Biology subjects

Petroni, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Petroni, A..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Effects of antibiotics on the abundance of antibiotic resistance determinants during and after antibiotic administration to beef cattle: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

BackgroundBeef feedlots are increasing concerns that antibiotic use in beef cattle selects for antibiotic resistance, but limitations of primary studies and previous syntheses make it difficult to confirm a consistent effect. We conducted a rigorous systematic review and meta-analysis to summarise: 1) the effect during and after antibiotic administration; 2) its moderation by time since administration started/ended. MethodsEligible studies longitudinally compared beef cattle administered antibiotics to those that were not, measuring resistance determinants in faeces and/or environments. Information sources included Web of Science, CAB Abstracts, and Medline (last searches: 05/03/25). Risk of bias was assessed using RoB 2 and ROBINS-I. Meta-analysis was conducted where feasible, using individual participant data where necessary. ResultsThe 33 included studies were mostly small trials of North American feedlot cattle, all with high risks of bias. Meta-analysis of 11 studies of tylosin, ceftiofur, and chlortetracycline indicated positive effects on absolute abundance of resistance both during (SMDH = 0.4; 95% CI = 0.11 to 0.69, p = <0.01) and after (SMDH = 0.52; 95% CI = 0.33 to 0.71, p = <0.01) antibiotic administration. Log-transformed time was positively associated with effect size during (Slope = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.1 to 1.16, p = 0.02), and negatively associated after (Slope = -0.65; 95% CI = -1.24 to -0.06, p = 0.03) DiscussionAvailable evidence indicates time-dependent selection for antibiotic resistance in beef cattle, warranting further regulation to limit human health risks. Simultaneously, uncertainty about precise effect sizes warrants further research. FundingBBSRC Registrationhttps://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/RXQHT

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

Web-based eye-tracking for remote cognitive assessments: The anti-saccade task as a case study

Over the last years, several developments of remote webcam-based eye tracking (ET) prototypes have emerged, testing their feasibility and potential for web-based experiments. This growing interest is mainly explained by the possibility to perform tasks remotely, which allows the study of larger and hard-to-reach populations and potential applications in telemedicine. Nevertheless, a decrease in the quality of the camera and a noisier environment bring new implementation challenges. In this study, we present a new prototype of remote webcam-based ET. First, we introduced improvements to the state-of-the-art remote ET prototypes for cognitive and clinical tasks, e.g. without the necessity of constant mouse interactions. Second, we assessed its spatiotemporal resolution and its reliability within an experiment. Third, we ran a classical experiment, the anti-saccade task, to assess its functionality and limitations. This cognitive test compares horizontal eye movements toward (pro-saccades) or away from (anti-saccades) a target, as a measure of inhibitory control. Our results replicated previous findings obtained with high-quality laboratory ETs. Briefly, higher error rates in anti-saccades compared to pro-saccades were observed, and incorrect responses presented faster reaction times. Our web-ET prototype showed a stable calibration over time and performed well in a classic cognitive experiment. Finally, we discussed the potential of this prototype for clinical applications and its limitations for experimental use.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Poorer Sleep Health is Associated with Altered Cognitive Control Processing in Healthy Adults

This study investigated how proactive and reactive cognitive control processing in the brain was associated with habitual sleep health. BOLD fMRI data was acquired from 81 healthy adults with normal sleep (41 females, age 20.96 - 39.58 years) during a test of cognitive control (Not-X CPT). Sleep health was assessed in the week before MRI scanning, using both objective (actigraphy) and self-report measures. Multiple measures indicating poorer sleep health - including later/more variable sleep timing, later chronotype preference, more insomnia symptoms and lower sleep efficiency - were associated with stronger and more widespread BOLD activations in fronto-parietal and subcortical brain regions during cognitive control processing (adjusted for age, sex, education, and fMRI task performance). Most associations were found for reactive cognitive control activation, indicating that poorer sleep health is linked to a hyper-reactive brain state. Analysis of time-on-task effects showed that, with longer time on task, poorer sleep health was predominantly associated with increased proactive cognitive control activation, indicating recruitment of additional neural resources over time. Finally, shorter objective sleep duration was associated with lower BOLD activation with time on task and poorer task performance. In conclusion, even in normal sleepers, relatively poorer sleep health is associated with altered cognitive control processing, possibly reflecting compensatory mechanisms and / or inefficient neural processing.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2017

Common neural responses to narrative speech indisorders of consciousness

ObjectiveClinical assessment of auditory attention in patients with disorders of consciousness is often limited by motor impairment. Here, we employ inter-subject correlations among electroencephalography responses to naturalistic speech in order to assay auditory attention among patients and healthy controls.\n\nMethodsElectroencephalographic data were recorded from 20 subjects with disorders of consciousness and 14 healthy controls during of two narrative audio stimuli, presented both forwards and time-reversed. Inter-subject correlation of evoked electroencephalography signals were calculated, comparing responses of both groups to those of the healthy control subjects. This analysis was performed blinded and subsequently compared to the diagnostic status of each patient based on the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised.\n\nResultsSubjects with disorders of consciousness exhibit significantly lower inter-subject correlation than healthy controls during narrative speech. Additionally, while healthy subjects had higher inter-subject correlation values in forward vs. backwards presentation, neural responses did not vary significantly with the direction of playback in subjects with disorders of consciousness. Increased inter-subject correlation values in the backward speech condition were noted with improving disorder of consciousness diagnosis, both in cross-sectional analysis and in a subset of patients with longitudinal data.\n\nInterpretationInter-subject correlation of neural responses to narrative speech audition differentiates healthy controls from patients and appears to index clinical diagnoses in disorders of consciousness.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2016

Age and sex affect intersubject correlation of EEGthroughout development

Neural development is generally marked by an increase in the efficiency and diversity of neural processes. In a large sample (N = 114) of children and adults with ages ranging from 5 -44 years, we investigated the neural responses to naturalistic video stimuli. Videos from both real-life classroom settings and Hollywood feature films were used to probe different aspects of attention and engagement. For all stimuli, older ages were marked by more variable neural responses. Variability was assessed by the inter-subject correlation of evoked electroencephalographic (EEG) responses. Young males also had more variable responses than young females. These results were replicated in an independent cohort (N = 303). When interpreted in the context of neural maturation, we conclude that neural function becomes more variable with maturity, at least in during the passive viewing of real-world stimuli.\n\nSignificance StatementNaturalistic videos were used to measure how a large sample of children and adults process environmentally meaningful stimuli. As age increased, neural responses were more variable, and females responded more variably than males - a difference that disappeared with age. These results are consistent with developmental theories positing that neural variability increases with maturation, and that neural maturation typically occurs earlier in females. This is the first study to investigate neural variability under naturalistic conditions in a developmental sample.

neuroscience↗