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Throughout infancy, IgA is crucial for maintaining gut mucosal immunity. This study aims to determine whether supplementing newborn mice with eight different strains of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis might regulate their IgA levels. The strains were gavaged to BALB/C female (n = 8) and male (n = 8) dams at 1–3 weeks old. Eight strains of B. longum subsp. infantis had strain-specific effects in the regulation of intestinal mucosal barriers. B6MNI, I4MI, and I10TI can increase the colonic IgA level in females and males. I8TI can increase the colonic IgA level in males. B6MNI was also able to significantly increase the colonic sIgA level in females. B6MNI, I4MI, I8TI, and I10TI regulated colonic and Peyer’s patch IgA synthesis genes but had no significant effect on IgA synthesis pathway genes in the jejunum and ileum. Moreover, the variety of sIgA-coated bacteria in male mice was changed by I4MI, I5TI, I8TI, and B6MNI. These strains also can decrease the relative abundance of Escherichia coli. These results indicate that B. longum subsp. infantis can promote IgA levels but show strain specificity. Different dietary habits with different strains of Bifidobacterium may have varying effects on IgA levels when supplemented in early infancy.

Milk is one of the most valuable products in the food industry with most milk production throughout the world being carried out using conventional management, which includes intensive and traditional systems. The intensive use of fertilizers, antibiotics, pesticides and concerns regarding animal health and the environment have given increasing importance to organic dairy and dairy products in the last two decades. This review aims to compare the production, nutritional, and compositional properties of milk produced by conventional and organic dairy management systems. We also shed light on the health benefits of milk and the worldwide scenario of the organic dairy production system. Most reports suggest milk has beneficial health effects with very few, if any, adverse effects reported. Organic milk is reported to confer additional benefits due to its lower omega-6–omega-3 ratio, which is due to the difference in feeding practices, with organic cows predominantly pasture fed. Despite the testified animal, host, and environmental benefits, organic milk production is difficult in several regions due to the cost-intensive process and geographical conditions. Finally, we offer perspectives for a better future and highlight knowledge gaps in the organic dairy management system.

The global rise in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity necessitates innovative dietary interventions. This study investigates the effects of allulose, a rare sugar shown to reduce blood glucose, in a rat model of diet-induced obesity and T2D. Over 12 weeks, we hypothesized that allulose supplementation would improve body weight, insulin sensitivity, and glycemic control. Our results showed that allulose mitigated the adverse effects of high-fat, high-sugar diets, including reduced body weight gain and improved insulin resistance. The allulose group exhibited lower food consumption and increased levels of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), enhancing glucose regulation and appetite control. Additionally, allulose prevented liver triglyceride accumulation and promoted mitochondrial uncoupling in adipose tissue. These findings suggest that allulose supplementation can improve metabolic health markers, making it a promising dietary component for managing obesity and T2D. Further research is needed to explore the long-term benefits and mechanisms of allulose in metabolic disease prevention and management. This study supports the potential of allulose as a safe and effective intervention for improving metabolic health in the context of dietary excess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies involving workers at brick kilns in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal have investigated chronic exposure to hazardous levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) common in ambient and occupational environments. Such exposures are known to cause and/or exacerbate chronic respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. However, there is a paucity of data regarding the status of systemic inflammation observed in exposed workers at brick manufacturing facilities within the country. In the current study, we sought to elucidate systemic inflammatory responses by quantifying the molecular cytokine/chemokine profiles in serum from the study participants. A sample of participants were screened from a kiln in Bhaktapur, Nepal (n = 32; 53% female; mean ± standard deviation: 28.42 ± 11.47 years old) and grouped according to job category. Blood was procured from participants on-site, allowed to clot at room temperature, and centrifuged to obtain total serum. A human cytokine antibody array was used to screen the inflammatory mediators in serum samples from each of the participants. For the current study, four job categories were evaluated with n = 8 for each. Comparisons were generated between a control group of administration workers vs. fire master workers, administration workers vs. green brick hand molders, and administration workers vs. top loaders. We discovered significantly increased concentrations of eotaxin-1, eotaxin-2, GCSF, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TGF-β1, TNF-α, and TIMP-2 in serum samples from fire master workers vs. administration workers (p < 0.05). Each of these molecules was also significantly elevated in serum from green brick hand molders compared to administration workers (p < 0.05). Further, each molecule in the inflammatory screening with the exception of TIMP-2 was significantly elevated in serum from top loaders compared to administration workers (p < 0.05). With few exceptions, the fire master workers expressed significantly more systemic inflammatory molecular abundance when compared to all other job categories. These results reveal an association between pulmonary exposure to PM2.5 and systemic inflammatory responses likely mediated by cytokine/chemokine elaboration. The additional characterization of a broader array of inflammatory molecules may provide valuable insight into the susceptibility to lung diseases among this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to respirable dust and crystalline silica (SiO2) has been linked to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, silicosis, cancer, heart disease, and other respiratory diseases. Relatively few studies have measured respirable dust and SiO2 concentrations among workers at brick kilns in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this study was to measure personal breathing zone (PBZ) respirable dust and SiO2 concentrations among workers at one brick kiln in Bhaktapur, Nepal. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 49 workers in five job categories: administration, fire master, green (unfired) brick hand molder, green brick machine molder, and top loader. PBZ air samples were collected from each worker following Methods 0600 (respirable dust) and 7500 (respirable crystalline SiO2: cristobalite, quartz, tridymite) of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA) respirable dust and quartz concentrations were also calculated. SiO2 percentage was measured in one bulk sample each of wet clay, the release agent used by green brick hand molders, and top coat soil at the brick kiln. The geometric mean (GM) sample and TWA respirable dust concentrations were 0.20 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.16, 0.27) and 0.12 (95% CI: 0.09, 0.16) mg/m3, respectively. GM sample and TWA quartz concentrations were 15.28 (95% CI: 11.11, 21.02) and 8.60 (95% CI: 5.99, 12.34) µg/m3, respectively. Job category was significantly associated with GM sample and TWA respirable dust and quartz concentrations (all p < 0.0001). Top loaders had the highest GM sample and TWA respirable dust concentrations of 1.49 and 0.99 mg/m3, respectively. Top loaders also had the highest GM sample and TWA quartz concentrations of 173.08 and 114.39 µg/m3, respectively. Quartz percentages in bulk samples were 16%-27%. Interventions including using wet methods to reduce dust generation, administrative controls, personal protective equipment, and education and training should be implemented to reduce brick kiln worker exposures to respirable dust and SiO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) during fetal development results in negative postnatal effects, including altered organ development, changes in metabolism, and increased risk of respiratory illness. Previously, we found the induction of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) dependent on the expression of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) in mice treated with SHS. Furthermore, antenatal SHS exposure increases RAGE expression in the fetal lung. Our objective was to determine the postnatal effects of antenatal SHS treatment in 4- and 12-week-old offspring. Pregnant animals were treated with SHS via a nose-only delivery system (Scireq Scientific, Montreal, Canada) for 4 days (embryonic day 14.5 through 18.5), and offspring were evaluated at 4 or 12 weeks of age. Animal and organ weights were measured, and lungs were histologically characterized. Blood pressure and heart rates were obtained, and RAGE protein expression was determined in the lungs of control and treated animals. We observed the following: (1) significant decreases in animal, liver, and heart weights at 4 weeks of age; (2) increased blood pressure in 4-week-old animals; and (3) increased RAGE expression in the lungs of the 4-week-old animals. Our results suggest an improvement in these metrics by 12 weeks postnatally such that measures were not different regardless of RA or SHS exposure. Increased RAGE expression in lungs from 4-week-old mice antenatally treated with SHS suggests a possible role for this important smoke-mediated receptor in establishing adult disease following IUGR pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milk is one of the most valuable products in the food industry with most milk production throughout the world being carried out using conventional management, which includes intensive and traditional systems. The intensive use of fertilizers, antibiotics, pesticides and concerns regarding animal health and the environment have given increasing importance to organic dairy and dairy products in the last two decades. This review aims to compare the production, nutritional, and compositional properties of milk produced by conventional and organic dairy management systems. We also shed light on the health benefits of milk and the worldwide scenario of the organic dairy production system. Most reports suggest milk has beneficial health effects with very few, if any, adverse effects reported. Organic milk is reported to confer additional benefits due to its lower omega-6–omega-3 ratio, which is due to the difference in feeding practices, with organic cows predominantly pasture fed. Despite the testified animal, host, and environmental benefits, organic milk production is difficult in several regions due to the cost-intensive process and geographical conditions. Finally, we offer perspectives for a better future and highlight knowledge gaps in the organic dairy management system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease leading to significant morbidity and mortality. In 2017 the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) and Lung Foundation Australia (LFA) published a position statement on the treatment of IPF. Since that time, subsidized anti‐fibrotic therapy in the form of pirfenidone and nintedanib is now available in both Australia and New Zealand. More recently, evidence has been published in support of nintedanib for non‐IPF progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF). Additionally, there have been numerous publications relating to the non‐pharmacologic management of IPF and PPF. This 2023 update to the position statement for treatment of IPF summarizes developments since 2017 and reaffirms the importance of a multi‐faceted approach to the management of IPF and progressive pulmonary fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an age of burgeoning open data sources, ranging from authoritative platforms to crowd-sourced contributions, the need for data integration is paramount - only with integrated, combined, data can today's complex problems be addressed. However, assessing the quality of data and its potential for integration/interoperability is complex. FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-useable) approaches go some way to help, but most repositories still only offer text-based search results and require the user to download the data and assess its quality and fitness-for-purpose manually. This paper examines whether exploiting geospatial approaches - specifically, understanding whether a dataset can be mapped and hence integrated with other datasets - could address these issues, in particular for non-expert users. We explore challenges related to open data for education and environmental sustainability and introduce a novel, visual map-ability rating to assist data users in rapidly understanding the data quality and interoperability potential of data they wish to use. This rating system has been developed by researchers from outside the location science domain, to better reflect what is important to the wider community, and derives from a review of 104 open datasets. As well as providing useful insight to data users, the ratings can be used to guide data publishers as to how to improve their data offering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe decision to become a police officer is often influenced by diverse motivations that vary across individuals. In a negative occupational climate context, understanding the initial motivations of police recruits becomes essential for improving recruitment strategies and informing policy. In this study, we surveyed police academy recruits enrolled in a large urban police academy in Texas to explore their motivations for joining the police force, specifically focusing on different forms of fear associated with the occupation. Our findings reveal significant variations based on demographics, particularly concerning various fears associated with the policing profession. These insights hold crucial implications for recruitment practices and policy-making, providing valuable information for better understanding the factors influencing police recruits’ decision-making processes and contributing to a more informed and practical approach to police recruitment and occupational support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]