scholarly journals Global-Scale Metabolomic Profiling of Human Hair for Simultaneous Monitoring of Endogenous Metabolome, Short- and Long-Term Exposome

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Chen ◽  
Jian Guo ◽  
Shipei Xing ◽  
Huaxu Yu ◽  
Tao Huan

Hair is a unique biological matrix that adsorbs short-term exposures (e. g., environmental contaminants and personal care products) on its surface and also embeds endogenous metabolites and long-term exposures in its matrix. In this work, we developed an untargeted metabolomics workflow to profile both temporal exposure chemicals and endogenous metabolites in the same hair sample. This analytical workflow begins with the extraction of short-term exposures from hair surfaces through washing. Further development of mechanical homogenization extracts endogenous metabolites and long-term exposures from the cleaned hair. Both solutions of hair wash and hair extract were analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS)-based metabolomics for global-scale metabolic profiling. After analysis, raw data were processed using bioinformatic programs recently developed specifically for exposome research. Using optimized experimental conditions, we detected a total of 10,005 and 9,584 metabolic features from hair wash and extraction samples, respectively. Among them, 274 and 276 features can be definitively confirmed by MS2 spectral matching against spectral library, and an additional 3,356 and 3,079 features were tentatively confirmed as biotransformation metabolites. To demonstrate the performance of our hair metabolomics, we collected hair samples from three female volunteers and tested their hair metabolic changes before and after a 2-day exposure exercise. Our results show that 645 features from wash and 89 features from extract were significantly changed from the 2-day exposure. Altogether, this work provides a novel analytical approach to study the hair metabolome and exposome at a global scale, which can be implemented in a wide range of biological applications for a deeper understanding of the impact of environmental and genetic factors on human health.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Istemi Demirag ◽  
Thanamas Kungwal ◽  
Yassine Bakkar

PurposeThis paper investigates stakeholders' perspectives of share buybacks in the context of time-horizons of investment decisions and strategy.Design/methodology/approachWe use in-depth interviews with stakeholders from eight listed UK firms as well as examine their publicly available data.FindingsFindings suggest that share buybacks involve a wide range of stakeholders' rational interests and long-term management perspectives as they enable firms to strategise operational plans towards their long-term corporate goals.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are based on interviews with a small number of share buyback firms and the findings, therefore, may not be generalised to all firms.Practical implicationsThe results show that share buybacks may be part of the long-term interests of firms and not necessarily used as part of short-term EPS increases as suggested in the extant literature.Originality/valueThe findings contribute to the literature on corporate pay-out policies in the context of short-term financial objectives vs long-term strategic objectives of stakeholders. They show that share buybacks can be an important part of firms' long-term strategic considerations.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Kubaczyński ◽  
Anna Walkiewicz ◽  
Małgorzata Brzezińska ◽  
Bogusław Usowicz

<p>Agricultural soils are an important landscape element in terms of climate change and this ecosystem is considered as a one of the major source of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Soil may be also a sink for GHGs, from this reason so many research projects are focused on determination of factors and conditions affecting gas exchange. Biochar is produced from biomass that has been pyrolysed in a zero or low oxygen availability. It is currently widely considered as a stable addition to the soil, which not only improve its fertility, but also can mitigate climate change. Considering landscape elements, the char also prevents carbon loss from forest soils. Higher microbial activity is usually associated with higher carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) production (soil respiration). One of the most important questions is how does biochar influence production of GHGs such as CO<sub>2</sub>? Which doses have a critical meaning for CO<sub>2</sub> emission? The aim of our study was to determine the effect of wide range doses of biochar (produced from sunflower husks) (from 1 to 100 Mg ha<sup>-1</sup>) to Haplic Luvisol soil from fallow fields. We investigated the changes of CO<sub>2</sub> emission during laboratory incubation using gas chromatography method. In short-term incubations soil respiration was positively correlated with increasing biochar dose, while during long-term (several years) observation, the impact of biochar dose on the amount of emitted CO<sub>2</sub> was not so significant. It is worthwhile to conduct short- term and long-term field studies in this area.</p><p>Research was partially conducted under the project “Water in soil - satellite monitoring and improving the retention using biochar” no. BIOSTRATEG3/345940/7/NCBR/2017 which was financed by Polish National Centre for Research and Development in the framework of “Environment, agriculture and forestry” - BIOSTRATEG strategic R&D programme.</p>


Psibernetika ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Devina Calista ◽  
Garvin Garvin

