Comeback from Failure

John 21:1-2

Wheat bran cereal, human gut bacteria and subjective wellbeing

Research has shown that consumption of high fiber breakfast cereal is associated with improved subjective well-being, especially increased energy. One possible explanation of these results is through metabolism by gut bacteria and concomitant production of metabolites that influence psychological and gastrointestinal (GI) welfare. This was examined in the present study to determine whether consumption of wheat bran could modulate the composition of the GI microbiota. This human volunteer study (20 volunteers) involved the comparison of three breakfast cereals, All-Bran, Bran Flakes and Cornflakes (60 g/d). The study involved a 14-day baseline phase (no breakfast cereals) and an eight-week experimental phase. Each cereal was consumed for 14 days. A seven-day washout period (no cereals) was carried out between each successive cereal condition. Faecal samples were collected every seven days. Enumeration of predominant faecal bacterial populations (bacteroides, bifidobacteria, clostridia, lactobacilli and eubacteria) was carried out using the culture independent fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) technique. Faecal short chain fatty acid content was also determined. The volunteers completed a battery of questionnaires to assess fatigue/energy, subjective mood, physical and mental health, bowel function and fiber intake. The results showed that in general there was no overall significant effect of breakfast cereal type on the faecal bacterial populations studied. There was also no major effect of breakfast type on short chain fatty acid content. The high-fiber conditions (All-Bran and Bran Flakes) were associated with less fatigue, a significant reduction in cognitive difficulties, looser stools, more motions and feeling more energised

Whitaker Wright

Fraud is a significant problem for contemporary businesses, but it is not a new problem. Business fraud was common during the 1890s. This paper examines several accounting issues that were central to Whitaker Wright\u27s trial

A three-stage continuous culture approach to study the impact of probiotics, prebiotics and fat intake on faecal microbiota relevant to an over 60s population

This study aimed to determine the impact of fat intake combined with Bacillus coagulans or trans- galactooligosaccharides (B-GOS) on bacterial composition and immune markers in an in vitro model. A three-stage continuous gut model system was used to simulate specific human colonic regions. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were exposed to cell free supernatants and subsequent levels of inflammatory cytokines were measured by flow cytometry. Although fat addition decreased bifidobacteria from 8.76 ± 0.12 to 8.63 ± 0.13 and from 8.83 ± 0.08 to 8.67 ± 0.07 in pre- and probiotic models respectively, the changes were not significant. Fat addition also did not impact on cytokines induced by LPS. Under high fat conditions, numbers of bifidobacteria significantly increased by B. coagulans or B-GOS. In addition, B. coagulans or B-GOS significantly suppressed TNF-a production induced by LPS. Under high fat conditions, both B. coagulans and B-GOS led to potentially beneficial effects by targeting specific bacterial groups and modulating immune markers

Prebiotics modulate the effects of antibiotics on gut microbial diversity and functioning in vitro

Intestinal bacteria carry out many fundamental roles, such as the fermentation of non-digestible dietary carbohydrates to produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which can affect host energy levels and gut hormone regulation. Understanding how to manage this ecosystem to improve human health is an important but challenging goal. Antibiotics are the front line of defence against pathogens, but in turn they have adverse effects on indigenous microbial diversity and function. Here, we have investigated whether dietary supplementation—another method used to modulate gut composition and function—could be used to ameliorate the side effects of antibiotics. We perturbed gut bacterial communities with gentamicin and ampicillin in anaerobic batch cultures in vitro. Cultures were supplemented with either pectin (a non-fermentable fibre), inulin (a commonly used prebiotic that promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria) or neither. Although antibiotics often negated the beneficial effects of dietary supplementation, in some treatment combinations, notably ampicillin and inulin, dietary supplementation ameliorated the effects of antibiotics. There is therefore potential for using supplements to lessen the adverse effects of antibiotics. Further knowledge of such mechanisms could lead to better therapeutic manipulation of the human gut microbiota

Adhesion mechanisms mediated by probiotics and prebiotics and their potential impact on human health

