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Insufficient sleep is a serious public health epidemic in modern society, impairing memory and other cognitive functions. In this study, partial sleep deprivation (SD) was used to induce cognitive impairment in mice to determine the effects of probiotics on subsequent cognitive deficits. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Lp-115 (Lp-115), Lacticaseibacillus paracasei Lpc-37 (Lpc-37), Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis 420 (B420) and their combination were administered to mice subjected to partial SD and compared with non-SD and SD vehicle groups. Mice were administered a daily oral gavage containing either 1 × 109 colony forming units (CFU) of single-strain, 1.5 × 109 CFU of multi-strain (5 × 108 CFU/strain), or vehicle for thirty days prior to and for nine days during a behavioural test paradigm. The novel object recognition (NOR) test, spontaneous alternation Y-maze (Y-maze), and the step-through passive avoidance (STPA) task were applied to evaluate learning and memory performance following partial SD. Partial SD had a significant impact on cognitive function in vehicle mice. Intervention with Lpc-37 significantly improved recognition memory deficits in the NOR test, spatial working memory deficits in the Y-maze, and contextual long-term memory impairments in the STPA task, in mice subjected to partial SD compared to the SD vehicle group. The multi-strain significantly improved recognition memory deficits in the NOR test and spatial working memory deficits in the Y-maze in mice subjected to partial SD compared to the SD vehicle group. These findings demonstrate that Lpc-37 and the multi-strain may play a role in alleviating memory impairments and improve cognitive function in partially sleep-deprived mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental factors, including westernised diets and alterations to the gut microbiota, are considered risk factors for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The mechanisms underpinning diet-microbiota-host interactions are poorly understood in IBD. We present evidence that feeding a lard-based high-fat (HF) diet can protect mice from developing DSS-induced acute and chronic colitis and colitis-associated cancer (CAC) by significantly reducing tumour burden/incidence, immune cell infiltration, cytokine profile, and cell proliferation. We show that HF protection was associated with increased gut microbial diversity and a significant reduction in Proteobacteria and an increase in Firmicutes and Clostridium cluster XIVa abundance. Microbial functionality was modulated in terms of signalling fatty acids and bile acids (BA). Faecal secondary BAs were significantly induced to include moieties that can activate the vitamin D receptor (VDR), a nuclear receptor richly represented in the intestine and colon. Indeed, colonic VDR downstream target genes were upregulated in HF-fed mice and in combinatorial lipid-BAs-treated intestinal HT29 epithelial cells. Collectively, our data indicate that HF diet protects against colitis and CAC risk through gut microbiota and BA metabolites modulating vitamin D targeting pathways. Our data highlights the complex relationship between dietary fat-induced alterations of microbiota-host interactions in IBD/CAC pathophysiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Aromatase inhibitor (AI)-induced joint symptoms negatively impact drug adherence and quality of life in breast cancer survivors. Mechanisms underlying symptoms may include inflammation. It is hypothesized that n − 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have anti-inflammatory properties and may reduce symptoms.Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study comparing 4.3 g/day n − 3 PUFA supplements vs placebo for 24 weeks in postmenopausal breast cancer patients starting adjuvant AIs. Primary endpoints were adherence and tolerability; secondary outcomes included inflammatory cytokines and symptoms assessed by the Brief Pain Inventory short form (BPI-SF) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Treatment-Endocrine Symptoms (FACT-ES) at 0, 12, and 24 weeks.Results: Forty-four women were randomized, of which 35 completed the study. Adherence was ≥ 88% based on these 35 patients with pill counts as well as change in red blood cell (RBC) n − 3 PUFAs. Common toxicities included grade 1 flatulence (55% of both groups) and belching (45% of n − 3 group). Mean pain severity scores (BPI-SF) did not change significantly by time or treatment arm. Quality of life, based on FACT-ES scores, significantly decreased within placebo (p = 0.04), but not the n − 3 group (p = 0.58), with a trend toward between-group differences (p = 0.06) at 12 weeks, but no significant differences at 24 weeks. RBC n − 3 levels were strongly positively correlated with FACT-ES at 12 weeks, but attenuated at 24 weeks.Conclusion: High-dose n − 3 PUFA supplementation is feasible and well tolerated when administered with AIs. Additional studies are needed to evaluate efficacy in prevention of joint symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every event that occurs has a reaction, whether it be a pebble causing ripples in a pond or a bullet distressing a wall. Within a structure, these vibrations caused by a specific event in a medium can be measured with an accelerometer, and just as the vibrations caused by a bullet differ observably from those caused by a pebble, vibrations caused by walking vary from those caused by falling, running or jumping. To the eye, these differences are slight to severe, but when that signal is dissected, it is identifiably unique by its cause and location with extensive applications from home security to commercial monitoring of foot traffic to behavior analysis for medical care including fall detection. The focus of this study was to investigate how this signal is collected -- specifically, if a cheaper independent computer could replace a setup that currently costs thousands. The Raspberry Pi was used with an ADXL345 accelerometer as this alternate system. This study includes notes of development of the hardware and software as well as analysis of the developed system by comparison to the accepted system. The new system is enabled to continuously read the accelerometer's z axis output value, maintaining a buffer and saving significant signals. These hypothesized capabilities were confirmed by collecting vibration data from the same impact and comparing how each system recorded the event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]