The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of various dietary unsaturated to saturated fatty acids ratios (UFA to SFA ratios) on growth performance, carcass traits, blood lipid parameters, tissue fatty acid (FA) composition, and meat quality of finishing pigs.A total of 45 crossbred pigs ([Duroc×Landrace]×Yorkshire), with an average initial body weight of 60.3±2.4 kg, were randomly allocated to three treatment groups of 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 dietary UFA to SFA ratios.Both average daily gain and average daily feed intake of pigs were decreased linearly (p<0.05), whereas backfat thickness was decreased linearly (p<0.05) with increasing of dietary UFA to SFA ratio. Serum triglyceride and low density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased quadratically or linearly (p<0.05) respectively, whereas high density lipoprotein cholesterol was increased quadratically (p<0.05) with increasing dietary UFA to SFA ratio. In M. longissimus thoracis, the proportion of C18:1 and monounsaturated FA was decreased linearly (p<0.05), whereas the proportion of C18:2n-6, C20:4n-6 and polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) were increased linearly (p<0.05) as dietary UFA to SFA ratio increased. In the subcutaneous adipose tissue, the proportion of SFA was decreased linearly (p<0.05), whereas the proportion of n-6 PUFA, n-3 PUFA, and the UFA to SFA ratios were increased linearly (p<0.05) with increasing of dietary UFA to SFA ratio. Meat color scores and shear force of pigs were decreased linearly (p<0.05), whereas drip loss and cooking loss were increased linearly (p<0.05) with increasing of dietary UFA to SFA ratio.Appropriately boosted dietary UFA to SFA ratio could be conductive to optimize blood lipid parameters and tissue FA composition. However, when the ratio is too high or too low it tends to have negative effects on growth performance and meat quality. Fat has a high energy value, and is therefore used as a dietary supplementation to increase the energy density of feeds and thereby improve the energy status of animals and modify the fatty acids (FA) composition of animal tissues. There are a number of fat sources and fat combinations that are used to provide FA. Animal oils (with the exception of fish oil) and a few vegetable oils, such as palm oil, tend to contain higher proportion of saturated FA (SFA), while most vegetable oils tend to contain higher proportion of unsaturated FA (UFA). It is widely accepted that SFA and UFA have opposite effects on health. Studies have shown that consuming high quantities of SFA is associated with increased risks of obesity and related diseases such as insulin resistance, inflammation, hepatic steatosis, and cardiovascular diseases, whereas replacing SFA with UFA, including monounsaturated FA (MUFA) and polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), reduces the risk of coronary heart disease . TherefoIt is therefore clear that both the total fat content and the unsaturated to saturated FA ratio (UFA to SFA ratio) of the diet are highly important. Meat is an important source of fat and FA for humans. Although opinions differ on the importance of the FA composition for meat quality, consumers increasingly prefer meat products with higher proportion of UFA because of their beneficial effects on health . There hIn monogastric animals, tissue FA composition and the FA endogenous synthesis are influenced by dietary FA composition. By providing UFA via the incorporation of UFA-rich oils into pig feed, it is possible to increase the deposition of UFA in the meat . A numbeAll procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the College of Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University (SYXK (Liao) 2011 – 0001).ad libitum. The experiment lasted for 45 d.A total of 45 crossbred pigs ([Duroc×Landrace])×Yorkshire] were assigned to three dietary treatments according to their initial body weights 60.3±2.4 kg), with five replicates per group and three pigs per replicate (two barrows and one gilt) in a completely randomized design. Three diets were formulated according to the NRC  nutrient.4 kg, wiOn day 44, blood was obtained via jugular vein puncture from two pigs (near average body weight) per replicate (one barrow and one gilt) and collected in 10 mL tubes. Serum was separated by centrifugation at 1,500×g at 4°C for 20 min and then stored at −20°C until analysis. The pigs were then fasted overnight and, on day 45, stunned electrically  and exsanguinated. The carcasses were subsequently split into two parts, and samples (circa 300 g) of the M. longissimus thoracis (LT) and subcutaneous fat were excised at the level of last rib from the right-hand sides of the carcasses and placed at 2°C for 24 h, after which the FA composition and meat quality were analyzed.Body weights were recorded in the morning before feed distribution from the start of the trial until a final average live weight of 100.2±4.4 kg, and the feed intake was recorded weekly. The average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain:feed were calculated. After evisceration, the carcasses were weighed to obtain the carcass weights. The loin eye area was measured by tracing the LT surface at the 10th, and the backfat thickness measurements were obtained at the level of last rib using a real-time ultrasound instrument .The serum total cholesterol (TC) concentration was determined spectrophotometrically, while the triglyceride (TG) concentration was determined using the GPO-PAP enzymatic assay. The high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) concentration was determined using the phosphotungstic acid- magnesium precipitation method, and the low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) concentration was determined using the polyethylene sulfuric acid precipitation assay. Serum TC, TG, HDL-c, and LDL-c concentrations were measured by using an automatic biochemistry analyzer  with a commercially available kits , according to the manufacturers’ instructions.The FA compositions of the feed, the LT and subcutaneous fat samples were determined using gas chromatography. Approximately 5 g samples were extracted using a mixture of chloroform and methanol (v/v 2:1), and FA methyl esters were obtained using the ISO 5509 method. After phase separation, the upper layer was retained, and a 2 mL aliquot was transferred to a sample injection bottle. The FA composition of the sample was then measured using capillary gas chromatography, with separation by a J&W DB-23 (65.0 m×250 μm×0.25 μm film thickness) fused silica capillary column , installed on an Agilent 7820 A gas chromatograph  equipped with a flame ionization detector. To optimize separation, the initial oven temperature was set at 180°C and held for 10 min, then increased by 4°C/min to 200°C and held for 15 min, and finally increased by 10°C/min to 230°C and held for 6 min. Helium was used as the carrier gas, with a flow rate of 24 cm/s. Both the injector and detector were set at 250°C and the split ratio was 20:1. Peaks were identified using purified standards, and FA was identified by comparing their relative FA methyl ester peak retention times to those of the standards. The FA composition was calculated by relating individual FA to the sum of all the FA detected.45) was directly measured at the level of last rib using a pH meter . The ultimate pH (pH24 h) was measured at 24 h post-mortem. The sensory evaluation for visual color was measured using a five-point scoring system according to NPPC (2000) standards at an ambient temperature of 25°C on LT sample surface at 1 h post-mortem. The drip loss was measured using approximately 4.5 g meat samples according to the plastic bag method [At 45 min post-mortem, the initial pH . Polynominal contrasts (linear or quadratic) were conducted to evaluate the effect of UFA to SFA ratio. Probability values <0.05 were considered significant. The results are presented as mean values with their standard errors. For growth performance, carcass traits, tissue FA composition and meat quality, replicate was used as experimental unit, while for blood analysis the individual pig was used as the experimental unit.Both ADG and ADFI of pigs were decreased linearly (p<0.05) with increasing of dietary UFA to SFA ratio . BackfatSerum TG concentration was decreased quadratically (p<0.05) and LDL-c concentration was decreased linearly (p<0.05), while HDL-c concentration was increased quadratically (p< 0.05) with increasing of dietary UFA to SFA ratio . There wIn the LT, the proportion of C18:1 was decreased linearly (p<0.05), whereas the proportion of C18:2n-6 and C20:4n-6 were increased linearly (p<0.05) as dietary UFA to SFA ratio increasing from 1:1 to 3:1 . FurtherIn the subcutaneous adipose tissue, the proportion of C16:1 and C20:4n-6 were decreased quadratically (p<0.05) and the proportion of C18:0, C18:1, C20:0 and C20:1 were decreased linearly (p<0.05) with increasing of dietary UFA to SFA ratio . HoweverMeat color score and shear force of pigs were decreased linearly (p<0.05), whereas drip loss and cooking loss were increased linearly (p<0.05) with increasing of dietary UFA to SFA ratio . HoweverPrevious studies have shown that replacing part of the metabolizable energy content of a diet with different fat mixtures does not change the energy content or nutritional value of the diet and, consequently have no effect on growth performance and carcass quality of finishing pigs ,8,9. Somde novo fat synthesis [The dietary UFA to SFA ratios in this study did not affect the carcass yields or loin eye area, but affected the backfat thickness, with lower backfat thickness being observed in the pigs fed the diet with UFA to SFA ratio of 3:1. This result concurred with the observation that pigs fed a diet supplemented with soybean oil tended to have lower backfat thickness than pigs fed a diet supplemented with palm oil . These rynthesis , with thynthesis .It has been recognized that lower blood TG, TC, and LDL-c levels, and higher blood HDL-c level, are beneficial for the health of humans and animals . In thisde novo synthesized [Soybean oil contains high levels of C18:2n-6 and moderate levels