The Human Gut Microbiome: A Physiological System Approach

2014 University Libraries Undergraduate Research Award Winner---Perhaps some of the most complex disorders that have been observed in humans are those that concern emotion and processes of the human brain. The pathway between stimulus and response in cases of depression and anxiety is one that can take many directions depending on the patient in question; for this reason, psychiatry has provided interesting modes by which pathology can be studied outside of a one-to-one causal relationship. Given the expected lifespan of the average individual and the decades through which different disorders can emerge and withdraw given changes in environment or situation, determining the cause of such pathologies as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or even Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be daunting for any physician. How does one trace a pattern of feeling or behavior back to a causal event that may have occurred years before symptoms even emerged? In an age where Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) continues to gain relevance in light of a world at war, such questions must be asked. The lives of patients and their families depend on the ability of scientists to uncover pathways that can be manipulated to produce some treatment option or cure. After Dr. James Greenblatt was sought out by the parents of a young girl named Mary who had been diagnosed with a mixture of psychiatric disorders, including OCD and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and treated with a range of psychotropic drugs that had remained largely unhelpful, his mode of thinking was able to change her quality of life (James 2013). He turned to her stomach as a possible root of the problem. One may not expect a trip to the psychiatrist to include a survey of questions aimed at ascertaining his or her digestive health; however, Dr. Greenblatt employed this strategy and, because of his conclusion that the symptoms that were manifesting in the emotive regions of Mary's brain might actually originate from an imbalance in her gut microflora composition, was able to prescribe a twice-daily dosage of probiotic that alleviated Mary's symptoms altogether. His assumption stemmed from an elevated level of metabolite HPHP A in her urine, a byproduct of the metabolic pathways of Clostridium species. Dr. Greenblatt's reasoning further developed from his ideas concerning the connection between the human gut and brain, an interface that had once been deemed a one-way street. By reversing this line of thinking and implementing a treatment plan that assumed a gut-to-brain avenue of communication, Dr. Greenblatt was able to treat Mary's symptoms, thereby continuing a thought that the gut microbiome plays more of a role in the human body than previously thought. While Dr. Greenblatt's treatment of Mary's condition constitutes an isolated case where an assumed role by the human gut microbiome existed, many clinical studies have also contributed to the belief behind this linkage

A study of differential characteristics of freshmen music students in selected two-year and four-year colleges in Virginia

The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences existed between entering freshmen two-year and four-year college music students by group and by sex in personality characteristics, value structures, and musical aptitude. Three tests were given in this study--the Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI) was given to determine personality characteristics; the Study of Values (SOV) was given to determine value structures; and the Musical Aptitude Profile (MAP) was given to determine musical aptitude. The two-year college sample consisted of students entering music programs at Virginia Western Community College and Tidewater Community College in Virginia. The four-year college sample consisted of students entering music programs at Madison College in Virginia. Both two-year colleges and the four-year college are state supported public institutions. Testing was done in freshman music theory classes

A comparison of selected student outcomes in community college associate degree nursing programs using a competitive admissions process versus those using a modified open admissions process

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there were significant differences in selected student outcomes in community college associate degree nursing programs using a competitive admissions process compared to those programs using a modified open admissions process. Community college nursing faculty are attempting to reconcile a need to choose the best and brightest nursing students in an environment traditionally committed to open admissions for all students. Two admissions processes may be used to select students for entry into associate degree nursing programs - one, competitive admissions, ranks and accepts applicants ordinally on the basis of past academic achievement and potential aptitude; and two, modified open admissions, accepts qualified applicants on the basis of date of fulfillment of admission requirements until all admissions spaces are filled

The influence of Andrew Craig Phillips on North Carolina local superintendents

Craig Phillips was the North Carolina State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1968-1988, longer than any other holder of that office. This study investigates the impact of his tenure as state superintendent on local superintendents. Accordingly, the study had four purposes. The first was to determine to what extent Craig Phillips' behavior influenced local administrative procedure. The second purpose was to determine whether age, years in office, size of administrative unit, geographical region, or Phillips' tenure affected local superintendents' perceptions of Phillips and/or his administration. The third was to determine which statewide implemented programs during Phillips' tenure were attributed to Phillips and/or his administration. Finally, the fourth purpose was to examine how local superintendents would select the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The study was based on interviews with local superintendents in Region 8 and a Likert-scaled survey mailed to all of the 139 local superintendents in North Carolina

Duration of Effectiveness of Permethrin-Treated Clothing to Prevent Mosquito Bites Under Simulated Conditions

Presented for World Environmental Health Day, September 26, 2016 in Greenville, North Carolina.Biological hazards such as exposure to ticks and mosquitoes can affect worker health. Permethrin is a repellant/insecticide approved for human use by the Environmental Protection Agency. Permethrin-treated clothing is commercially available to the public. Permethrin-treated clothing (50% cotton/50% nylon) has been shown to retain repellency through 70 washings. Work attire differs between state and consulting foresters, park rangers, etc.; hence, variation in protection from vector borne disease may existThis study was funded by the Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention (# 3049025288-14-060)

Species' geographic distributions through time: Playing catchup with changing climates

