 18F‐FDG PET‐CT unveiled occult sites in 34.6%, uncovering unknown dissemination in 19.2%. In the evaluation of endocarditis in patients with fungemia, it contributed in at least 38.5%.Follow‐up 18F‐FDG PET‐CTs had an added value in 47.8% episodes. They were allowed to de‐escalate antifungal therapy in 26.1%. There were discordant findings between 18F‐FDG PET‐CT and CT follow‐up in 40% cases.ConclusionsOverall, 18F‐FDG PET‐CT added value to IFI management in more than 50% of the episodes. It increased the diagnosis of occult sites, unveiled disseminated disease missed out by conventional imaging, and contributed to diagnose or rule out endocarditis in fungemia. Follow‐up 18F‐FDG PET‐CT helped adjust the treatment duration and deserves further study.
Living art or souvenir? Perspectives on the interpretation of traditional pottery in Cambodia
Authors: Caruso Giacomo 
Published: February 2024

AbstractCambodia is a country facing an unprecedented wave of development but also the delicate task of conservation of traditional heritage. Pottery is one of the crafts that the Khmer civilization had been able to produce in various forms, of which mainly two are found in the country today. One style, produced in the province of Kampong Chhnang, is utilitarian and has a fairly solid internal market due to the still predominant agricultural society of Cambodia. It is unglazed, and aesthetically unadorned, but nonetheless “traditional” in its simple features. Another ware, produced mainly in pottery studios related to the Royal University of Fine Arts in the capital Phnom Penh, is, quite bombastically, but not without a certain consciousness, retrieving and repeating in a modern key, the ancient royal pottery once produced at Angkor. The latter ware style is, ironically, mainly produced for the tourist business in present‐day Cambodia, and therefore, arguably superfluous for the country's living cultural heritage. This article investigates the two modes of production and attempts to elucidate why different practical and aesthetical approaches are selected for different purposes and markets by practitioners and retailers, according to certain cultural interpretations of what is supposed to be “traditional.”
Gut peptides before and following Roux‐En‐Y gastric bypass: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Simoneau Mylène , McKay Brad , Brooks Emma , Doucet Éric , Baillot Aurélie 
Published: February 2024

SummaryA systematic search was conducted in Medline Ovid, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials up until March 2021 following PRISMA guidelines. Studies included evaluated ghrelin, GLP‐1, PYY or appetite sensation via visual analogue scales (VASs) before and after Roux‐en‐Y gastric bypass (RYGB) in adults. A multilevel model with random effects for study and follow‐up time points nested in study was fit to the data. The model included kcal consumption as a covariate and time points as moderators. Among the 2559 articles identified, k = 47 were included, among which k = 19 evaluated ghrelin, k = 40 GLP‐1, k = 22 PYY, and k = 8 appetite sensation. Our results indicate that fasting ghrelin levels are decreased 2 weeks post‐RYGB (p = 0.005) but do not differ from baseline from 6 weeks to 1‐year post‐RYGB. Postprandial ghrelin and fasting GLP‐1 levels were not different from pre‐surgical values. Postprandial levels of GLP‐1 increased significantly from 1 week (p < 0.001) to 2 years post‐RYGB (p < 0.01) compared with pre‐RYGB. Fasting PYY increased at 6 months (p = 0.034) and 1 year (p = 0.029) post‐surgery; also, postprandial levels increased up to 1 year (p < 0.01). Insufficient data on appetite sensation were available to be meta‐analyzed.
Mechanisms of lipotoxicity‐induced dysfunction and death of human pancreatic beta cells under obesity and type 2 diabetes conditions
Authors: Plötz Thomas , Lenzen Sigurd 
Published: February 2024

