Evolutionary relationships among bifidobacteria and their hosts and environments.

BACKGROUND:The assembly of animal microbiomes is influenced by multiple environmental factors and host genetics, although the relative importance of these factors remains unclear. Bifidobacteria (genus Bifidobacterium, phylum Actinobacteria) are common first colonizers of gut microbiomes in humans and inhabit other mammals, social insects, food, and sewages. In humans, the presence of bifidobacteria in the gut has been correlated with health-promoting benefits. Here, we compared the genome sequences of a subset of the over 400 Bifidobacterium strains publicly available to investigate the adaptation of bifidobacteria diversity. We tested 1) whether bifidobacteria show a phylogenetic signal with their isolation sources (hosts and environments) and 2) whether key traits encoded by the bifidobacteria genomes depend on the host or environment from which they were isolated. We analyzed Bifidobacterium genomes available in the PATRIC and NCBI repositories and identified the hosts and/or environment from which they were isolated. A multilocus phylogenetic analysis was conducted to compare the genetic relatedness the strains harbored by different hosts and environments. Furthermore, we examined differences in genomic traits and genes related to amino acid biosynthesis and degradation of carbohydrates. RESULTS:We found that bifidobacteria diversity appears to have evolved with their hosts as strains isolated from the same host were non-randomly associated with their phylogenetic relatedness. Moreover, bifidobacteria isolated from different sources displayed differences in genomic traits such as genome size and accessory gene composition and on particular traits related to amino acid production and degradation of carbohydrates. In contrast, when analyzing diversity within human-derived bifidobacteria, we observed no phylogenetic signal or differences on specific traits (amino acid biosynthesis genes and CAZymes). CONCLUSIONS:Overall, our study shows that bifidobacteria diversity is strongly adapted to specific hosts and environments and that several genomic traits were associated with their isolation sources. However, this signal is not observed in human-derived strains alone. Looking into the genomic signatures of bifidobacteria strains in different environments can give insights into how this bacterial group adapts to their environment and what types of traits are important for these adaptations

INFORMAL ART THERAPY GROUP AMONG MINORITY SENIORS IN INDEPENDENT LIVING COMMUNITIES

The elderly population have developed some resistance toward accepting community-based social services. Such resistance could be detrimental to the well-being of low-income seniors by hindering their chance of accessing services intended for them in the first place. Art therapy is seen as a promising intervention against client resistance. This study evaluated the effectiveness of art therapy on reducing resistance to services among low-income seniors living in independent living communities. Through a pre-experimental design, this study analyzed administrative data for a sample of 37 participants from a social service agency in Southern California. Results from two non-parametric tests (WilcoxonSigned-Rank and Mann-Whitney-U) revealed that art therapy is very effective in reducing resistance among seniors. Implications for gerontology and social services providers were discussed

Domestic Violence in the Latino Community: The Struggles Latina Women Encounter Due to Societal and Geographical Disadvantages

Domestic violence has been an epidemic in the United States since the colonization era. Public chastisement was deemed acceptable by law and Church because patriarchal views allowed men to treat women as their property. It was not until the 20th century, during the women’s rights movement, that the law recognized public chastisement as an inhumane act therefore punishing any man who battered his wife. As the movement progressed, women began owning their own property and divorcing their abusive partners. The downfall in this movement was that the majority of the women who benefited from these changes were Caucasian women from the middle and upper class leaving those in the poor, minority groups with a problem to continue to face on their own, especially those in the Latino community. The majority of Latina women reside in poor, underprivileged neighborhoods (conditions are especially worse for Latina immigrants). These women lack the adequate economic resources, as well as suffer from cultural barriers (i.e. language), needed to escape their abusers – finding ways to escape can be even worse depending on the geographic location (Latina women living in suburban areas are isolated from family therefore it is difficult for them to find help). A domestic violence program director in Montgomery County was interviewed and a multivariate analysis of the 2010 National Crime Victimization Survey was completed to test the influences of geographic locations on domestic violence occurrences within the Latino community and whether the location impacted the Latinas’ choice to contact crime victim agencies. The chi-square test showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between ethnicity and geographic location in seeking help from victim agencies. These results are vital in notifying human service agencies on the importance of aiding Latina women in underprivileged and socially isolated regions

