Microbial DNA fingerprinting of human fingerprints: dynamic colonization of fingertip microflora challenges human host inferences for forensic purposes

Human fingertip microflora is transferred to touched objects and may provide forensically relevant information on individual hosts, such as on geographic origins, if endogenous microbial skin species/strains would be retrievable from physical fingerprints and would carry geographically restricted DNA diversity. We tested the suitability of physical fingerprints for revealing human host information, with geographic inference as example, via microbial DNA fingerprinting. We showed that the transient exogenous fingertip microflora is frequently different from the resident endogenous bacteria of the same individuals. In only 54% of the experiments, the DNA analysis of the transient fingertip microflora allowed the detection of defined, but often not the major, elements of the resident microflora. Although we found microbial persistency in certain individuals, time-wise variation of transient and resident microflora within individuals was also observed when resampling fingerprints after 3 weeks. While microbial species differed considerably in their frequency spectrum between fingerprint samples from volunteers in Europe and southern Asia, there was no clear geographic distinction between Staphylococcus strains in a cluster analysis, although bacterial genotypes did not overlap between both continental regions. Our results, though limited in quantity, clearly demonstrate that the dynamic fingerprint microflora challenges human host inferences for forensic purposes including geographic ones. Overall, our results suggest that human fingerprint microflora is too dynamic to allow for forensic marker developments for retrieving human information

The AST3-NIR Camera for the Kunlun Infrared Sky Survey

AST3-NIR is a new infrared camera for deployment with the AST3-3 wide-field survey telescope to Dome A on the Antarctic plateau. This project is designed to take advantage of the low Antarctic infrared sky thermal background (particularly within the Kdark near infrared atmospheric window at 2.4 μm) and the long Antarctic nights to provide high sensitivity temporal data from astronomical sources. The data collected from the Kunlun Infrared Sky Survey (KISS) will be used to conduct a range of astronomical science cases including the study of supernovae, exo-planets, variable stars, and the cosmic infrared background

Retention Strategies and Factors Associated with Missed Visits Among Low Income Women at Increased Risk of HIV Acquisition in the US (HPTN 064)

Women at high-risk for HIV acquisition often face challenges that hinder their retention in HIV prevention trials. These same challenges may contribute to missed clinical care visits among HIV-infected women. This article, informed by the Gelberg-Andersen Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations, identifies factors associated with missed study visits and describes the multifaceted retention strategies used by study sites. HPTN 064 was a multisite, longitudinal HIV seroincidence study in 10 US communities. Eligible women were aged 18–44 years, resided in a census tract/zipcode with high poverty and HIV prevalence, and self-reported ≥1 personal or sex partner behavior related to HIV acquisition. Multivariate analyses of predisposing (e.g., substance use) and enabling (e.g., unmet health care needs) characteristics, and study attributes (i.e., recruitment venue, time of enrollment) identified factors associated with missed study visits. Retention strategies included: community engagement; interpersonal relationship building; reduction of external barriers; staff capacity building; and external tracing. Visit completion was 93% and 94% at 6 and 12 months. Unstable housing and later date of enrollment were associated with increased likelihood of missed study visits. Black race, recruitment from an outdoor venue, and financial responsibility for children were associated with greater likelihood of attendance. Multifaceted retention strategies may reduce missed study visits. Knowledge of factors associated with missed visits may help to focus efforts

Exercise response in Parkinson’s Disease : insights from a cross-sectional comparison with sedentary controls and a per protocol analysis of a randomised controlled trial

Objectives: To investigate the acute and adaptation cardiovascular and metabolic training responses in people with Parkinson’s (pwP). Design: 1) A cross sectional study of exercise response of pwP compared to sedentary controls,2) an interventional study of exercise training in pwP. Setting: Community leisure facilities. Participants: pwP (n=83) & sedentary controls (n=55) Interventions: Study (1) included participants from a two arm parallel single blind phase II Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), that undertook a baseline maximal incremental exercise test and study (2) included those randomised to the exercise group in the RCT, who completed a six-month weekly exercise programme (n=37). The intervention (study (2) was a prescribed exercise program consisting of sessions lasting 60 minutes, twice a week over a six-month period. The control group followed the same protocol which derived the same cardio respiratory parameters, except the they were instructed to aim for a cadence of ~60rpm and the unloaded phase lasted 3minutes with an initial step of 25watts. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Stepwise incremental exercise test to volitional exhaustion was the primary outcome measure. Results: Study (1) showed higher maximum values for heart rate, VO2l.min-1, VCO2l.min-1 and Ventilation l.min-1 for the control group; Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER), perceived exertion and O2 Pulse (VO2l.min-1/ HR) did not differ between groups. In study (2), for pwP who adhered to training (n=37), RER increased significantly and although there was no significant change in aerobic capacity or heart rate response, reduced blood pressure was found. Conclusions: An abnormal cardiovascular response to exercise was observed in pwP compared to controls. After the exercise programme, metabolic deficiencies remained for pwP. These observations add to the pathogenic understanding of PD, acknowledge an underling metabolic contribution and support that certain cardiovascular symptoms may improve as a result of this type of exercise Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.Gov (NCT01439022)