of C18:1 and C18:3n-3. As the essential FA, C18:2n-6, and C18:3n-3 are incorporated directly into the tissue lipids or are converted into their derivative n-6 or n-3 PUFA, respectively, whereas SFA such as C14:0, C16:0 and C18:0, and MUFA such as C16:1 and C18:1, may be thesized . It is tthesized ,21. In tthesized ,21,22.In regard to the FA deposition in the different tissues, this study found that SFA and MUFA were the predominant components in the LT and subcutaneous adipose tissue, and the proportion of PUFA was relatively low. However, when we compared the different tissues of pigs fed with the same diet, the FA deposition rate appeared to be less consistent. For example, the proportion of C18:3n-3 was higher in the LT than in the subcutaneous adipose tissue when pigs were fed the same diet, whereas the proportion of C18:2n-6 was higher in the subcutaneous adipose than in the LT, which suggests that FA may have different incorporation rates in different target tissues. Furthermore, we observed that the subcutaneous adipose tissue contained more types of FA than the LT did, which indicates that the effects of the dietary fat saturation level on the FA composition of the adipose tissue were greater than that on the LT. This may have been because of the higher lipid content of the subcutaneous adipose tissue, and therefore its higher capacity for lipogenesis than other tissue types, including muscle tissue . In addi45 or the pH24 h, which concurred with the results of previous studies [45 and pH24 h values recorded for all the treatment groups in this study were very close to the thresholds for normal meat . This contrasted with the results of other studies, in which the authors observed pH24 values below 5.5, indicating that the pork tended to be pale, soft, and exudative [24 being associated with paler meat, increased cooking loss and decreased shear force values.The meat quality evaluation included measurements of the pH, color, shear force, cooking loss, and drip loss. In this study, the dietary fat saturation level had no effect on the pH studies ,25. Howexudative . In geneMeat color is a sensory indicator for meat freshness, and directly related to the content of myoglobin. The lower scores the paler the meat is, the higher scores the darker the meat is, and with 3 score being desirable. In this study, muscle color was significantly affected by the dietary FA composition, declining with an increase in the dietary UFA to SFA ratio. Pigs fed the diet with UFA to SFA ratio of 2:1 had a color score close to normal (3 score), while pigs fed the diet with UFA to SFA ratio of 3:1 had the lowest color score (2.5). The lower oxidative stability of soybean oil-derived UFA may result in the increased occurrence of lipid oxidation, and as the oxidation of fat is related to the formation of precursors of oxymyoglobin oxidation, and thus to the formation of metmyoglobin, this may result in a decrease in meat redness .Studies have shown that feeding more unsaturated oil to pigs could negatively impact the processing quality of the carcass fat because of the reduction of the fat melting point , whereasIn conclusion, the dietary UFA to SFA ratio affects growth performance, serum lipid parameters, and meat quality of finishing pigs. Increasing UFA to SFA ratio appear to have beneficial effects on the serum lipid parameters and tissue FA deposition, with negative effects on growth performance and meat quality to some extent. Although the health benefits of UFA are well known, there are still concerns about their susceptibility to lipid oxidation. Further research into the optimum dietary UFA to SFA ratio and the mechanisms responsible for the effects of dietary fat composition on growth performance and meat quality is therefore necessary.


Electrospinning technology, which was previously known as a scientific interdisciplinary research approach, is now ready to move towards a practice-based interdisciplinary approach in a variety of fields, progressively. Electrospun nanofiber-applied products are made directly from a nonwoven fabric-based membranes prepared from polymeric liquids involving the application of sufficiently high voltages during electrospinning. Today, electrospun nanofiber-based materials are of remarkable interest across multiple fields of applications, such as in electronics, sensors, functional garments, sound proofing, filters, wound dressing and scaffolds. This article presents such a review for summarizing the current progress on the manufacturing scalability of electrospun nanofibers and the commercialization of electrospun nanofiber products by dedicated companies globally. Despite the clear potential and limitless possibilities for electrospun nanofiber applications, the uptake of electrospinning by the industry is still limited due to the challenges in the manufacturing and turning of electrospun nanofibers into physical products. The recent developments in the field of electrospinning, such as the prominent nonwoven technology, personal views and the potential path forward for the growth of commercially applied products based on electrospun nanofibers, are also highlighted. Nanotechnology is a fast-growing interdisciplinary technology that is concerned with the novel changes and drastic improvements in the properties of materials conjugated to their nanosized structures . The proElectrospun nanofibers are derived from electrospinning technology, with exceptional characteristics such as a high surface-to-volume ratio, interconnected ultrafine fibrous structure, high tortuosity, high permeability and lightweight materials. Electrospun nanofibers with diameters as low as 100 nm have continuously attracted broad attention from worldwide researchers, who are ready to move towards a practice-based interdisciplinary approach in a variety of fields ,7,8,9,10Electrospinning is a versatile technique and is evidenced by the accessibility to tailor electrospun fiber production into a rich variety of fiber morphologies. These electrospun nanofibers can be designed into various morphological structures, such as core shell hollow, porous, deposited in the aligned or a random orientation of nanofiber mesh, using a single or blended copolymer, with the incorporation of additive materials, subjectively . The verThe growing interest in electrospinning technology has paved the way to their advanced development by offering the controllable inclusion of the nanoparticles into these nanosized fibers through the blending of the nanoparticles-polymer solution prior to the spinning process. The simplicity, high efficiency, low cost and high reproducibility of nanofibers have categorized electrospinning as the potent fabrication technique of fibrous structured materials in nanometer sized ,23. In lSolution variables: concentration, degree of polymerization, viscosity and surface tension of the polymer.Needle variables: mono-axial, co-axial, tri-axial and needle-free.Collector variables: stationary collector, drum rotary collector and rotational speed.Electrospinning variables: voltage, feed rate, distance, temperature and humidity.Electrospinning has been acknowledged as an ancient nanotechnology rediscovered for modern demands, being intensely practiced in both laboratories and industries around the whole world. In order to be able to manufacture nanofiber-based fabrics from electrospun nanofibers in mass production, the need for proper control over the electrospinning processing is very crucial. Electrospinning involves a very simple and cost-effective method, yet is an intricate process that crucially depends on several main processing and technical parameters ,39,40,41An optimized concentration of polymer solution is needed in order to control the formation of electrospun fibers, to be free from defectiveness such as beaded fibers or sprayed droplets. It is mentioned that as below the optimized spinning solution concentration was prepared, the polymer chain entanglements are insufficient to stabilize the Coulombic repulsion within the ejected jet, leading to the formation of sprayed droplets ,43. WhilAnother important concern in regard to ecological impact is related to the use of organic solvents in electrospinning. The importance of this factor not only denoted the safety during the spinning handling but also the quality of produced nanofibers due to the entrapped of residual solvent. A precise monitoring to minimize residual solvents is vital for clinical medicine studies as compared to other applications. The use of safe, environmentally benign solvents in the electrospinning should be developed, to decrease the large consumption of volatile organic solvents.Besides, the formation of uniform diameter sizes of electrospun nanofibers is driven by the surface tension properties of polymer solution. Zhang (2011) clarified that by using a smaller internal diameter of a needle, the size of the charged droplet at the tip is reduced, consequently increases the surface tension of the charged droplet. As the surface tension is increased, extra energy is required to overcome the force. As a result, the decrease in the acceleration of the jet will give more time for the droplet to be stretched into a smaller size of fibrous form before deposited on the collector . On the While electrospinning technology offers an exciting insight in the fabrication of distinctive nanofiber-based materials, a significant hurdle has remained. Current innovative applications and the spinnable fluid limitation are still restricted significantly owing to the inconsistency and instability of electrospinning to assure reliability in processing nanofibers. These existing hurdles boost a robust urge in improving manufacturing efficiency, in order to deal with the related limitation issues involving macro-scale production, process stability and reproducibility in the manufacturing steps of electrospinning as described ,37. The Based on previous studies, it is largely demonstrated that environmental conditions are an essential stimulus to the outcome of charged dispersed fibers jets. It is reported that a substantial variation in the fiber properties is directly affected by the minor changes in the environment. To resolve the matter, a great improvement of electrospinning systems has been proposed to incorporate the proprietary climate-controlled electrospinning systems with promising temperature and humidity regulators. For instance, IME Technologies provides a laboratory-scale system consisting of an electrospinning compartment and a control cabinet inclusive of the ventilation system, water filtration and regulator with specific temperature and relative humidity accuracy ,59.4 as the foaming agent in expanding 2D electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers. A higher concentration of foaming agent was found to significantly increase the thickness of the scaffold. This post-treated method was able to produce 3D scaffolds and reduce the risk of breaking the interconnected fibers structure ..146].2 exhibited the best nanoparticle uniformity and optimal ethylene photo-degradation activity as compared to the control sample  with the aim of producing a nanofiber-based film to enhance the photocatalytic activity of ethylene degradation and deceleration the ripening of banana has been demonstrated . Their sl sample b,c. Thisarticles ,149,150.Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. It is reported that the control (unpacked strawberry) had started bruises and decayed on the 4th day. The strawberries packed with PVA/CEO/β-CD nanofibrous film showed no sign of decay even on the 6th day. The use of PVA/CEO/β-CD nanofibrous film has practically prolonged the shelf-life of packed strawberries by preventing water losses and delaying the degradation of the cell wall, thus, holding the firmness of the packed fruits during storage [Apart from nanoparticles, a number of works on the use of antibacterial substances have been studied. Vega-Lugo et al. (2009) fabricated electrospun fibers from soy protein isolate (SPI) in poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly (lactic acid) (PLA) for the controlled release of a naturally occurring antimicrobial compound, allyl isothiocyanate (AITC). AITC is mostly found in mustard oil, and is effective against cheese-related fungi. Through this work, it is found that the concentration of AITC has significantly affected the fiber morphology, whereas it is reported that the AITC release was negligible under dry conditions but increased drastically as the relative humidity increased. It can be concluded that the AITC release is directly triggered by any change in the relative humidity. Aside from SPI and AITC, the application of cinnamon essential oil (CEO) embedded electrospun nanofibers also has been tested. According to Wen et al. (2016), the PVA nanofibrous packaging film containing CEO exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity against both  storage ,152,153. storage .Electrospinning has the potential for use in various cosmetic applications for example facial masks, perfumes, deodorants and antiperspirants. A common feature of these applications is that they can be used in the form of a membrane which can be easily fabricated by electrospinning. The conceivable of incorporating active ingredients into electrospun nanofibers also makes this spinning process feasible for cosmetic applications. Yet, the application in the cosmetics product from nanofibers textiles material is relatively new. A reported study conducted by Fathi-Azarbayjani et al. (2010) indicated that electrospun fiber materials are influential to replace the conventional materials used in the current cosmetic facial masks. Their work demonstrated an anti-wrinkle nanofiber face mask incorporating collagen, novel vitamin and gold nanoparticles, with a control polymer degradation to discharge the active ingredients once contact with premoistened skin. The study reported that the high surface area to-volume ratio of the nanofiber mask will ensure maximum contact with the skin surface and help to enhance the skin permeation to restore its healthy appearance. The dry nature of face masks increases both the structural stability and their shelf lives when compared to premoistened cotton masks available in the market .Another research study that utilized emulsion electrospinning to fabricate membranes containing volatile fragrance through poly (PVA) fibrous matrix to release encapsulated (R)-(+)-limonene for 15 days under ambient temperatures has been demonstrated . The relTo shift the electrospun nanofibers from their prototyping to finished products is quite challenging. In contempt of the full potent ideas, electrospinning technology is facing several challenges in establishing its own position in the market and also substituting the current commercialized technologies. Researchers have been intent on evolving these materials, fabricating nanofibers from electrospinning over the past decade and transforming them into downstream and upstream products. The commercial usage of the electrospun nanofiber-based products is across various fields such as filtration and biomedical applications. ® in 1981. The nanofibers presence did show a promise in reducing operating costs and improved efficiency as reported by Balamurugan et al. (2011) [TM, the recent technology in the world that enables nanofiber production for performance apparel on an industrial scale [The first technology enabling the production of nanofibers appeared on the global market in the 1980s. Donaldson, one of the leading companies in nanofiber-based applications brought out the nanofibers first time for advanced commercial applications namely as air filtration technology–Ultra-Web. (2011) . Until tal scale . Since tThe rising popularity of an advanced product made of electrospun nanofiber-based materials is the primary factors that drive the growth of this market. Currently, the global nanofibers market is valued at USD 927 million in 2018 and is estimated to hit USD 4.3 billion by 2023 with an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.2% during the forecast period. The global market report done by PR Newswire is further analyzed by the following projected end-use application segments such as in packaging, automotive, electronics and semiconductors, aerospace, coatings and energy in segmented leading countries such as USA, Canada, China, Japan, Europe, North America and Asia regions. A research report by Global Industry Analysts Inc. entitled “Nanofibers: A Global Strategic Business Report” also has provided comprehensive reviews of the nanofibers market trends. As stated by the report, Asia–Pacific is the largest and the fastest growing market worldwide over the analysis period was conducted as a result of the strong public and private investments in nanotechnology. This is attributed to the high demand for nanofibers in performance apparel applications whereby their unique properties of high surface area, small fiber diameter, filtration properties, layer thinness, high permeability, and low basis weight, contribute to an outstanding product functionality . Given bThe review presented here collectively highlighted the development of the scaling-up method in electrospinning technologies, current progress on the manufacturing scalability of electrospun nanofibers materials and the commercialization of electrospun nanofiber-based products. We started with a brief opening related to the history of electrospinning, followed by a detailed literature review of its genesis principle and typical apparatus. The discussion narrowed into their revolution as a potent technology for the production of nanoscale dimension materials with diversified compositions, and their properties and applications were revealed. The potential for the commercialization applications of electrospun nanofiber-based materials opened up a new avenue towards economically extending and enlightening the values of electrospinning products. Through electrospinning nanotechnology, ultra-strong, durable and specific function-oriented nanofiber-based fabrics have been now tested for a number of consumer product applications, such as filtration, defense and protection garments, medical dressings, home furnishings, food packaging and, also, in cosmetics. As mentioned, nanotechnology has overcome the limitations of applying conventional methods to impart certain properties to electrospun nanofiber-based materials. Electrospinning techniques have facilitated the fabrication of nonwoven fibers in nano-sized scale dimensions, which now has become possible for highly effective modern performance products. Thus, there is no doubt that, in the next incoming years, nanotechnology through electrospinning will penetrate every area of the functional textiles industry for more innovative product applications.Yet, there are other concerns about the electrospinning technology that need to be addressed by the manufacturer, as well as the researchers. The issues are the hazardous vapors emitting from electrospinning solutions while forming nanofiber webs that need to be recovered or disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. This will definitely involve additional equipment and cost. Another issue is the raised concern over possible health hazards to humans due to the inhalation of fibers, which needs to be taken into another, future study. From the authors’ point of view, the functionality of electrospun nanofibers has been greatly improved and proven to have abilities in various fields of application. However, the shelf-life issue of electrospun nanofibers fabrics prior to laundering and restoration is certainly limited, and insufficient work has been reported. The fabric should have both appropriate mechanical properties and the durability to withstand the physical and chemical stresses of laundering. The importance of the lifespan of electrospun nanofibers products should be thoroughly evaluated before actual industrial production begins. Finally, this review article offered the readers with interesting perspectives regarding applied products of electrospun nanofibers. We strongly believe that all the difficulties and constraints faced in the manufacturing, research and development, as well as processing, of electrospun nanofibers will be clearly resolved throughout advanced research exploration in the coming future.


