1,721,038 research outputs found
Screening and identification of potential probiotic candidates in pre-clinical models of Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Full text linkThe application of bacterial strains as a groundbreaking, natural method to combat metabolic diseases is rapidly expanding. However, previous screenings have overlooked their relevance in human metabolic diseases like Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). Given NAFLD's global prevalence and the lack of approved treatments, exploring probiotics as supplements to hinder NAFLD's severe progression, potentially leading to hepatocellular carcinoma, shows promise. My research integrated innovative techniques— in silico, in vitro, and in vivo—to identify potential probiotic bacterial strains for managing NAFLD. Precise methodologies resembling the clinical/human setting of NAFLD are crucial in the pre-clinical screening process. The Caco-2 cell line, standard for assessing intestinal permeability, tends to overestimate small intestine epithelium resistance. Identifying an accurate in vitro model reflecting small intestine permeability features is vital (Article1). Maintaining small intestine homeostasis significantly affects peripheral organ function, notably the liver. Thus, targeting gut health is promising for liver health. Evaluating lactobacilli and bifidobacteria species in various in vitro models identified B. longum and L. kalixensis as potential probiotic cultures for NAFLD management (Article 2). Validating in vitro responses in pre-clinical models is crucial before asserting the health benefits and safety of bacterial species for humans. Four identified bacterial species underwent analysis in a NAFLD murine model (Manuscript 3), but supplementation didn't demonstrate a beneficial effect. This thesis highlights the importance of early screenings to identify potential probiotic bacterial species for disease management. It emphasizes expanding bacterial species/strains for testing and developing advanced screening platforms mimicking specific clinical conditions. These approaches promise progress in precision probiotic development for metabolic diseases
Starter Cultures: Uses in the Food Industry.
No full textStarter cultures are preparations of microorganisms serving as inoculants for the production of fermented foods. The production of cheese, yogurt, fermented milk, wine, sauerkraut, hams, and sausages occurs through the use of starter cultures that are consistent, predictable, and safe. The cultures provide the food products with a multitude of properties. Acidification of the food matrix is a primary property in a large number of food fermentations. Acidification activity often will be used to define packaging size and the unit of activity, whereas other characteristics differentiate a culture from the range of other available starter cultures. Starter cultures are commercially available in liquid, frozen, or lyophilized form from several companies serving regional or global markets
Modeled Structure of the Cell Envelope Proteinase of Lactococcus lactis
No full textThe cell envelope proteinase (CEP) of Lactococcus lactis is a large extracellular protease covalently linked to the peptidoglycan of the cell wall. Strains of L. lactis are typically auxotrophic for several amino acids and in order to grow to high cell densities in milk they need an extracellular protease. The structure of the entire CEP enzyme is difficult to determine experimentally due to the large size and due to the attachment to the cell surface. We here describe the use of a combination of structure prediction tools to create a structural model for the entire CEP enzyme of Lactococcus lactis. The model has implications for how the bacterium interacts with casein micelles during growth in milk, and it has implications regarding the energetics of the proteolytic system. Our model for the CEP indicates that the catalytic triad is activated through a structural change caused by interaction with the substrate. The CEP of L. lactis might become a useful model for the mode of action for enzymes belonging to the large class of S8 proteinases with a PA (protease associated) domain and a downstream fibronectin like domain.</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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