Citizen Entrepreneurship: A Conceptual Picture of the Inclusion, Integration and Engagement of Citizens in the Entrepreneurial Process

This conceptual and exploratory article aims to present a rationale for the engagement of citizens with the process and practice of, and research on new civic forms of entrepreneurship. We argue that this form of citizen engagement could enable a better alignment of entrepreneurial initiatives with economic, social and community priorities, and to address issues of global significance of local interest in uncertain environments. To this end, we posit that engaging citizens in the entrepreneurial process could facilitate agency at the collective level of people with their rights, duties and responsibilities, to identify, participate in and govern with existing institutions, in meaningful economic and social activity in defined spatial environments. Our normative understanding of entrepreneurial process involves the creation of business, social and public enterprises, the formation of which is led by entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are of course citizens of specific nation states, but their endeavours do not necessarily warrant the participation of the wider community of citizens in the entrepreneurial process beyond their receiving function as users of goods and services. We consider whether pro-active engagement in a variety of ways, as nurtured in the practice of Citizen Science or Citizen Economics projects, could strengthen the profile and substance of entrepreneurship to resolve critical economic, social and environmental concerns of our times. We use the concept of the ‘commons’ and collective efficacy to argue for an understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation as a social good. We argue that Citizen Entrepreneurship (CE) is able to create new forms of collective organisation and governance, and derive economic and social value by addressing local issues arising from wide-spread phenomena such as climate change, ecological and environmental challenges, inequality, social polarisation, populism, migration and the gradual erosion of democratic institutions. To do so, citizens need to develop capabilities for engagement in the entrepreneurship process, especially when traditional public and market institutions fail to satisfy their existential needs. Indeed, active engagement could lead to the achievement of capabilities for well-being and fulfilling lives which go beyond the acquisition of skills and competencies necessary to pursue a vocation or a career. We refer to and interpret three examples of collective entrepreneurial activity in different urban environments in European countries as models of CE highlighting what we see as a growing trend in the entrepreneurial substance of the ‘urban commons’. We work towards the creation of a conceptual model with which to develop an understanding of a unique formulation of entrepreneurship

Validating the Job Crafting Questionnaire (JCRQ): A multi-method and multi-sample study

Job crafting presents one set of proactive behaviours that employees may engage in to alter the job content or their relations at work. In recent years, several measures have been developed to capture job crafting. In the present study, we test the validity and reliability of an existing job crafting questionnaire (JCRQ) in four studies: First, we test the scale validity of the JCRQ in a Spanish diary study (Spain, N = 164, diary occasions 820). Second, we test the scale validity across two Western (Spain, N = 164, UK, N = 109) and two Eastern cultures (China, N = 170, Taiwan, N = 165). Third, we test the test-rest reliability in a Spanish three-wave longitudinal sample (N = 191). Finally, we test the criterion validity using data from the four countries. Results confirm the presence of five independent job crafting dimensions: increasing challenging demands, decreasing social job demands, increasing social job resources, increasing quantitative demands, and decreasing hindrance job demands. The JCRQ shows acceptable test-retest reliability, scale and criterion validity across the four studies

The AST3-NIR Camera for the Kunlun Infrared Sky Survey

AST3-NIR is a new infrared camera for deployment with the AST3-3 wide-field survey telescope to Dome A on the Antarctic plateau. This project is designed to take advantage of the low Antarctic infrared sky thermal background (particularly within the Kdark near infrared atmospheric window at 2.4 μm) and the long Antarctic nights to provide high sensitivity temporal data from astronomical sources. The data collected from the Kunlun Infrared Sky Survey (KISS) will be used to conduct a range of astronomical science cases including the study of supernovae, exo-planets, variable stars, and the cosmic infrared background

Systematic review of the effects of the intestinal microbiota on selected nutrients and non-nutrients

The systematic review demonstrates that the IM plays a major role in the breakdown and transformation of the dietary substrates examined. However, recent human data are limited with the exception of data from studies examining fibres and polyphenols. Results observed in relation with dietary substrates were not always consistent or coherent across studies and methodological limitations and differences in IM analyses made comparisons difficult. Moreover, non-digestible components likely to reach the colon are often not well defined or characterised in studies making comparisons between studies difficult if not impossible. Going forward, further rigorously controlled randomised human trials with well-defined dietary substrates and utilizing omic-based technologies to characterise and measure the IM and their functional activities will advance the field. Current evidence suggests that more detailed knowledge of the metabolic activities and interactions of the IM hold considerable promise in relation with host health