Cutibacterium modestum is a new species coined in 2020 as the fifth species of genus Cutibacterium, which includes Cutibacterium acnes. The species is predicted as a minor but common member of skin microbiome and includes a group tentatively named as “Propionibacterium humerusii”. The description of the species has been provided only with a single strain. To establish the characteristics of C. modestum and search for possible disease-related subtypes, we investigated the biochemical characteristics of eight live strains and performed in silico comparison of nine genomes. The common features, which included the morphology of Gram-stain positive short rods, the negativity of phenylalanine arylamidase, and several unique MALDI-TOF MS spectral peaks, were considered useful in laboratory identification. Pairwise comparisons of the genomes by in silico DNA–DNA hybridization showed similarity values of 98.1% or larger, which were far higher than the subspecies cutoff of 79–80%. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of thirteen isolates and genomes were identical. Their recA gene sequences were identical except for two strains, HM-510 (HL037PA2) and Marseille-P5998, which showed unique one-nucleotide polymorphisms. The biochemical features using API kits were slightly different among the isolates but far closer than those of the nearest other species, C. acnes and Cutibacterium namnetense. Spectra of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry showed slight differences in the presence of m/z 10,512 (10 kD chaperonin GroS) and three other peaks, further clustering the eight isolates into three subtypes. These results indicated that these isolates did not separate to form subspecies-level clusters, but subtyping is possible by using recA gene sequences or MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry spectra. Moreover, this work has confirmed that a group “P. humerusii” is included in C. modestum. Cutibacterium was established in 2016 as a result of the reclassification of genus Propionibacterium into four genera, which are Propionibacterium, Cutibacterium, Acidipropionibacterium, and Pseudopropionibacterium (later corrected to Arachnia), based on their whole-genome similarity and niche 2+) and m/z 9914 and 10,034 were singly charged ions ([M + H]+) of the same molecules (probably proteins), namely, molecules X and Y. Group C, which included peaks with m/z values of 5337 and 10,674, was produced from strain HM-515 (HL044PA1). In the same manner, m/z 5337 was a doubly charged ion ([M + 2H]2+) and m/z 10,674 was a singly charged ion ([M + H]+) of the same molecule, namely, molecule Z.MALDI-TOF MS spectra of all eight strains of obtained . The speT: BJEN01), B (strain KB17-24694: AP024747), and C (strain HM-515: ADZU01). However, it was not possible for these molecules because there were no gene sequence in Group B and C genomes that corresponded to proteins with the appropriate molecular weights and matching their observed mass to charge ratio (m/z). Following this result, possible post-translational modifications were considered. The observed m/z of the target molecule should increase 14, 42, or 56 by methylation, acetylation, and propionylation, respectively. As a result, the candidate proteins with modifications for these ions were suggested as follows: the candidates for molecule X include C25_01851 hypothetical protein , C25_00492 hypothetical protein , C25_01631 hypothetical protein , and C25_00877 phosphoribosyl-ATP pyrophosphatase , all coded in the KB17-24694 genome. The candidates for molecule Y include C25_00199 hypothetical protein , C25_00350 hypothetical protein , and C25_00245 hypothetical protein , all coded in the KB17-24694 genome. The candidates for molecule Z include WP_002529140.1_1400 YbaB/EbfC family nucleoid-associated protein , WP_172623584.1_1907 hypothetical protein , and WP_002528091.1_984 ATP-binding cassette domain-containing protein , all coded in the HM-515 (HL044PA1) genome.We tried to identify molecules X, Y, and Z by comparing the genomes of strains of Groups A  of which are based on genome-based calculations. All these peaks reflect intracellular proteins, which are DNA-binding protein HU [M + 2H]2+, 10 kD chaperonin GroS -Val [M + 2H]2+, Lsr2-like protein -Met [M + 2H]2+, 7 kD antitoxin -Met [M + H]+, CsbD-like protein -Val/-Met [M + H]+, DNA-binding protein HU [M + H]+, 10 kD chaperonin GroS -Val [M + H]+, and Lsr2-like protein -Met [M + H]+, respectively, as reported in our previous work of an interspecies comparative proteogenomics [C. modestum strains, reflecting the uniformity of corresponding coding genes. This fact is strikingly different from C. acnes subtypes, which exhibit different characteristic spectra [On the other hand, MALDI-TOF MS spectra of genomics . The maj spectra . The comThe above results of the biochemical and MALDI-TOF MS analysis should be useful for species-level identification in clinical laboratories.C. acnes, which includes three subspecies that are different in various aspects, that is in morphology, genome, 16S rRNA gene, recA gene, biochemical tests, and pathogenicity [C. modestum isolates did not show differences in this level. According to our pairwise genome comparisons , the variation range of C. modestum isolates was relatively small to repel subspecies discrimination . The glucose fermentation negativity in strain HM-510 (HL037PA2) suggests the link of this result to recA gene polymorphism G57A, but further accumulation of isolates is needed for verification.The biochemical analysis revealed slight differences among C. modestum identification. This is also the case for C. acnes; the product datasheet of this kit states that the positive rate of indole reaction for C. acnes is only 62%, although Bergey’s manual states all three subspecies of C. acnes are indole positive [T, which was negative for indole, was hinted with reference to their isolate 602588-20-USB and strain P08, which were positive [C. modestum strains were weakly positive in six strains and negative in two strains, and no strong positives were observed. However, our genome analysis indicated that strain P08, the indole positive strain, is included in C. modestum . All genomes possessed one each of the gene, with 46–49% similarity from Escherichia coli tryptophanase gene (tnaA) and 87% similarity from the correspondent gene in C. acnes. Considering all these results, we speculate that negative, weak positive, and clear positive results for indole can be obtained from C. modestum strains, although the tryptophanase gene is universal.Mixed results were observed for the presence of indole, which indicates that indole detection by using API Rapid ID 32A kit is not useful for positive . Goldenbpositive . Our resmodestum . Moreovesequence  and MALDsequence . To inveC. modestum showed three spectral patterns, the finding of which proves to be reliable to perform easy and cost-effective type analysis. Unfortunately, the MALDI-TOF MS spectra typings were not congruent with any of the recA gene or biochemical results. More analysis is needed to establish a meaningful typing scheme explaining their differences in niche and pathogenesis.MALDI-TOF MS spectra of C. modestum was initially suggested with a tentative name as “Propionibacterium humerusii” in 2011 with genomic analysis of an isolate P08 [C. modestum followed, and at that stage, we were aware of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain P08 being identical to the type strain of C. modestum [C. modestum and “P. humerusii” represent the same species [“P. humerusii” covers has not been defined, and thus it is unclear whether “P. humerusii” covers all strains of C. modestum. Our conclusion based on this history is that C. modestum is not equal to “P. humerusii”, but the former includes the latter.The presence of late P08 . Unfortumodestum . Very re species . HoweverThe description is given as before  with theC. modestum, which are useful in species-level diagnostic identification. All C. modestum isolates were Gram-stain positive short rods. Negativity of phenylalanine arylamidase should be a key to distinguish C. modestum from C. acnes and C. namnetense. MALDI-TOF MS spectra of C. modestum is unique and useful for species identification once the spectral data is registered in the identification system.As described above, our morphological, biochemical, and MALDI-TOF MS analyses outlined the general features of C. modestum revealed that strain-level (below subspecies-level) typings of C. modestum are possible by using recA gene sequences, biochemical reactions, or MALDI-TOF MS spectra. The G57A polymorphism of recA gene is especially worth attention, as this is linked to a negative result in the glucose fermentation test in one strain. On the other hand, these strains and genomes did not form subspecies-level clusters. To note, however, this study does not exclude the possibility of future discovery of the subspecies-level clusterings by further accumulation of isolates.Moreover, multidimensional analysis of the strains and genomes of


