Alteration in the composition of the gut microbiota can lead to a number of chronic clinical diseases.
Akkermansia muciniphila
is an anaerobic bacteria constituting 3–5% of the gut microbial community in healthy adults. This bacterium is responsible for degenerating mucin in the gut; its scarcity leads to diverse clinical disorders. In this review, we focus on the role of
A. muciniphila
in diabetes, obesity and atherosclerosis, as well as the use of this bacterium as a next-generation probiotic. In regard to obesity and diabetes, human and animal trials have shown that
A. muciniphila
controls the essential regulatory system of glucose and energy metabolism. However, the underlying mechanisms by which
A. muciniphila
alleviates the complications of obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis are unclear. At the same time, its abundance suggests improved metabolic disorders, such as metabolic endotoxemia, adiposity insulin resistance and glucose tolerance. The role of
A. muciniphila
is implicated in declining aortic lesions and atherosclerosis. Well-characterized virulence factors, antigens and cell wall extracts of
A. muciniphila
may act as effector molecules in these diseases. These molecules may provide novel mechanisms and strategies by which this bacterium could be used as a probiotic for the treatment of obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis.
There has been excessive rate of use of antibiotics to fight Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) infections worldwide, which has consequently caused the increased resistance to multiple antibiotics in this pathogen. Due to the widespread resistance and the current poor effect of antibiotics consumed to treat P. aeruginosa infections, finding some novel alternative therapeutic methods are necessary for the treatment of infections. The P. aeruginosa biofilms can cause severe infections leading to the increased antibiotic resistance and mortality rate among the patients. In this regard, there are no approaches that can efficiently manage these infections; therefore, novel and effective antimicrobial and antibiofilm agents are needed to control and treat these bacterial infections. Quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) or quorum quenchings (QQs) are now considered as potential therapeutic alternatives and/or adjuvants to the current failing antibiotics, which can control the virulence traits of the pathogens, so as a result, the host immune system can quickly eliminate bacteria. Thus, the aims of this review article were presenting a brief explanation of the research reports on the natural and synthetic QSIs of P. aeruginosa, and the assessment of the current understanding on the QS mechanisms and various QQ strategies in P. aeruginosa.
The aim of this article was twofold. First, it considered the effect of social networks (Telegram) on the vocabulary knowledge of the participants, then it compared the participants' responses in IRF (initiation, response, & feedback) pattern in two different settings (traditional class and the online one). A group of foreign language learners took the Nelson Proficiency Test and a total of 60 learners were selected to participate in the study. Then they were randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. After the treatment, the pre-test and post-test results were compared. For the second part of the study, the participants' comments were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results revealed a significant difference between the two groups, not only in their vocabulary knowledge but also in the way they communicated. This study has implications for both teachers and learners to increase their awareness of the benefits of new opportunities provided by technology in teaching-learning process.
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