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The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset – with data collected between 2020 and 2022 – to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has widespread applicability. There were large differences across nations and languages in latent body appreciation, while differences across gender identities and age groups were negligible-to-small. Additionally, greater body appreciation was significantly associated with higher life satisfaction, being single (versus being married or in a committed relationship), and greater rurality (versus urbanicity). Across a subset of nations where nation-level data were available, greater body appreciation was also significantly associated with greater cultural distance from the United States and greater relative income inequality. These findings suggest that the BAS-2 likely captures a near-universal conceptualisation of the body appreciation construct, which should facilitate further cross-cultural research.

Three different bioaugmentation cultures enriched from natural and engineered cellulolytic environments (cow and goat rumen, a biogas reactor digesting sorghum biomass) were compared for their enhancement potential on the anaerobic digestion of wheat straw. Methane yields were determined in batch tests using the Automatic Methane Potential Test System operated for 30 days under mesophilic conditions. All cultures had positive effects on substrate degradation, and higher methane yields were observed in the bioaugmented reactors compared to control reactors set up with standard inoculum. However, the level of enhancement differed according to the type of the enrichment culture. Methane yield in batch reactors augmented with 2% cow rumen derived enrichment culture was increased by only 6%. In contrast, reactors amended with 2% goat rumen derived enrichment culture or with the bioaugmentation culture obtained from the biogas reactor digesting sorghum biomass produced 27 and 20% more methane, respectively. The highest methane yield was recorded in reactors amended with 6% goat rumen derived enrichment culture, which represented an increase by 36%. The microbial communities were quite similar at the end of the batch tests independently of the bioaugmentation sources, indicating that the introduced microbial communities of the enrichment cultures did not dominate the reactors.

Cattle manure is frequently used as an inoculum for the start-up of agricultural biogas plants or as a co-substrate in the anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic feedstock. Ruminal microbiota are considered to be effective plant fiber degraders, but the microbes contained in manure do not necessarily reflect the rumen microbiome. The aim of this study was to compare the microbial community composition of cow rumen and manure with respect to plant fiber-digesting microbes. Bacterial and methanogenic communities of rumen and manure samples were examined by 454 amplicon sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes and mcrA genes, respectively. Rumen fluid samples were dominated by Prevotellaceae (29%), whereas Ruminococcaceae was the most abundant family in the manure samples (31%). Fibrobacteraceae (12%) and Bacteroidaceae (13%) were the second most abundant families in rumen fluid and manure, respectively. The high abundances of fiber-degrading bacteria belonging to Prevotellaceae and Fibrobacteraceae might explain the better erformance of anaerobic digesters inoculated with rumen fluid. Members of the genus Methanobrevibacter were the predominant methanogens in the rumen fluid, whereas methanogenic communities of the manure samples were dominated by the candidate genus Methanoplasma. Our results suggest that inoculation or bioaugmentation with fiber-digesting rumen microbiota can enhance the anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass.

The aim of this study was to develop an effective bioaugmentation concept for anaerobic digesters treating lignocellulosic biomass such as straw. For that purpose, lignocellulose-degrading methanogenic communities were enriched on wheat straw from cow and goat rumen fluid as well as from a biogas reactor acclimated to lignocellulosic biomass (sorghum as mono-substrate). The bacterial communities of the enriched cultures and the different inocula were examined by 454 amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes while the methanogenic archaeal communities were analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) fingerprinting of the mcrA gene. Bacteroidetes was the most abundant phylum in all samples. Within the Bacteroidetes phylum, Bacteroidaceae was the most abundant family in the rumen-derived enrichment cultures, whereas Porphyromonadaceae was the predominant one in the reactor-derived culture. Additionally, the enrichment procedure increased the relative abundance of Ruminococcaceae (phylum: Firmicutes) in all cultures. T-RFLP profiles of the mcrA gene amplicons highlighted that the ruminal methanogenic communities were composed of hydrogenotrophic methanogens dominated by the order Methanobacteriales regardless of the host species. The methanogenic communities changed significantly during the enrichment procedure, but still the strict hydrogenotrophic Methanobacteriales and Methanomicrobiales were the predominant orders in the enrichment cultures. The bioaugmentation potential of the enriched methanogenic cultures will be evaluated in further studies.

The aim of this study was to determine the potential of bioaugmentation with cellulolytic rumen microbiota to enhance the anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic feedstock. An anaerobic cellulolytic culture was enriched from sheep rumen fluid using wheat straw as substrate under mesophilic conditions. To investigate the effects of bioaugmentation on methane production from straw, the enrichment culture was added to batch reactors in proportions of 2% (Set-1) and 4% (Set-2) of the microbial cell number of the standard inoculum slurry. The methane production in the bioaugmented reactors was higher than in the control reactors. After 30 days of batch incubation, the average methane yield was 154 mLN CH4 gVS−1 in the control reactors. Addition of 2% enrichment culture did not enhance methane production, whereas in Set-2 the methane yield was increased by 27%. The bacterial communities were examined by 454 amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes, while terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) fingerprinting of mcrA genes was applied to analyze the methanogenic communities. The results highlighted that relative abundances of Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae increased during the enrichment. However, Cloacamonaceae, which were abundant in the standard inoculum, dominated the bacterial communities of all batch reactors. T-RFLP profiles revealed that Methanobacteriales were predominant in the rumen fluid, whereas the enrichment culture was dominated by Methanosarcinales. In the batch rectors, the most abundant methanogens were affiliated to Methanobacteriales and Methanomicrobiales. Our results suggest that bioaugmentation with sheep rumen enrichment cultures can enhance the performance of digesters treating lignocellulosic feedstock.

Almost nothing is known about the potential negative effects of Internet-based psychological treatments for depression. This study aims at investigating deterioration and its moderators within randomized trials on Internet-based guided self-help for adult depression, using an individual patient data meta-analyses (IPDMA) approach. Studies were identified through systematic searches (PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Cochrane Library). Deterioration in participants was defined as a significant symptom increase according to the reliable change index (i.e. 7.68 points in the CES-D; 7.63 points in the BDI). Two-step IPDMA procedures, with a random-effects model were used to pool data. A total of 18 studies (21 comparisons, 2079 participants) contributed data to the analysis. The risk for a reliable deterioration from baseline to post-treatment was significantly lower in the intervention v. control conditions (3.36 v. 7.60; relative risk 0.47, 95% confidence interval 0.29–0.75). Education moderated effects on deterioration, with patients with low education displaying a higher risk for deterioration than patients with higher education. Deterioration rates for patients with low education did not differ statistically significantly between intervention and control groups. The benefit–risk ratio for patients with low education indicated that 9.38 patients achieve a treatment response for each patient experiencing a symptom deterioration. Internet-based guided self-help is associated with a mean reduced risk for a symptom deterioration compared to controls. Treatment and symptom progress of patients with low education should be closely monitored, as some patients might face an increased risk for symptom deterioration. Future studies should examine predictors of deterioration in patients with low education.