Worldwide, veterinary practitioners and students are reported to be at higher risk of suicide, burnout, and depression compared to other occupational groups. The aim of the current study was to apply text mining and topic modelling analysis on scientific literature regarding suicide, burnout, and depression among veterinary practitioners and students to extract meaningful and synthetic information. These statistical approaches can be used to comprehend more in deep the phenomena involving veterinarians and veterinary students and to suggest the potential changes needed in admission to veterinary school, veterinary curricula, and post-graduation initiatives as preventive actions.Student, stress, work, anim*, and euthanasia resulted the most frequent terms. Topics modelling allowed to differentiate groups of words and papers in 3 areas of interest: 1) students’ difficulties encountered during their studies that increase stress and anxiety impairing their psychological health; 2) exposure to death and euthanasia as risk factor for mental health; and 3) need of support among those providing medical and health care, and of supportive group work to cope with such profession.A systematic search protocol was set up to identify scientific literature that published on the topic from 1985 to 2019. Two-hundred-eleven records were selected with abstracts/texts submitted to text mining and topic modelling analysis. Based on the most frequent words included in the clouds and on the contents of the papers clusterised in them, some suggestions are interfered. It is emphasized that the veterinary curricula should include courses that prepare them early to deal with animal death and post-death grief of pet owners, to handle ethical dilemmas and moral stressors, to communicate with clients and staff members, to work in team, to balance work-family life and to promote individual and team resources. Specific courses for veterinary practitioners could keep them updated on their new roles and ways to handle them among functioning as potential feedbacks to monitor their psychological wellbeing.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12917-021-03000-x. Worldwide, veterinary practitioners and students are reported to be at higher risk of suicide, burnout, and depression compared to other occupational groups –4. AccorLow self-confidence in the own competences and doubts about the value of the own work were suggested as further factors affecting negatively veterinarian’s mental health , along wMain limitations of the published studies on the topic of veterinary suicide, burnout, and depression, however, are the distortion of the distribution of the sample due to the self-selection effect of participants who voluntarily take part to cohort studies thus it depends on the instruments used to reach veterinary staff and students or linked to the case studies. It was aim of the current study to apply a different methodology, namely text mining analysis and topic modelling, to extract meaningful numeric indices from unstructured data gathered from a systematic literature review on suicide, burnout, and depression among veterinary practitioners and students considering in particular their mental state. This statistical approach can be helpful to represent the state of the art of scientific knowledge regarding this phenomenon in the perspective of pointing out the changes needed in the veterinary curricula, admission to veterinary school, or post-graduate specific initiatives.n = 52), 2 (n = 12), 3 (n = 3), or 4 (n = 2) papers on the topic. Journal scientific and subject areas with the total number of journals per area are reported in Table Results of the systematic scientific literature search and the manual screening of papers represented schematically in Fig. student to 0.02 for allevi. The most frequent words and their respective weights are reported in the histogram shown in Fig. student appears to be the most frequent word. In addition to the word ‘student’, the terms with weights > 2.0 were: stress, work, anim*, euthanasia, risk, medic*, profess, death, surgeon, health, anxiety.Text mining analysis on the retained records (179 abstracts and 32 texts), produced a document term matrix with 211 rows (1 row per record) and 3631 columns (1 column per word root) and, after removal of sparse words, the total number of word roots resulted in 1352. Their weights  ranged from 5.29 for Once, the most frequent words and their weights were extracted, the dataset was submitted to topic modelling in order to cluster words and the papers containing them to extract meaningful information. The optimum number of groups for the topic analysis was calculated based on the measures of log-likelihood and perplexity of models fitted with different number of topics but it didn’t provide clear indication because the values of two statistics were continually decreasing with the increase of the number of groups (results not shown). No local minimum was found in the two functions, thus, arbitrarily the re-grouping of words put together by the topic modelling with 3 topics allowed a good distinction of three main areas that are represented in Fig. Student appeared to be by far the most frequent word. On the one hand, the Journal publishing the most on the topic is focused on veterinary students thus it could be expected that it raises the frequency of occurrence of such word. On the other hand, although in a speculative way because we don’t have metanalytic evidence based on response rate, we could reflect on students being more accessible for direct submission of questionnaires and interviews in survey studies compared to veterinary practitioners and, thus, larger numbers of studies related to the topic could involve this category of people. One area resulted from the topic modelling analysis in our study is indeed grouping together publications dealing with students’ difficulties encountered during veterinary studies that increase stress and anxiety impairing their psychological health. An additional explanation, however, raises from an increase of knowledge about the risk of veterinary students developing mental health problems at different levels, an increasing number of them seeking for professional help and different correlated initiatives to support them [Publications on the topic of suicide, burnout, and depression among veterinary practitioners and students are either case studies, cohort or cross-sectional studies based on the voluntary response of respondents, or reviews. In this study we applied text mining analysis and topic modelling in order to extract meaningful numeric indices from unstructured data gathered from a systematic literature review as previously done for other topics . We extrort them , 17, 29.ort them –32, as wort them  specificAnother area of the topic modelling analysis in our study is grouping papers advocating for the need of support among those providing medical and health care, and of group work in order to cope with such demanding professions. This is in line with Kimber and Gardner  who discAmong the several actions that could be put in place before, during and after veterinary school we could involve in changing the admission test and requirements  and inteThe current paper is result of a systematic scientific literature review to which text mining and topic modelling analysis were applied to find out the most frequent words and to clusterise the papers retrieved from the literature. The later analyses bring novelty to the paper going beyond a review. The descriptive analysis of the publication indexes and scientific macro areas are helpful to represent the state of the art of scientific knowledge regarding this phenomenon and the areas that show greater interest in the topic. The analysis of the clouds of words and the papers clustered in each of them allowed to suggest some changes needed in the veterinary curricula, admission to veterinary school, or post-graduate specific initiatives that are addressed in the published literature.Veterinar*  and Suicide in the Topic field with the AND boolean operator. It originated 155 records dated from 1986. The second search set used Veterinar* AND Burnout as topic keywords and originated 71 papers dated from 1987. The third search set used Veterinar* AND Depression as topic keywords and originated 403 papers dated from 1990. These search histories were preliminarily exported and saved and titles and abstracts were manually screened for their contents. Fifty-eight papers were excluded because duplicates (51) or triplicates (7) within or among search sets. Papers with abstract not available or not in English (12) were also removed. In order to exclude a large number of papers dealing with topics not pertinent with this study but still carried out within the veterinary field, the remaining records were screened by checking presence in the title or abstract/text of the words listed in Supplementary Table A systematic scientific literature search was carried out on June 24th 2019 on the Web of science – Thomson Reuters™ (WOS) All Databases  within the entire timespan from year 1985 – present. The first search set used the keywords All type of papers, including research, reviews, reports, and commentary papers (179 abstracts and 32 texts) that were eligible were submitted to descriptive statistics to profile the scientific corpus. An electronic Excel workbook was used to collect the data extracted from these papers as described by Contiero et al. . The sprThe retained 211 papers were submitted to text mining analysis using libraries tm, stringr, and Snowball3 of the statistical R package , to avoid the count of the same word with different grammatical forms .As previously done by Contiero et al. , severalA term frequency - inverse document frequency technique (TFIDF) was applied to weight the frequency of a term adjusted for how widely it is used . This apTopics modelling analysis is a tool to uncover the structure of meaningful themes among collections of documents as well as to discover hidden textual patterns . Latent https://www.wordclouds.com/), where the higher colour depth and character size indicate a greater probability. Each document was assigned to a topic with the highest probability.We used LDA function with Gibbs sampling option of the topic models package in R . The numAdditional file 1.