<p><em>Child abuse by parents is common in households. The impact of violence on children will bring short-term effects and long-term effects that can be attributed to their various emotional, behavioral and social problems in the future; especially in late adolescence that will enter adulthood. Resilience factors increase the likelihood that adolescents who are victims of childhood violence recover from their past experiences</em><em>,</em><em> become more powerful individuals and have a better life. The purpose of this study was to determine the source of resilience in late adolescents who experienced violence from parents in their childhood. This research uses qualitative research methods with in-depth interviews as a method of data collection. The result shows that the three research participants have the aspects of "I Have", "I Am", and "I Can"; a participant has "I Can" aspects as a source of resilience, and one other subject has no source of resilience. The study concluded that parental affection and acceptance of the past experience have role to the three sources of resilience (I Have, I Am, and I Can)</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><strong><em>Keyword : </em></strong><em>Resilience, adolescence, violence, parents</em></p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 0160323X2110120
Author(s):  
Hai (David) Guo ◽  
Can Chen

Early in the pandemic, Florida municipal managers indicated that forecasting the impact on local revenues was one of their top priorities in responding to the pandemic, yet such a tool has not been widely available. This study offers simple and straightforward fiscal planning guides for assessing the short-term and long-term impacts of the COVID 19 recession on local government revenues by estimating the revenue declines among 411 Florida municipalities from FY 2021 to FY 2023. The forecast results predict revenues will be reduced by $5.11 billion from 2019 pre-pandemic levels for Florida cities in fiscal years 2021 through 2023. The decline is forecast to be 3.54 percent in FY 2021, 4.02 percent in FY 2022, and 3.29 percent in FY 2023. The revenue structure matters for estimating the revenue decline.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146801812110191
Author(s):  
William Hynes

New economic thinking and acting through a systemic approach could outline policy alternatives to tackle the global-scale systemic challenges of financial, economic, social and environmental emergencies, and help steer our recovery out of the current crisis. A systemic recovery requires an economic approach that balances several factors - markets and states, efficiency and resilience, growth and sustainability, national and global stability, short-term emergency measures and long-term structural change. To achieve this, we need to think beyond our policy silos, comprehend our interconnections, and build resilience into our systems.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1019
Author(s):  
Barbara Frączek ◽  
Aleksandra Pięta ◽  
Adrian Burda ◽  
Paulina Mazur-Kurach ◽  
Florentyna Tyrała

The aim of this meta-analysis was to review the impact of a Paleolithic diet (PD) on selected health indicators (body composition, lipid profile, blood pressure, and carbohydrate metabolism) in the short and long term of nutrition intervention in healthy and unhealthy adults. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of 21 full-text original human studies was conducted. Both the PD and a variety of healthy diets (control diets (CDs)) caused reduction in anthropometric parameters, both in the short and long term. For many indicators, such as weight (body mass (BM)), body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC), impact was stronger and especially found in the short term. All diets caused a decrease in total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), albeit the impact of PD was stronger. Among long-term studies, only PD cased a decline in TC and LDL-C. Impact on blood pressure was observed mainly in the short term. PD caused a decrease in fasting plasma (fP) glucose, fP insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the short run, contrary to CD. In the long term, only PD caused a decrease in fP glucose and fP insulin. Lower positive impact of PD on performance was observed in the group without exercise. Positive effects of the PD on health and the lack of experiments among professional athletes require longer-term interventions to determine the effect of the Paleo diet on athletic performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s258-s259
Author(s):  
James Harrigan ◽  
Ebbing Lautenbach ◽  
Emily Reesey ◽  
Magda Wernovsky ◽  
Pam Tolomeo ◽  
...  

Background: Clinically diagnosed ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is common in the long-term acute-care hospital (LTACH) setting and may contribute to adverse ventilator-associated events (VAEs). Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common causative organism of VAP. We evaluated the impact of respiratory P. aeruginosa colonization and bacterial community dominance, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, on subsequent P. aeruginosa VAP and VAE events during long-term acute care. Methods: We enrolled 83 patients on LTACH admission for ventilator weaning, performed longitudinal sampling of endotracheal aspirates followed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina HiSeq), and bacterial community profiling (QIIME2). Statistical analysis was performed with R and Stan; mixed-effects models were fit to relate the abundance of respiratory Psa on admission to clinically diagnosed VAP and VAE events. Results: Of the 83 patients included, 12 were diagnosed with P. aeruginosa pneumonia during the 14 days prior to LTACH admission (known P. aeruginosa), and 22 additional patients received anti–P. aeruginosa antibiotics within 48 hours of admission (suspected P. aeruginosa); 49 patients had no known or suspected P. aeruginosa (unknown P. aeruginosa). Among the known P. aeruginosa group, all 12 patients had P. aeruginosa detectable by 16S sequencing, with elevated admission P. aeruginosa proportional abundance (median, 0.97; IQR, 0.33–1). Among the suspected P. aeruginosa group, all 22 patients had P. aeruginosa detectable by 16S sequencing, with a wide range of admission P. aeruginosa proportional abundance (median, 0.0088; IQR, 0.00012–0.31). Of the 49 patients in the unknown group, 47 also had detectable respiratory Psa, and many had high P. aeruginosa proportional abundance at admission (median, 0.014; IQR, 0.00025–0.52). Incident P. aeruginosa VAP was observed within 30 days in 4 of the known P. aeruginosa patients (33.3%), 5 of the suspected P. aeruginosa patients (22.7%), and 8 of the unknown P. aeruginosa patients (16.3%). VAE was observed within 30 days in 1 of the known P. aeruginosa patients (8.3%), 2 of the suspected P. aeruginosa patients (9.1%), and 1 of the unknown P. aeruginosa patients (2%). Admission P. aeruginosa abundance was positively associated with VAP and VAE risk in all groups, but the association only achieved statistical significance in the unknown group (type S error <0.002 for 30-day VAP and <0.011 for 30-day VAE). Conclusions: We identified a high prevalence of unrecognized respiratory P. aeruginosa colonization among patients admitted to LTACH for weaning from mechanical ventilation. The admission P. aeruginosa proportional abundance was strongly associated with increased risk of incident P. aeruginosa VAP among these patients.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None