This is the author's accepted manuscript.Species’ ranges are often treated as a rather fixed characteristic, rather than a fluid, ever-changing manifestation of their ecological requirements and dispersal abilities. Paleontologists generally have had a more flexible point of view on this issue than neontologists, but each perspective can improve by appreciating the other. Here, we provide an overview of paleontological and neontological perspectives on species’ geographic distributions, focusing on what can be learned about historical variations in distributions. The cross-disciplinary view, we hope, offers some novel perspectives on species-level biogeography

A missense mutation in Katnal1 underlies behavioural, neurological and ciliary anomalies

Microtubule severing enzymes implement a diverse range of tissue-specific molecular functions throughout development and into adulthood. Although microtubule severing is fundamental to many dynamic neural processes, little is known regarding the role of the family member Katanin p60 subunit A-like 1, KATNAL1, in central nervous system (CNS) function. Recent studies reporting that microdeletions incorporating the KATNAL1 locus in humans result in intellectual disability and microcephaly suggest that KATNAL1 may play a prominent role in the CNS; however, such associations lack the functional data required to highlight potential mechanisms which link the gene to disease symptoms. Here we identify and characterise a mouse line carrying a loss of function allele in Katnal1. We show that mutants express behavioural deficits including in circadian rhythms, sleep, anxiety and learning/memory. Furthermore, in the brains of Katnal1 mutant mice we reveal numerous morphological abnormalities and defects in neuronal migration and morphology. Furthermore we demonstrate defects in the motile cilia of the ventricular ependymal cells of mutants, suggesting a role for Katnal1 in the development of ciliary function. We believe the data we present here are the first to associate KATNAL1 with such phenotypes, demonstrating that the protein plays keys roles in a number of processes integral to the development of neuronal function and behaviour.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 4 April 2017; doi:10.1038/mp.2017.54

Cancer screening among migrants in an Australian cohort; cross-sectional analyses from the 45 and Up Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Limited evidence suggests that people from non-English speaking backgrounds in Australia have lower than average rates of participation in cancer screening programs. The objective of this study was to examine the distribution of bowel, breast and prostate cancer test use by place of birth and years since migration in a large population-based cohort study in Australia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 2006, screening status, country of birth and other demographic and health related factors were ascertained by self-completed questionnaire among 31,401 (16,126 women and 15,275 men) participants aged 50 or over from the 45 and Up Study in New South Wales.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>35% of women and 39% of men reported having a bowel cancer test and 57% of men reported having a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, in the previous 5 years. 72% of women reported having screening mammography in the previous 2 years. Compared to Australian-born women, women from East Asia, Southeast Asia, Continental Western Europe, and North Africa/Middle East had significantly lower rates of bowel testing, with odds ratios (OR; 95%CI) ranging from 0.5 (0.4–0.7) to 0.7 (0.6–0.9); migrants from East Asia (0.5, 0.3–0.7) and North Africa/Middle East (0.5, 0.3–0.9) had significantly lower rates of mammography. Compared to Australian-born men, bowel cancer testing was significantly lower among men from all regions of Asia (OR, 95%CI ranging from 0.4, 0.3–0.6 to 0.6, 0.5–0.9) and Continental Europe (OR, 95%CI ranging from 0.4, 0.3–0.7 to 0.7, 0.6–0.9). Only men from East Asia had significantly lower PSA testing rates than Australian-born men (0.4, 0.3–0.6). As the number of years lived in Australia increased, cancer test use among migrants approached Australian-born rates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Certain migrant groups within the population may require targeted intervention to improve their uptake of cancer screening, particularly screening for bowel cancer.</p

The Dissociative Subtype of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Unique Resting-State Functional Connectivity of Basolateral and Centromedial Amygdala Complexes.

Previous studies point towards differential connectivity patterns among basolateral (BLA) and centromedial (CMA) amygdala regions in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as compared to controls. Here, we describe the first study to compare directly connectivity patterns of the BLA and CMA complexes between PTSD patients with and without the dissociative subtype (PTSD+DS and PTSD-DS, respectively). Amygdala connectivity to regulatory prefrontal regions and parietal regions involved in consciousness and proprioception were expected to differ between these two groups based on differential limbic regulation and behavioural symptoms. PTSD patients (n=49), with (n=13) and without (n=36) the dissociative subtype, and age-matched healthy controls (n=40) underwent resting-state fMRI. Bilateral BLA and CMA connectivity patterns were compared using a seed-based approach via SPM Anatomy Toolbox. Among patients with PTSD, the PTSD+DS group exhibited greater amygdala functional connectivity to prefrontal regions involved in emotion regulation (bilateral BLA and left CMA to the middle frontal gyrus and bilateral CMA to the medial frontal gyrus) as compared to the PTSD-DS group. In addition, the PTSD+DS group showed greater amygdala connectivity to regions involved in consciousness, awareness, and proprioception -implicated in depersonalization and derealization (left BLA to superior parietal lobe and cerebellar culmen; left CMA to dorsal posterior cingulate and precuneus). Differences in amygdala complex connectivity to specific brain regions parallel the unique symptom profiles of the PTSD subgroups and point towards unique biological markers of the dissociative subtype of PTSD.Neuropsychopharmacology accepted article preview online, 19 March 2015. doi:10.1038/npp.2015.79