The degree to which mental representations of the body can be established and maintained without somatosensory input remains unclear. We contrast two “deafferented” adults, one who acquired large fibre sensory loss as an adult (IW) and another who was born without somatosensation (KS). We compared their responses to those of matched controls in three perceptual tasks: first accuracy of their mental image of their hands (assessed by testing recognition of correct hand length/width ratio in distorted photographs and by locating landmarks on the unseen hand); then accuracy of arm length judgements (assessed by judgement of reaching distance), and finally, we tested for an attentional bias towards peri-personal space . We hypothesised that IW would demonstrate responses consistent with him accessing conscious knowledge, whereas KS might show evidence of responses dependent on non-conscious mechanisms. In the first two experiments, both participants were able to give consistent responses about hand shape and arm length, but IW displayed a better awareness of hand shape than KS (and controls). KS demonstrated poorer spatial accuracy in reporting hand landmarks than both IW and controls, and appears to have less awareness of her hands. Reach distance was overestimated by both IW and KS, as it was for controls; the precision of their judgements was slightly lower than that of the controls. In the attentional task, IW showed no reaction time differences across conditions in the visual detection task, unlike controls, suggesting that he has no peri-personal bias of attention. In contrast, KS did show target location-dependent modulation of reaction times, when her hands were visible. We suggest that both IW and KS can access a conscious body image, although its accuracy may reflect their different experience of hand action. Acquired sensory loss has deprived IW of any subconscious body awareness, but the congenital absence of somatosensation may have led to its partial replacement by a form of visual proprioception in KS. In this paper, we contrast two very rare yet related neurological conditions: the acquired loss of proprioception and touch in adulthood and the complete congenital absence of these senses. We compare individuals with these two conditions to each other and to normal controls to illuminate how representations of the body can be established and maintained without somatosensory input.Normally, an internal representation of the body is developed, continuously updated, and maintained throughout life using visual calibration of somatosensory input  was identified whose absence of somatosensory afferents is congenital, and who therefore has never had somatic sensation, and thus in whom movement guidance and perception appears to be exclusively of visual origin. It should be noted that KS lacks small as well as large diameter sensory fibres from her entire body and head.We aimed to compare various aspects of body awareness and action control in these two rare individuals. First, we asked them to report on the shape and size of their hands. Longo and Haggard  report tNext, we investigated the accuracy of responses in a reach-distance judgement task to test the representation of arm length Heft . These jFinally, we assessed the influence of peri-personal space on spatial attention, which is a fully subconscious process. In the neurologically intact, detection of visual or auditory stimuli is facilitated when targets are presented close to the perceived location of the hands  and KS with seven controls of mean age of 38.4 years . In the absence of a priori estimates of effect sizes, we based our numbers on our prior experience of similar studies: control comparisons with IW and other deafferented participants  also completed the nine-hole peg test, with the average performance time cross-referenced to standardized values . For the older group, the mean duration was 18.05, SD 0.62 s which was faster than the norm for male 66–70 years old  = 2.54, p = 0.020) but not different from the female 66–70 year norm  = 1.6, p = 0.125).The control participants  resulting in an overall ability measure of − 0.9 logits (SE 0.5 logits); normal adults would have a raw score of 36, and an ability measure of 6.4 logits (SE 1.7). KS’s low score may reflect musculoskeletal as well as neurological deficits in distal fine motor skills, and are consistent with her infrequent use of her digits, particularly the lateral digits . IW’s profile is closer to the normal, with a raw score of 34 , and an ability measure of + 4.2 (SE 0.8)  were calculated.The mean and SD of the length/width ratio chosen across eight trials was recorded, and the control data compared with ANOVA and one-sample F = 0.14, p = 0.72] or hand .In other words, most control participants tended to reliably select images slightly wider and shorter than their own hands. Combining across both hands, and averaging across all 14 controls, the overall mean length/width ratio was 0.95, significantly below the veridical value of 1.0  and significant for KS .We then tested the difference between IW’s and KS’s selected length/width ratio and their age-matched control group, by calculating Procedures for this task are similar to those of Longo and Haggard , in whicOn each trial, participants were visually cued which landmark to localise, with a small dot shown on a stylistic icon of a hand, displayed towards the edge of the screen. The experimenter also verbally described the target . To our surprise, participant KS (a college and law school graduate) stated that she did not know the names of the fingers, and required a brief training session to ensure she could identify them by name, and she occasionally asked for reminders. This might reflect her limited dextrous ability and experience. Control participants used a Microsoft Sidewinder joystick held with their non-dominant hand to control the motion of a cursor on the screen that appeared in each trial at the bottom of the screen in the midline; deviation of the joystick from its central sprung position controlled the speed of cursor motion, with the gain of the response adjusted for each individual so that they could easily and smoothly control the motion. They positioned the cursor (2 mm diameter), without any time limit, and then pressed the joystick trigger to indicate their perceived location of the cued landmark on the occluded hand. The two test participants found the joystick difficult to use, without direct vision of their hand on the handle. They therefore gave verbal instructions to the experimenter , who controlled the joystick and made the trigger response when instructed to do so on their behalf.Fifteen landmarks on the dominant hand were mapped by most control participants: the proximal and middle knuckles  and the fingertips  of each digit; only ten landmarks were used for three control participants, excluding the middle joint. Each control participant performed four blocks of 15 trials, with landmarks presented in a pseudorandom order.The two test participants IW and KS performed four blocks of 20 trials, across 3 days of testing, two with the left hand and two with the right hand. Because of the additional time needed for them to verbally direct placement of the cursor, each block tested only ten landmarks; the proximal knuckle and the fingertip for each of the five digits, each landmark tested twice in each block. At the start of each block and occasionally within a block, IW and KS visually inspected their hand. The two test participants also performed one block of 20 trials in which they were allowed to inspect the hand on every trial, and a further block where their hand remained on their lap, and they reported the positions of the landmarks as if the hand was in position on the table. These extra tests were only conducted with the dominant left hand.Q’ scores were calculated  and across-condition Q’ scores used to test if the variations in the case–control differences across the factors (hand and digit) were significant  were excluded, with a maximum of 10 in one participant. Only one datum each was excluded for KS and for IW. However, for all control participants, there was a maximum of one datum excluded for any landmark position, leaving at least three valid data. Note that with the exception of the middle fingertip, located on a marked position, the true position of each landmark depends both on hand shape and size, but also on the spread of the fingers. The participants were told to comfortably spread their fingers, and so adopted quite repeatable postures. However, we report digit lengths (the distance between the mean reported location of the primary knuckle and fingertip of each digit) and hand width (the distance between the primary knuckle of the index and little finger), as these measures are unaffected by spread of the fingers. To compare each test participant with their respective control group, condition-specific  Michael .The distances between the perceived positions of each landmark on the unseen hand showed that control participants tended to underestimate the mean width of their hand . As a percentage of their actual hand width, the mean estimate was slightly below unity: 90 and 88% for both younger and older control groups, respectively Fig. b. HoweveIW and KS were tested in four sessions, twice reporting with the hand-held static beneath the occluding mirror (as it was for the controls), once when they viewed the hand beneath the mirror in between successive trials, and once when the hand was on the lap, out of view and remote from the visual display screen. Although the number of trials in these latter two conditions was small, there were no dramatic differences in the data from each trial condition ’ = 2.20, p = 0.014). However, like controls, she substantially underestimated her digit lengths, with an average across the five digits of 49% ’ > 1.71, p < 0.043)]; for the thumb and little finger, they were not significant . Figure KS mis-located her hand landmarks, such that we could infer she overestimated hand width by 19% ’ > 1.82, p < 0.034), and the pattern across the six measures was also significantly different . The angle across the middle finger knuckle (arc b) was not different from the controls for either hand . Her “little finger angle” (arc c) was somewhat flatter (168 and 174 degrees vs 150 ± 18), but these differences were not significant . The JND of their judgements were also not significantly different (1.47 (SD 1.31) vs 1.83 (SD 1.25); t (12) = 0.53, p = 0.606); nor were their arm lengths different (mean 71.3 cm (SD 3.29) vs 73.4 cm (SD 2.86); t (12) = 1.61, p = 0.135).We extracted the bias point from each psychometric curve Figs. , 8 to est score = 9.51, p < 0.0001), but not for KS .Both IW and KS also overestimated their reach distance  confounded this comparison for KS. In a related study, 31 undergraduate adults  performed the same reach estimation task. Their mean bias was the same magnitude as that of KS’s control group , but the variance in the bias measures across the UG group was considerably less (SD = 4.9 vs 11.7% for KS’s group). The mean JND for this new group was 3.3% (SD = 1.72%) compared to 1.5% (SD 1.3%). Taking into account the larger group of undergraduate controls lends power to our conclusion that KS performed no differently from controls in reach estimation.t score = 3.40, p = 0.0072; KS: 2.9%, t score = 2.86, p = 0.0143; Fig. The JND values were higher for both IW and KS than for the controls  and Q’-scores used to test if the variations in the case–control Q’ scores across the factors (vision and hand–target proximity) were significant . Control participant data were compared with ANOVA . To compare each test participant with their respective control group, Michael, .F = 11.31, p = 0.005] and cueing  and an interaction between cueing, location, and laterality  were significant. The group effect was driven by faster RTs in the younger