Sports ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Lee Bell ◽  
Alan Ruddock ◽  
Tom Maden-Wilkinson ◽  
Dave Hembrough ◽  
David Rogerson

Optimal physical performance is achieved through the careful manipulation of training and recovery. Short-term increases in training demand can induce functional overreaching (FOR) that can lead to improved physical capabilities, whereas nonfunctional overreaching (NFOR) or the overtraining syndrome (OTS) occur when high training-demand is applied for extensive periods with limited recovery. To date, little is known about the OTS in strength sports, particularly from the perspective of the strength sport coach. Fourteen high-performance strength sport coaches from a range of strength sports (weightlifting; n = 5, powerlifting; n = 4, sprinting; n = 2, throws; n = 2, jumps; n = 1) participated in semistructured interviews (mean duration 57; SD = 10 min) to discuss their experiences of the OTS. Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in the identification of four higher order themes: definitions, symptoms, recovery and experiences and observations. Additional subthemes were created to facilitate organisation and presentation of data, and to aid both cohesiveness of reporting and publicising of results. Participants provided varied and sometimes dichotomous perceptions of the OTS and proposed a multifactorial profile of diagnostic symptoms. Prevalence of OTS within strength sports was considered low, with the majority of participants not observing or experiencing long-term reductions in performance with their athletes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 723
Author(s):  
Antti Kurvinen ◽  
Arto Saari ◽  
Juhani Heljo ◽  
Eero Nippala

It is widely agreed that dynamics of building stocks are relatively poorly known even if it is recognized to be an important research topic. Better understanding of building stock dynamics and future development is crucial, e.g., for sustainable management of the built environment as various analyses require long-term projections of building stock development. Recognizing the uncertainty in relation to long-term modeling, we propose a transparent calculation-based QuantiSTOCK model for modeling building stock development. Our approach not only provides a tangible tool for understanding development when selected assumptions are valid but also, most importantly, allows for studying the sensitivity of results to alternative developments of the key variables. Therefore, this relatively simple modeling approach provides fruitful grounds for understanding the impact of different key variables, which is needed to facilitate meaningful debate on different housing, land use, and environment-related policies. The QuantiSTOCK model may be extended in numerous ways and lays the groundwork for modeling the future developments of building stocks. The presented model may be used in a wide range of analyses ranging from assessing housing demand at the regional level to providing input for defining sustainable pathways towards climate targets. Due to the availability of high-quality data, the Finnish building stock provided a great test arena for the model development.


Author(s):  
Ali Kamyab ◽  
Steve Andrle ◽  
Dennis Kroeger ◽  
David S. Heyer

Many Minnesota counties are faced with the problem of high vehicle speeds through towns or resort areas that have significant pedestrian traffic. The impact of speed reduction strategies in high-pedestrian areas in rural counties of Minnesota was investigated. Speed data were collected at two selected study sites under their existing conditions ("no-treatment" or "before" condition) and after the proposed speed reduction strategies were installed. Second "after" data conditions were collected to study the short-term and long-term impact of the implemented strategies. The traffic-calming techniques employed at the Twin Lakes site consisted of removable pedestrian islands and pedestrian crossing signs. A dynamic variable message sign that sent a single-word message ("Slow") to motorists traveling over the speed limit was installed at the Bemidji site. The research study shows that the traffic-calming strategy deployed in Twin Lakes was effective in significantly reducing the mean speed and improving speed limit compliance in both the short term and long term. Despite proven effectiveness, the deployed speed reduction treatment in Bemidji Lake failed to lower the speed at the study site. The single-word message on the sign and the location of the sign, as well as a lack of initial enforcement, were the primary reasons for such failure.


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