SummaryThe term “pancreatic beta‐cell lipotoxicity” refers to the detrimental effects of free fatty acids (FFAs) on a wide variety of cellular functions. Basic research in the field has primarily analyzed the effects of palmitic acid and oleic acid. The focus on these two physiological FFAs, however, ignores differences in chain length and degree of saturation. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the lipotoxic mechanisms, a wide range of structurally related FFAs should be investigated. Structure–activity relationship analyses of FFAs in the human EndoC‐βH1 beta‐cell line have provided a deep insight into the mechanisms of beta‐cell lipotoxicity. This review focuses on the effects of a wide range of FFAs with crucial structural determinants for the development of lipotoxicity in human beta cells and documents an association between increased triglyceride stores in obesity and in type 2 diabetes.
Establishing an EU‐wide front‐of‐pack nutrition label: Review of options and model‐based evaluation
Authors: Devaux Marion , Aldea Alexandra , Lerouge Aliénor , Vuik Sabine , Cecchini Michele 
Published: February 2024

SummaryThis paper reviews the effectiveness of four types of front‐of‐pack nutrition labels (FoPLs) in influencing calorie purchases. The four FoPL types are poised for unified implementation across European countries. Further, this study extends its analysis to evaluate the impacts of the voluntary adoption of these FoPLs within 27 EU nations. Nutri‐Score displays higher potential for yielding positive health and economic outcomes, compared with other FoPLs. Across EU countries, Nutri‐Score is projected to avert nearly two million cases of non‐communicable diseases, in total, between 2023 and 2050. Keyhole demonstrates effects of a similar magnitude but with no statistical significance. Nutri‐Repere shows smaller impacts, while Nutri‐Couleurs has non‐significant effects. Nutri‐Score is projected to significantly lower annual healthcare spending by 0.05%, whereas the other labels have negligible impacts. By reducing cases of disease, FoPLs have the potential to improve employment and work productivity. Nutri‐Score surpasses the other labels with an estimated annual gain of 10.6 full‐time equivalent workers per 100,000 individuals of working age across EU countries. In all, mandatory implementation of any of the four labels would lead to greater effects than those obtained with a voluntary implementation, providing evidence to inform legislation proposal for an EU‐wide nutrition labelling system.
Empowering women through microcredit in Djibouti
Authors: Abdallah Ali Mohamed , Mughal Mazhar , Chhorn Dina 
Published: February 2024

AbstractIn this study, we construct original measures of women's empowerment in economic, social, and interpersonal dimensions to estimate the effect of microcredit on women's empowerment in Djibouti. Using survey data covering 2060 Djiboutian households, we examine the extent to which access to microcredit, the amount of loans obtained, and their duration modify women's status at home. We employ an instrumental variables strategy and develop three instruments: (i) household's membership of a saving and credit cooperative, (ii) the availability of formal banks at the village or community level, and (iii) the availability of formal cooperatives at the village or community level. We find that microcredit has positive and significant effects on women's autonomy, but these effects become significantly negative as the number of loans taken out increases and as the length of time spent in the program rises. Women from households with access to micro‐loans are respectively 45.0%, 41.4%, and 15.7% more likely to be economically, socially, and interpersonally empowered. The results of the study are robust across specifications and econometric techniques employed and confirm the generally mixed socioeconomic effects of microcredit programs.
Smart selection of soil microbes for resilient and sustainable viticulture
Authors: Borghi Monica , Pacifico Davide , Crucitti Dalila , Squartini Andrea , Berger Margot M. J. , Gamboni Mauro , Carimi Francesco , Lehad Arezki , Costa Alex , Gallusci Philippe , Fernie Alisdair R. , Zottini Michela 
Published: February 2024