cohort . The significant effect of cue validity provided confidence that the paradigm was engaging spatially selective attention. The three-way interaction also supported the hypothesised effect of attentional bias proximal to the hand. There was also a near-significant four-way interaction between cueing, vision, location, and laterality , such that RTs were particularly short for trials with the target near the visible hand, in peri-personal space.An omnibus ANOVA showed that were no main effects for the hand (dominant vs non-dominant), and so the data were collapsed across both hands for further analysis. We found the expected differences in reaction times in the control groups, with shorter RTs in trials where the target was ipsilateral to the seen hand, in personal space. In an omnibus, five-way mixed ANOVA with factors of age group (young/old), cueing , vision (seen/unseen), location , and laterality , the factors of group  with considerably shorter RTs for the younger controls . For both control groups, the modulation of RT with location relative to the hand was stronger for the visible hand condition  = 10.11, p = 0.007] with shorter RTs in trials with ipsilateral compared to contralateral presentation of the target, in peri-personal space with vision . However, this interaction also indicates that RTs were low for the contrasting condition, when the target was contralateral and in extra-personal space, with vision.Critically, there was also the expected interaction of vision, location, and laterality  reflecting the slower RTs of the older group .When we considered only invalid trials for the controls (not shown), only the age group factor was significant  similar to that seen in the controls. This was particularly obvious in trials with the hand visible . IW did not show any significant differences across the factors , thus differing from controls and from KS.The effects of the experimental factors  were then analysed by running separate ANOVAs for KS and IW, across the 3 or 4 sessions. KS showed a significant vision–location–laterality interaction [In summary, for both control groups and for KS, there were reaction time advantages for trials with targets ipsilateral to the visible hand in peri-personal space and disadvantages for targets in extra-personal, contralateral space Fig. . These eIn this paper, we report four experiments that explore the maintenance of a body representation in two individuals living with chronic or congenital absence of somatosensation. We used perceptual tasks to probe judgements about hand shape, (Experiments 1A and 1B), arm reach (Experiment 2), and to test for an attentional bias in peri-personal space (Experiment 3).Experiments 1 and 2 required conscious judgements about body size and shape, or the location of landmarks on the hand. We found strikingly different degrees of distortion between controls, and the participants, suggesting that the visual representation of hand shape may be quite distinct from metrical knowledge  seen in our control groups are in contrast to the overestimation reported by Longo and colleagues . There are clear abnormalities in the musculoskeletal arrangement of her hands, including an inability to fully extend at the wrist, and in their central control, since she cannot independently move the middle, ring, or little fingers on either hand. There are also clear differences between IW and KS in their activities of daily living . She does not perform most dextrous tasks such as cutting up food, buttoning, brushing teeth, and combing her hair. In tasks such as using a spoon (which KS does daily) or writing (which she does rarely) KS uses an all-finger power grasp. In tasks such as picking up cards or a jigsaw puzzle piece, she uses a precision grip between thumb and index finger.In contrast to KS, IW has used his hands extensively since an intense period of re-learning and rehabilitation just months after the onset of his neuropathy Cole . He dailOne explanation for the limited difference in KS’s hand maps from controls is the opposing effects of her lack of somatic input, taking her closer to veridical (as in IW) and her lack of motoric use, potentially augmenting the distance from veridical. Hence, we suggest that it may be KS’s impoverished hand use that has led to her degraded metrical knowledge of shape and size of her hands compared to IW. Her foreshortened hand map reflects her lack of dextrous experience tempered by a lack of somatosensory inputs, whereas the even greater foreshortening in controls is due to the presence of somatosensory distortions.Healthy controls typically overestimate the target distance they can reach , as they were found for the controls when the hand was both visible and hidden. Thus, we can use the task to probe whether IW and KS also display these differences. KS showed significant RT difference in the visual but not non-visual conditions; IW showed no significant differences in either condition. These data suggest that KS has a visually based body representation or schema, whereas IW has no discernible body-schema-based representation of peri-personal space.Two features of KS’s data are striking. First, her reaction times were uniformly short, when compared to the young controls, and second, as mentioned above, in the hand-visible conditions she showed the same pattern of modulated RTs as the controls. Fast responses in these attentional detection tasks are thought to reflect implicit and bottom–up processes . We suggest that he was more strategic, top–down, in his approach—and possibly more cautious about the invalid and catch trials—as he was in a previous attentional task  conscious visual streams. IW is clear about his need to be consciously aware of his body position to control movement, and its dependence on conscious vision: “everything is through vision” Cole .Finally, we note that our assessments of hand configuration and arm reach (Experiments 1 and 2) provide objective evidence that both IW and KS have developed and maintained a perceptually accessible representation of the body, or a body image. As IW relates, “rather than being disembodied, I am completely, totally, embodied. If I was not I would not know where I am. I re-associate and reconnect constantly.” Cole . KS has In sum, and returning to the conceptual framing provided by body image and body schema, our data lend support to the idea that KS has developed a low-fidelity, automated (fast) motor representation (or schema) whereas IW uses a slow, high-fidelity, cognition-dependent representation for movement control.


The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) are 17 global goals and 169 targets adopted by all UN Member States in September 2015. These targets follow the Millennium Development Goals, but have a greater breadth of activity and are substantially more ambitious. The goals aim to tackle major global challenges by 2030 and focus heavily on inequality and climate change. As scientists aiming to understand how things work and how we can exploit these underlying mechanisms to make the world a better place, many of us will feel we have an obligation to try and better focus our work in contributing to achieving some of the major challenges outlined within the UN-SDGs. Unsurprisingly, health and the environment feature predominantly and microbiologists globally are constantly engaged in trying to address biological problems through innovative approaches and applied scientific method. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic aptly exposes the threat that infection disease poses to mankind, but also highlights how science can respond rapidly and collaboratively to generate novel methods to reduce the impact of a new infectious disease. But how do we approach such global challenges and what existing capacity do we have ready that can be directly applied to the UN-SDGs?The COVID-19 experience has been a lesson and a severe warning shot for the challenges that humanity faces. It is increasingly apparent the virus will be with us indefinitely and there will be other pandemics in the future for which we have to respond with similar haste. But COVID-19 has shown us that we have to learn to work as a community and to make our research ever more applied to address these longer-term threats to mankind, such as pandemics, food security, environmental sustainability and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The Microbiology Society recognizes these challenges and sees enormous potential in the microbiology research community in the UK and Ireland to jointly apply their skills in tackling major global issues. Consequently, the Society created an expansive project entitled ‘A Sustainable Future’ in 2019, which is working to define a principal role for microbiology in achieving some key aspects of the UN-SDGs. This is an ongoing mission and the scope of the UN-defined goals is exceptionally broad and often interlocked; however, engagement with the Microbiology Society’s membership identified three specific areas where the expertise of microbiologists in the UK and Ireland is particularly relevant. These areas were AMR, which is widely recognized as one of the biggest threats to humanity; the circular economy, encompassing regenerative approaches aiming to maximize the most efficient use of the world’s finite resources; and soil health, which is essential for us to sustainably feed an ever-growing global population.As opposed to dictating the agenda, as a Society we have continuously sought to engage with the community as much as possible to direct ideas and to try to focus efforts on the key expertise already held within its membership. As a component of this project we held a week-long workshop in the summer of 2020 to identify challenges and opportunities for microbiological research and innovation through interdisciplinary collaboration, and interactions with industrial partners and social and political institutions in tackling AMR. As many of the concepts raised may not be feasible given current academic/industrial structures, we also asked what more could be done if there were fewer barriers, and what interventions would be needed to take the generated ideas to the next level.Given that this workshop was performed during the ongoing pandemic, it was conducted online via focus groups chaired by recognized experts in each of the defined areas of AMR. The meeting chairs for each focus group selected two topic clusters that served to frame the discussion around challenges and opportunities for microbiology in AMR research and how we could respond as a community. The clusters for each group were: Microbiology research and innovation: (1) building a strong and resilient research community and (2) disseminating research; Interdisciplinary collaboration: (1) structures and funding and (2) managing expectations and internal communication; Industry: (1) research and industry collaboration and (2) policy, regulations and market; and Social and political institution: (1) policy context and (2) engagement and culture.The focus groups were purposely composed of people from a range of backgrounds, geographical locations and career stages. The discussions were vibrant  and generated a spectrum of opinions that could be directed into potential policy documents for how to both utilize and adapt the current microbiology research landscape in the UK and Ireland. Here, I outline some of the key thoughts and perceptions generated during these 90 min discussions. As a group we have tried to titrate these into some key concepts that may provide a focus into how the microbiology research community in the UK and Ireland can contribute to the global challenge of antimicrobial-resistant infections.The microbiology research and innovation focus group agreed that we must advocate that microbiology is a major priority area within the public health system, and ensure that microbiology takes a (more) predominant position within