Adhesion ability to the host is a classical selection criterion for potential probiotic bacteria that could result in a transient colonisation that would help to promote immunomodulatory effects, as well as stimulate gut barrier and metabolic functions. In addition, probiotic bacteria has a potential protective role against enteropathogens through different mechanisms including production of antimicrobial compounds, reduction of pathogenic bacterial adhesion and competition for host cell binding sites. The competitive exclusion by probiotic bacteria not only has a beneficial effect on the gut but also in the urogenital tract and oral cavity. On the other hand, prebiotics may also act as barriers to pathogens and toxins by preventing their adhesion to epithelial receptors. In vitro studies with different intestinal cell lines has been widely used along the last decades to assess the adherence ability of probiotic bacteria and pathogen antagonism. However, extrapolation of these results to in vivo conditions still remain unclear, leading to the need of optimization of more complex in vitro approaches that includes interaction with the resident microbiota to address the current limitations. The aim of this mini-review is to provide a comprehensive overview on the potential effect of the adhesive properties of probiotics and prebiotics on the host by focusing on the most recent findings related with adhesion and immunomodulatory and antipathogenic effect on human health

The efficacy of temporary skeletal anchorage versus maxillary osteotomy in treatment of anterior open bite

Treatment modalities for anterior open bites are aimed at superiorly positioning the maxillary dentition. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and stability of closing anterior open bites with either temporary skeletal anchorage (TSA) or maxillary osteotomy. Cephalograms of TSA and surgery patients were digitized at three different time points. Nine measures were compared to analyze treatment changes and relapse. Unstructured covariance variances were considered. All parameters were estimated by REML method. Success was defined as OB>0mm at the end of the retention period. Positive mean OB was achieved with both treatment modalities. In the retention period, mean positive OB was maintained, however both groups had minor relapse. Overall success rate of TSA was 88% while surgery had 72%. TSA was as effective in obtaining positive OB as maxillary osteotomy in mild to moderate open bite patients and was shown to be stable for over 2 years

Finding that needle in the haystack: Computable phenotypes

In a 1532 publication, Sir Thomas More—an English lawyer and social philosopher—likened one’s ability to find a line in St. Austin’s writing to finding a needle in a meadow—later interpreted as a “needle in the haystack.” The isolation experienced by patients with rare diseases can often make them feel like lost needles in the meadow of our large complex health care systems. As of 2018, there were 327.2 million people with the potential to have data stored across 5534 registered hospitals in the United States alone along with over 1100 different electronic health record vendors. The frustration experienced by those eager to connect individuals with rare diseases to clinical care and research opportunities is magnified by the fact that our electronic medical record systems at times fall short of “meaningful use” and do many things to the exception of connecting to other systems and providing efficient communication. The effect that this complicated meadow has on clinical care has been well described, but the barriers that this poses to patient recruitment into clinical and other research trials are less addressed in published literature

New model diagnostics for spatio-temporal systems in epidemiology and ecology

A cardinal challenge in epidemiological and ecological modelling is to develop effective and easily deployed tools for model assessment. The availability of such methods would greatly improve understanding, prediction and management of disease and ecosystems. Conventional Bayesian model assessment tools such as Bayes factors and the deviance information criterion (DIC) are natural candidates but suffer from important limitations because of their sensitivity and complexity. Posterior predictive checks, which use summary statistics of the observed process simulated from competing models, can provide a measure of model fit but appropriate statistics can be difficult to identify. Here, we develop a novel approach for diagnosing mis-specifications of a general spatio-temporal transmission model by embedding classical ideas within a Bayesian analysis. Specifically, by proposing suitably designed non-centred parametrization schemes, we construct latent residuals whose sampling properties are known given the model specification and which can be used to measure overall fit and to elicit evidence of the nature of mis-specifications of spatial and temporal processes included in the model. This model assessment approach can readily be implemented as an addendum to standard estimation algorithms for sampling from the posterior distributions, for example Markov chain Monte Carlo. The proposed methodology is first tested using simulated data and subsequently applied to data describing the spread of Heracleum mantegazzianum (giant hogweed) across Great Britain over a 30-year period. The proposed methods are compared with alternative techniques including posterior predictive checking and the DIC. Results show that the proposed diagnostic tools are effective in assessing competing stochastic spatio-temporal transmission models and may offer improvements in power to detect model mis-specifications. Moreover, the latent-residual framework introduced here extends readily to a broad range of ecological and epidemiological models