Influence of Reading or Writing Activities Shared with Others on Older Adults: Results From a Scoping Study.

This study aimed to provide integrated knowledge on the influence of shared reading or writing activities, that is, recreational occupations involving dynamic relationships based on personal development, on adults aged 55 and older. Using a scoping study framework, six databases were searched with 25 relevant keywords for papers, theses, and scientific reports published in 2001-2023. Based on the Human Development Model-Disability Creation Process, the content analysis of 20 documents showed that shared reading or writing activities mostly benefited aging adults' behavioral capabilities like positive affect, their intellectual capacities, such as developing new perspectives on life, their interpersonal relationships, and social support. Negative instances, such as frustration, were often mentioned at the beginning of the activities but decreased over time. These results suggest the importance of shared reading or writing activities for healthy aging and the necessity to better support these activities for more inclusive and caring aging societies.

Development of a host-microbiome model of the small intestine.

The intestinal epithelium plays an essential role in the balance between tolerant and protective immune responses to infectious agents. In vitro models do not typically consider the innate immune response and gut microbiome in detail, so these models do not fully mimic the physiologic aspects of the small intestine. We developed and characterized a long-term in vitro model containing enterocyte, goblet, and immune-like cells exposed to a synthetic microbial community representative of commensal inhabitants of the small intestine. This model showed differential responses toward a synthetic microbial community of commensal bacterial inhabitants of the small intestine in the absence or presence of LPS from Escherichia coli O111:B4. Simultaneous exposure to LPS and microbiota induced impaired epithelial barrier function; increased production of IL-8, IL-6, TNF-α, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 16; and augmented differentiation and adhesion of macrophage-like cells and the overexpression of dual oxidase 2 and TLR-2 and -4 mRNA. In addition, the model demonstrated the ability to assess the adhesion of specific bacterial strains from the synthetic microbial community-more specifically, Veillonella parvula-to the simulated epithelium. This novel in vitro model may assist in overcoming sampling and retrieval difficulties when studying host-microbiome interactions in the small intestine.-Calatayud, M., Dezutter, O., Hernandez-Sanabria, E., Hidalgo-Martinez, S., Meysman, F. J. R., Van de Wiele, T. Development of a host-microbiome model of the small intestine.