national and international surveillance systems. Surveillance is the principal mechanism for assessing AMR trends and the way surveillance is currently structured and integrated needs to be vastly improved. Science is commonly focused on short-term individual academic achievements; therefore, longer term surveillance programmes (i.e. >5 years) are difficult to establish and maintain but we need more vision and sustainability. In Ireland, the task of setting up an efficient AMR surveillance system is likely to be directed by the EU. The UK, however, will need to develop its own strategy; this may prove more challenging out of the EU and will require the appropriate funding and direction.There was a recognition that our knowledge exchange mechanisms are outdated and need an overhaul. Publishing is the bedrock of scientific research, but it is also a hinderance to information dissemination and career development (dependent on author position). The community needs to embrace changes in scientific publishing, have less career-incentivized approaches to the way we disseminate information, and investigate new ways of communicating findings outside of this traditional structure. Engaging with a range of different expertises will also be key; an AMR innovation and knowledge centre that pulls together capabilities from different disciplines is likely to rapidly accelerate the AMR research agenda. This could be structured as a virtual institute (i.e. such as the Alan Turing Institute) and could be championed by the Society and key influencers to act as an AMR centre of excellence for identifying and solving specific scientific problems around AMR. This type of institute could also act as a conduit for changing healthcare policy and facilitating new translational interactions with industry, which are currently poor.Whilst the UK/Ireland microbiology research community is highly active, it lacks influence at funding organizations. Basic microbiology remains integral for our understanding and challenging of AMR, and we need to expand our knowledge of how antimicrobials work and how they behave in complex systems (i.e. systematic off-label effects and interactions with the microbiome). AMR research has historically been focused on describing and documenting, so microbiologists need to better focus their efforts on developing new and innovative solutions using routinely generated data.The interdisciplinary collaboration focus group considered that the AMR community had been largely successful in bringing people together from different fields in a comparatively short time frame, suggesting there is a strong appetite to conduct interdisciplinary research around AMR. The AMR research community is fairly well established in the UK and needs to be pushed to be broader-thinking and take on increasingly ambitious projects. Basic scientific research is integral to developing new solutions, but changing behaviours, practices and engagement across society needs to be performed simultaneously. Therefore, interactions with those working in the social sciences, policy and other humanities need to be encouraged and facilitated.AMR research is broad and habitually absorbed into different discipline-specific conferences; there are few AMR-specific conferences, most of which are focused on the molecular aspects of AMR. We as a community should advocate for a forum that brings people together from different fields and serves to communicate the value of AMR work to those who set the scientific agenda and to a wider audience. The UK/Ireland is in a strong position to lead globally on a series of AMR-focused interdisciplinary conferences to overcome barriers and provoke more cross-field research. Again, encompassing societal change alongside basic science may be a novel approach in which to form the nuclei of new collaborations and funding opportunities.Interdisciplinary research is challenging but if researchers are to take advantage of funding calls, they must build relationships early in order to be prepared when opportunities arise. As it stands, scientific funding is again targeted towards funding individuals in the short term. There is a need for more long-term and ambitious interdisciplinary funding, providing sufficient time to establish better interdisciplinary working models and collaborations. We (as a community) can afford to be more adventurous with the projects we perform, and targeted funding is required to test innovative ideas and forge better links with industry. Innovation and knowledge centres are a potential mechanism for linking academia and industry. Such centres create a framework for future collaboration and will engage more researchers to participate in interdisciplinary research. PhD programmes in interdisciplinary research, aiming to connect academia and industry, could be a mechanism for formulating new interdisciplinary work. There is currently a national interdisciplinary PhD programme in the UK, and this mechanism is clearly a cost-effective approach to investing in work with potentially high-value returns.The industry focus group noted that although early-stage innovation is growing, the number of scientists trying to develop new antibiotics and diagnostics is surprisingly low. Additionally, only a limited number of the major pharmaceutical companies have active infectious disease programmes. Consequently, we need to bring industry and researchers together as much as possible to facilitate communication and develop a common set of challenges and goals for AMR research. Ensuring the two communities communicate and agree unmet needs, gaps and challenges is paramount. This arrangement needs to work both ways; the development of novel and transformative technologies is currently performed by industry, but academia is likely to contribute greatly if it becomes more involved.Many academic researchers do not know how to interact with industry, and better engagement between both sides is required. This communication needs to highlight the way industry operates and awareness of the policy and regulatory environment. Challenge-led initiatives are very important, as they allow for industry to be involved early and for researchers to work on AMR solutions that are actually needed, they respect regulation, and they can be easily scaled. For challenge-led research to work, there must be ongoing communication throughout the process, from bench to trials.Researchers and industry need to work with regulators to develop innovative infectious disease approaches without compromising human safety but perhaps allowing a more flexibility in trial design. It was noted that regulators in the USA and EU have established AMR advisory groups to investigate innovate approaches and how these could be accommodated. The UK regulatory landscape is overly complex and needs to be made clearer to facilitate better engagement. Significant policy reforms are happening in countries where public health research is in place, such as the WHO innovation in tuberculosis treatment in Eastern Africa. Academic funding and industrial funding need a new kind of working relationship to enable innovation, and the two groups need to renew their commitment to AMR.There is, however, a key issue: we need significant investment in new treatments for patients infected with resistant organisms, but also need to restrict the use of new antimicrobials to mitigate resistance. Currently, this model is not viable and the antimicrobial ecosystem needs fixing. We need a mechanism around this roadblock, and combination treatments may offer a way forward. Antibacterials with antivirals can increase drug efficacy, and the combination of treatments could be an important transformative tool. Combining older technologies, such as antimicrobial classes that are no longer used, with novel innovations, such as monoclonal antibodies, may provide revolutionary new approaches in infectious disease therapeutics.Given the time at which the workshop was conducted, the social and political institutions group initially discussed how COVID-19 had the potential to positively and negatively impact AMR research. Overall, it was considered that the impact of COVID-19 on AMR had, in the short term, been negative, with many projects stopping, people being unable to work in laboratories and funding being diverted into tackling the pandemic. UK GDP has fallen, and consequently the amount of funding available as Official Development Assistance is likely to be substantially reduced in coming years, which may impact international AMR programmes. Alternatively, COVID-19 will inevitably have knock-on effects with respect to AMR from the increased use of antibiotics in COVID-19 patients. Additionally, there is now a receptive general audience for the impact of infectious disease on human populations. Whether there is an increased risk of generating AMR as a result of COVID-19 remains to be demonstrated. However, it appears that the number of secondary infections in COVID-19 patients may have increased antibiotic usage in hospitals.More generally, the panel agreed that a better understanding of the ‘one health’ approach and the environmental dimension of AMR between humans and animals was needed, rather than a focus on environmental health or the impact that the environment has on human health. Stewardship programmes that promote improved prescribing behaviours have been successful over time with significant reductions in antimicrobial usage in livestock; lessons from small-scale animal health studies could be applied globally and adapted into human health care. Again, enhanced surveillance was outlined as a necessity, with adaptive culture-independent methods being implemented for well-defined programmes.There was a general agreement that the microbiology community could do more to educate the public about AMR and how research is being used to tackle it. Microbiology could be taught in schools and become a component of the secondary school syllabus. Through education the profile of AMR could be raised and stressed that it is an urgent threat to human health and not a hypothetical problem. AMR may not yet be being taken seriously and there is a lack of recognition of how AMR contributes to patient death. A potential solution would be including AMR-related infection on death certificates as a contributing factor. A further possibility would be the labelling of antibiotics with information of how these drugs affect the patient’s microbiome and increase the personal and population risk of drug-resistant infections.The current landscape of research into AMR in UK/Ireland is broad and highly active, and it is an arena in which we can have a major global impact. However, the challenge that confronts us is significant and we need to augment some aspects of our current AMR research agenda to provide new solutions to AMR infections and to deliver the UN-SDGs. The information and the issues presented here were identified and discussed by leading experts. These opinions are not exhaustive, but do highlight some of the major issues of the current academic structure and outline some potential solutions for how we move forward. We need to think beyond publication and aim to create more sustainability in our research, with better rewards for the truly innovative. Whilst basic research is fundamental to understanding the how and why, we also need to be more applied, aiming to translate our findings into tangible new interventions through better interactions with other disciplines and industrial partners. Lastly, AMR is going to be an enduring problem and we need longer term support to understand and overcome it; the creation of an AMR innovation and knowledge centre could provide this platform and become the hub of new innovation, interdisciplinary research, academic/industry links and policy. AMR is one of the biggest healthcare challenges we currently face and we as a Society hope our members can rise to the challenge.