Using RDF to Model the Structure and Process of Systems

Many systems can be described in terms of networks of discrete elements and their various relationships to one another. A semantic network, or multi-relational network, is a directed labeled graph consisting of a heterogeneous set of entities connected by a heterogeneous set of relationships. Semantic networks serve as a promising general-purpose modeling substrate for complex systems. Various standardized formats and tools are now available to support practical, large-scale semantic network models. First, the Resource Description Framework (RDF) offers a standardized semantic network data model that can be further formalized by ontology modeling languages such as RDF Schema (RDFS) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL). Second, the recent introduction of highly performant triple-stores (i.e. semantic network databases) allows semantic network models on the order of $10^9$ edges to be efficiently stored and manipulated. RDF and its related technologies are currently used extensively in the domains of computer science, digital library science, and the biological sciences. This article will provide an introduction to RDF/RDFS/OWL and an examination of its suitability to model discrete element complex systems.Comment: International Conference on Complex Systems, Boston MA, October 200

Tracing the Cultural Memory in the Rio Grande Valley: Mexican-American \u3cem\u3edichos\u3c/em\u3e, Proverbs Interpreted Through Art

Conversational phrases, dichos are verbal hallmarks from Mexican-Americans and familiar to the Hispanic culture through different versions. This folk wisdom is exposed through communication, tracing historical accounts of life, love, struggle, and ultimately survival among Mexican-Americans. I have started a series of paintings and collective art pieces focusing on Mexican-American dichos unique and familiar to the Rio Grande Valley. They are a cultural representation of life unique to this area, and combine the recollective spirit from not only myself, but from my family\u27s accounts of these spontaneous conversational phrases. With influences stemming from the Pop Art period, specifically Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, I have found a comparable reference to cultural mores and confrontational sarcasm. This connection allows me to construct images and use iconography while exploring abstraction and representation through the use of literal Mexican-American conversational phrases, or dichos. My artistic expression is my vehicle for change, as I strive to document positive contributions by Mexican-Americans and preserve these pieces of folk wisdom through my art. My creative process further explains how I organize and construct my work. The results provide communicative and cultural satire, verbally familiar to the Rio Grande Valley, personally translated through my Art

Evaluation of phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium content in commercially available foods formulated for healthy cats.

BackgroundHigh dietary phosphorus (P) and low calcium-to-phosphorus ratio (Ca:P) are associated with kidney damage in cats. There are no established guidelines for dietary P maximum for cats.ObjectivesTo quantify crude protein, P, Ca, and magnesium (Mg) concentrations in cat foods and compare among food formats (dry, canned, raw), primary protein ingredients, protein concentrations (low, moderate, high), grain-free versus grain-containing foods, foods intended for adult maintenance versus all life stages, and cost.SamplesEighty-two commercial nonprescription cat foods.MethodsDescriptive study. Mineral concentrations were measured using inductively coupled argon plasma-optical emission spectroscopy. Crude protein was measured using the Dumas nitrogen combustion method. Mineral and crude protein concentrations were compared among food categories.ResultsTwenty-seven foods contained ≥3.6 g P/1000 kcal metabolizable energy (ME), of which 7 exceeded 4.8 g/1000 kcal ME. Thirteen foods had low Ca:P ratio (≤1.0). The low-protein diet group had no products ≥3.6 g P/1000 kcal ME, which was significantly different compared to the high-protein diet group (52% of products had ≥3.6 g P/1000 kcal ME; P = .01). No significant differences in P content and Ca:P ratio were found among other diet categories. Canned foods had significantly lower Mg compared to dry (P < .001) and raw (P = .007) foods. Declared minimum P and Ca were significantly lower than analyzed concentrations (P = .0005 and P = .003, respectively).Conclusions and clinical importanceThe high number of foods with high P and low Ca suggest that pet food regulatory reform should be considered