SUMMARYThe grapevine industry is of high economic importance in several countries worldwide. Its growing market demand led to an acceleration of the entire production processes, implying increasing use of water resources at the expense of environmental water balance and the hydrological cycle. Furthermore, in recent decades climate change and the consequent expansion of drought have further compromised water availability, making current agricultural systems even more fragile from ecological and economical perspectives. Consequently, farmers' income and welfare are increasingly unpredictable and unstable. Therefore, it is urgent to improve the resilience of vineyards, and of agro‐ecosystems in general, by developing sustainable and environmentally friendly farming practices by more rational biological and natural resources use. The PRIMA project PROSIT addresses these challenges by characterizing and harnessing grapevine‐associated microbiota to propose innovative and sustainable agronomic practices. PROSIT aims to determine the efficacy of natural microbiomes transferred from grapevines adapted to arid climate to commonly cultivated grapevine cultivars. In doing so it will test those natural microbiome effects on drought tolerance. This multidisciplinary project will utilize in vitro culture techniques, bioimaging, microbiological tests, metabolomics, metabarcoding and epigenetic analyses. These will be combined to shed light on molecular mechanisms triggered in plants by microbial associations upon water stress. To this end it is hoped that the project will serve as a blueprint not only for studies uncovering the microbiome role in drought stress in a wide range of species, but also for analyzing its effect on a wide range of stresses commonly encountered in modern agricultural systems.
Multicenter evaluation of BioCode GPP for syndromic molecular detection of gastrointestinal pathogens from stool specimens
Authors: Knoth Colleen , Humphries Romney , Johnson J. Kristie , Patel Anami , Lima Amorce , Silbert Suzane , Vinjé Jan 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT

Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide across all age groups that disproportionally affects young children in low- and middle-income countries and immunocompromised patients in high-income countries. Regional outbreaks of AGE are typically detected by traditional microbiological detection methods that target limited organisms and are associated with low sensitivity and lengthy time-to-results. Combined, these may result in repeat testing, imprecise or delayed treatment, and delayed recognition of outbreaks. We conducted a multi-site prospective study comparing the BioCode Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel (BioCode GPP) for the detection of 17 common bacterial, viral, and protozoan causes of gastroenteritis with reference methods, including stool culture, enzyme immunoassays, pathogen-specific PCR assays, and sequencing. One thousand five hundred fifty-eight residual, de-identified stool samples (unpreserved stool and stool in Cary-Blair transport medium) were enrolled and tested for 11 bacterial, 3 viral, and 3 protozoan pathogens. BioCode GPP and reference methods were positive for 392 (25.2%) and 283 (18.2%) samples, respectively (
P
< 0.0001). In this study, the BioCode GPP and reference methods detected 69 and 65 specimens positive for
Clostridioides difficile
, 51 and 48 for enteroaggregative
Escherichia coli
, 33 and 27 for enterotoxigenic
E. coli
, 50 and 47 for norovirus GI/GII, and 30 and 22 for rotavirus A, respectively. The BioCode GPP showed good positive and negative agreements for each pathogen ranging from 89.5% to 100%, with overall sensitivity and specificity of 96.1% and 99.7%, post adjudication. The BioCode GPP detected >1 pathogens in 49 samples, representing 12.5% of the total 392 positive specimens.

IMPORTANCE
This study highlights performance of a novel technology for timely and accurate detection and differentiation of 17 common bacterial, viral, and protozoan causes of gastroenteritis. Utilizing molecular tests such as the BioCode Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel may improve the detection of gastrointestinal pathogens and provide actionable results, particularly for patient populations at most risk.
Complete genome sequence for the thermoacidophilic archaeon
Metallosphaera sedula
(DSM:5348)
Authors: Manesh Mohamad J. H. , Bing Ryan G. , Willard Daniel J. , Kelly Robert M. 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT

The complete genome sequence of the thermoacidophilic archaeon
Metallosphaera sedula
(DSM 5348) is reported here.
M. sedula
, originally isolated from a volcanic field in Italy, is a prolific iron-oxidizing archaeon with applications in bioleaching of sulfide minerals.
The function of the gut microbiota–bile acid–TGR5 axis in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome
Authors: Zhan Kai , Wu Haomeng , Xu Yongyin , Rao Kehan , Zheng Huan , Qin Shumin , Yang Yuanming , Jia Rui , Chen Weihuan , Huang Shaogang 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT

Imbalanced gut microbiota (GM) and abnormal fecal bile acid (BA) are thought to be the key factors for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D), but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Herein, we explore the influence of the GM–BA–Takeda G-protein-coupled receptor 5 (TGR5) axis on IBS-D. Twenty-five IBS-D patients and fifteen healthy controls were recruited to perform BA-related metabolic and metagenomic analyses. Further, the microbiota-humanized IBS-D rat model was established by fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) to investigate the GM–BA–TGR5 axis effects on the colonic barrier and visceral hypersensitivity (VH) in IBS-D. Finally, we used chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), an important BA screened out by metabolome, to evaluate whether it affected diarrhea and VH via the TGR5 pathway. Clinical research showed that GM associated with bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity such as
Bacteroides ovatus
was markedly reduced in the GM of IBS-D, accompanied by elevated total and primary BA levels. Moreover, we found that CDCA not only was increased as the most important primary BA in IBS-D patients but also could induce VH through upregulating TGR5 in the colon and ileum of normal rats. TGR5 inhibitor could reverse the phenotype, depression-like behaviors, pathological change, and level of fecal BSH in a microbiota-humanized IBS-D rat model. Our findings proved that human-associated FMT could successfully induce the IBS-D rat model, and the imbalanced GM–BA–TGR5 axis may promote colonic mucosal barrier dysfunction and enhance VH in IBS-D.

IMPORTANCE

Visceral hypersensitivity and intestinal mucosal barrier damage are important factors that cause abnormal brain–gut interaction in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D). Recently, it was found that the imbalance of the gut microbiota–bile acid axis is closely related to them. Therefore, understanding the structure and function of the gut microbiota and bile acids and the underlying mechanisms by which they shape visceral hypersensitivity and mucosal barrier damage in IBS-D is critical. An examination of intestinal feces from IBS-D patients revealed that alterations in gut microbiota and bile acid metabolism underlie IBS-D and symptom onset. We also expanded beyond existing knowledge of well-studied gut microbiota and bile acid and found that
Bacteroides ovatus
and chenodeoxycholic acid may be potential bacteria and bile acid involved in the pathogenesis of IBS-D. Moreover, our data integration reveals the influence of the microbiota–bile acid–TGR5 axis on barrier function and visceral hypersensitivity.
Antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activity of a thiazolidinone derivative against
Staphylococcus aureus in vitro
and
in vivo
Authors: Zhao Rui , Du Bingyu , Luo Yue , Xue Fen , Wang Huanhuan , Qu Di , Han Shiqing , Heilbronner Simon , Zhao Yanfeng 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT

Staphylococcus aureus
(
S. aureus
) causes many infections with significant morbidity and mortality.
S. aureus
can form biofilms, which can cause biofilm-associated diseases and increase resistance to many conventional antibiotics, resulting in chronic infection. It is critical to develop novel antibiotics against staphylococcal infections, particularly those that can kill cells embedded in biofilms. This study aimed to investigate the bacteriocidal and anti-biofilm activities of thiazolidinone derivative (TD-H2-A) against
S. aureus
. A total of 40 non-duplicate strains were collected, and the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of TD-H2-A were determined. The effect of TD-H2-A on established
S. aureus
mature biofilms was examined using a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). The antibacterial effects of the compound on planktonic bacteria and bacteria in mature biofilms were investigated. Other characteristics, such as cytotoxicity and hemolytic activity, were researched. A mouse skin infection model was used, and a routine hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used for histological examination. The MIC values of TD-H2-A against the different
S. aureus
strains were 6.3–25.0 µg/mL. The 5 × MIC TD-H2-A killed almost all planktonic
S. aureus
USA300. The derivative was found to have strong bacteriocidal activity against cells in mature biofilms meanwhile having low cytotoxicity and hemolytic activity against Vero cells and human erythrocytes. TD-H2-A had a good bacteriocidal effect on
S. aureus
SA113-infected mice. In conclusion, TD-H2-A demonstrated good bacteriocidal and anti-biofilm activities against
S. aureus
, paving the way for the development of novel agents to combat biofilm infections and multidrug-resistant staphylococcal infections.

IMPORTANCE

Staphylococcus aureus
, a notorious pathogen, can form a stubborn biofilm and develop drug resistance. It is crucial to develop new anti-infective therapies against biofilm-associated infections. The manuscript describes the new antibiotic to effectively combat multidrug-resistant and biofilm-associated diseases.