A bioinformatics analysis of microbial diversity and its correlation with human lifestyle, diet, and health variables

The abundant impact of microbiota on human physiology suggests a need for exploration into their impact on human health and disease. The American Gut Project (AGP) was established to aggregate microbiome sequencing data as well as health, diet, and lifestyle metadata. This study proposes to identify taxonomic species and build a phylogenetic tree representation from the AGP participant sample collection as well as find their respective alpha and beta diversity of all metadata variables based on patient questionnaire data. Additionally, this study will involve a chimeric sequence extraction from the 16S rRNA sequences of the AGP. The expected results are hypothesized to identify the Actinobacteria’s Bifidobacterium and the Firmicutes’ Lactobacillus as dominant genera, as well as significant correlation between digestive or intestinal diseases and the microbial diversity due to pathogenic species often present in the microbiome. The dominant phyla were found to be Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. In contrast to predictions, the two dominant genera were found to be Bacteroides and Faecalibacterium. The subset of metadata variables that had a statistically significant correlation between both alpha and beta diversity were found which included variables relating to lifestyle habits, geographic location, diet habits, medical diagnoses, and environmental factors

Linkedin As A Learning Tool In Business Education

This article summarizes the existing research on social media as a learning tool in higher education and adds to the literature on incorporating social media tools into collegiate business education by suggesting specific course content areas of business where LinkedIn exercises and training can be incorporated.  LinkedIn as a classroom tool cannot only reinforce basic concepts, such as branding and relationship-building, but creative use of this tool can increase student engagement and collaboration and encourage students to begin building their professional networks, which can be vital in their career progression

Pilot evaluation of a group stabilisation intervention for refugees and asylum seekers with PTSD

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is commonly experienced by asylum seekers and refugees (ASR). Evidence supports the use of cognitive behavioural therapy-based treatments, but not in group format for this population. However, group-based treatments are frequently used as a first-line intervention in the UK. Aims: This study investigated the feasibility of delivering a group-based, manualised stabilisation course specifically developed for ASR. The second aim was to evaluate the use of routine outcome measures (ROMs) to capture psychological change in this population. Method: Eighty-two participants from 22 countries attended the 8-session Moving On After Trauma (MOAT) group-based stabilisation treatment. PHQ-9, GAD-7, IES-R and idiosyncratic outcomes were administered pre- and post-intervention. Results: Seventy-one per cent of participants (n = 58) attended five or more of the treatment sessions. While completion rates of the ROMs were poor - measures were completed at pre- and post-intervention for 46% participants (n = 38) - a repeated-measures MANOVA indicated significant improvements in depression (p =.001, ηp2 =.262), anxiety (p =.000, ηp2 =.390), PTSD (p =.001, ηp2 =.393) and idiosyncratic measures (p =.000, ηp2 =.593) following the intervention. Conclusions: Preliminary evidence indicates that ASR who attended a low-intensity, group-based stabilisation group for PTSD experienced lower mental health scores post-group, although the lack of a comparison group means these results should be interpreted with caution. There are significant challenges in administering ROMs to individuals who speak many different languages, in a group setting. Nonetheless, groups have benefits including efficiency of treatment delivery which should also be considered.</p

Facing up to the phosphorus challenge

The loss of phosphorus in exported products is a concern for all organic producers. The team of CORE Organic Project "Improve-P" assess attitudes to alternative phosphorus fertilisers among organic stakeholders. This paper reports on results collected via a questionnaire at the National Soil Symposium in Solihull, UK November 2014. 58 respondents showed a large interest in recycled P fertilisers, e.g. derived from human urine. One respondent who summed up the workshop in this way: Ultimately for sustainability we have to replace P, lost off farm but balance between purity and recycling is a difficult one. We need to focus on making best use of P reserves in soil, for example deep-rooting green manures, efficient composting, P scavenging plants, that is, getting more P into the organic fraction and sourcing less contaminated sources of P