The dynamics of a family’s gut microbiota reveal variations on a theme

Abstract Background It is clear that the structure and function of the human microbiota has significant impact on maintenance of health and yet the factors that give rise to an adult microbiota are poorly understood. A combination of genetics, diet, environment, and life history are all thought to impact the development of the gut microbiome. Here we study a chronosequence of the gut microbiota found in eight individuals from a family consisting of two parents and six children ranging in age from two months to ten years old. Results Using 16S rRNA gene and metagenomic shotgun sequence data, it was possible to distinguish the family from a cohort of normal individuals living in the same geographic region and to differentiate each family member. Interestingly, there was a significant core membership to the family members’ microbiota where the abundance of this core accounted for the differences between individuals. It was clear that the introduction of solids represents a significant transition in the development of a mature microbiota. This transition was associated with increased diversity, decreased stability, and the colonization of significant abundances of Bacteroidetes and Clostridiales. Although the children and mother shared essentially the identical diet and environment, the children’s microbiotas were not significantly more similar to their mother than they were to their father. Conclusions This analysis underscores the complex interactions that give rise to a personalized microbiota and suggests the value of studying families as a surrogate for longitudinal studies.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109502/1/40168_2014_Article_54.pd

Gerhard Lang (21.10.1924–19.6.2016)

Gerhard Lang, one of the great German botanists and palaeoecologists of the 20th century, died on the 19th June 2016 in Biberach, southern Germany. He will be greatly missed by his friends and colleagues, not only for his vast expertise in botany, ecology, biogeography, and vegetation history, but also for his integrity, kindness, and humour. For many of his students and post-doctoral fellows he was not only an excellent teacher and mentor, but also an important role model

Simultaneous Broadband Vector Magnetometry Using Solid-State Spins

We demonstrate a vector magnetometer that simultaneously measures all Cartesian components of a dynamic magnetic field using an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in a single-crystal diamond. Optical NV-diamond measurements provide high-sensitivity, broadband magnetometry under ambient or extreme physical conditions; and the fixed crystallographic axes inherent to this solid-state system enable vector sensing free from heading errors. In the present device, multi-channel lock-in detection extracts the magnetic-field-dependent spin resonance shifts of NVs oriented along all four tetrahedral diamond axes from the optical signal measured on a single detector. The sensor operates from near DC up to a $12.5$ kHz measurement bandwidth; and simultaneously achieves $\sim\!50$ pT/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ magnetic field sensitivity for each Cartesian component, which is to date the highest demonstrated sensitivity of a full vector magnetometer employing solid-state spins. Compared to optimized devices interrogating the four NV orientations sequentially, the simultaneous vector magnetometer enables a $4\times$ measurement speedup. This technique can be extended to pulsed-type sensing protocols and parallel wide-field magnetic imaging.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, Supplemental Material included as ancillary fil

A System for Series Magnetic Measurements of the LHC Main Quadrupoles

More than 400 twin aperture lattice quadrupoles are needed for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which is under construction at CERN. The main quadrupole is assembled with correction magnets in a common cryostat called the Short Straight Section (SSS). We plan to measure all SSS's in cold conditions with an unprecedented accuracy: integrated gradient of the field within 150 ppm, harmonics in a range of 1 to 5 ppm, magnetic axis of all elements within 0.1 mm and their field direction within 0.2 mrad. In this paper we describe the automatic measurement system that we have designed, built and calibrated. Based on the results obtained on the two first prototypes of the SSS's (SSS3 and SSS4) we show that this system meets all above requirements

Variability and change in the west Antarctic Peninsula marine system: Research priorities and opportunities

The west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) region has undergone significant changes in temperature and seasonal ice dynamics since the mid-twentieth century, with strong impacts on the regional ecosystem, ocean chemistry and hydrographic properties. Changes to these long-term trends of warming and sea ice decline have been observed in the 21st century, but their consequences for ocean physics, chemistry and the ecology of the high-productivity shelf ecosystem are yet to be fully established. The WAP shelf is important for regional krill stocks and higher trophic levels, whilst the degree of variability and change in the physical environment and documented biological and biogeochemical responses make this a model system for how climate and sea ice changes might restructure high-latitude ecosystems. Although this region is arguably the best-measured and best-understood shelf region around Antarctica, significant gaps remain in spatial and temporal data capable of resolving the atmosphere-ice-ocean-ecosystem feedbacks that control the dynamics and evolution of this complex polar system. Here we summarise the current state of knowledge regarding the key mechanisms and interactions regulating the physical, biogeochemical and biological processes at work, the ways in which the shelf environment is changing, and the ecosystem response to the changes underway. We outline the overarching cross-disciplinary priorities for future research, as well as the most important discipline-specific objectives. Underpinning these priorities and objectives is the need to better define the causes, magnitude and timescales of variability and change at all levels of the system. A combination of traditional and innovative approaches will be critical to addressing these priorities and developing a co-ordinated observing system for the WAP shelf, which is required to detect and elucidate change into the future