Assessing the Concordance Between Urogenital and Vaginal Microbiota: Can Urine Specimens Be Used as a Proxy for Vaginal Samples?

BackgroundThe vaginal microbiota play a key role in defense against reproductive tract infections; however, many population-based women’s health studies do not collect vaginal samples. Molecular examinations of urine samples have revealed common vaginal bacteria. We sought to assess the extent that community state type assignments of archived random-catch and clean-catch urine samples agreed with the paired vaginal samples in both reproductive-age and peri/post-menopausal women.ResultsUsing archived samples, we evaluated the microbiota concordance among women in three studies: two with paired mid-vaginal/random-catch urine (N=91 reproductive-age participants and N=13 peri/post-menopausal participants), and one with paired mid-vaginal/clean-catch urine (N=99 reproductive-age participants). Microbiota composition was characterized by sequencing amplicons of the 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 regions and assigned to community state types. Similarity of paired samples was gauged using agreement of community state types and Yue-Clayton θ indices. Analysis of Composition of Microbiomes II indicated which taxa were differently relatively abundant in paired vaginal and urine samples. In reproductive-age women, random-catch and clean-catch urines were 89.0% and 86.9% concordant on five community state types with paired mid-vaginal swabs, and Kappa statistics indicated almost perfect agreement (κrandom-catch=.85, κclean-catch=.81, p<0.0001). A small number of pairs of samples were discordant (23/190, 12%), and discordant pairs tended to be between samples classified to L. iners-dominated and/or low-Lactobacillus states. Concordance and agreement remained similar when dichotomizing the microbiota to Lactobacillus-dominated versus low-Lactobacillus microbiota, as well as when evaluating separately the three subtypes of the low-Lactobacillus community state type IV. Median similarity of paired urine/vaginal samples was high (θrandom-catch=.85, θclean-catch=.88), and a comparison of the random-catch and clean-catch similarity scores showed no significant difference (p=.80). Concordance and similarity were lower for peri/post-menopausal women, but agreement remained substantial (76.9% concordant, κrandom-catch= 0.64, θrandom-catch=.62). Taxonomic-level analysis confirmed these findings.ConclusionsRandom-catch and clean-catch urine samples showed substantial agreement on bacterial composition to paired mid-vaginal samples, indicating that the genitourinary microbiota may be a reliable proxy for assessing the overall composition of the vaginal microbiota via community state types. This data suggests that urine samples can, with proper interpretation, be utilized as a surrogate for developing preliminary data and hypothesis-generating studies.

Enhanced Emission under Proton Stimuli Based on Phenanthroimidazole Derivative by Switching Excited State type from CT to LE State

We report herein a vertical D-A structure molecule based on phenanthroimidazole derivative with rare enhanced emission under proton stimuli, which was caused by the excited state type from CT to...

Functionalist Interrelations among Human Psychological States Inter Se, Ditto for Martians

Functionalism is designed to allow that psychological states can be multiply realized. Mark Sprevak has argued that, for a functionalist account of psychological states to apply to creatures that are organized in a very different way from humans (call them Martians), the way a psychological state is functionally individuated has to be relatively coarse-grained (Sprevak 2009). The argument for coarse-grained individuation fails if we distinguish functionalism about what it takes to be a psychological state in general from functionalism about a particular state type such as belief. Theorists are not precluded from including functional relations to consciousness or deliberate judgment in their account of (human) belief, consistent with allowing that Martians would have their own collection of functionally interrelated psychological states. Sprevak’s coarse-grained functionalism implies an implausibly liberal form of extended cognition. The point about functional interrelations allows us to avoid that conclusion without jettisoning functionalism (as Sprevak suggests we should): records in a human notebook may not enter into the right interrelations with other human psychological states to count as beliefs; nor do they enter into any interrelations with Martian psychological states.

The mediating role of management control system characteristics in the adoption of management accounting techniques

Purpose This study aims to investigate the mediating role of management control system (MCS) characteristics in the relationship between state type, reflected through societal institutions (SIs), and two sets of management accounting techniques (MATs), namely, performance measurement techniques (PMTs) and cost measurement techniques (CMTs). Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data from a cross-sectional survey of 136 firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Findings The findings show a direct positive impact of state-type construct on MCS characteristics, and that MCS characteristics partially mediate the reported significant relationships between state type and the use of PMTs. While the findings show a similar positive relationship between state type and CMTs, MCS characteristics do not mediate this relationship. Research limitations/implications Although these results are affected by limitations associated with the survey method used, they are useful in explaining the necessary conditions supporting the use of MATs in general and performance measurement techniques in particular. Practical implications The study uses a cross-section of companies in the UAE, an attractive global investment destination, as its sample. The results can help investors better understand the choice of MATs in the UAE and its relation to MCS characteristics. Originality/value This study contributes to management accounting literature by determining the mediating role of MCS characteristics on the relationship between state type and the choice of two sets of MATs, whereas existing literature assumes a direct relation between the two.

Four aspects of politics in Max Weber’s Politik als Beruf

The article offers a rereading of Weber’s Politik als Beruf as a conceptualisation of politics contingent and controversial activity in terms of the four aspects of politics: politicisation, polity, politicking and policy. Weber discusses politics as a concept abstracted from its content. All four aspects can be found in his exposition of the concept. Weber mentions first policy as the direction of politics and demarcates his focus on the state-type polities. Then, he presents the formula on politics as striving for power, consisting of chances to politicise its distinct shares, and discusses historical types of professional politicians and their styles of politicking. Weber illustrates the opposition between independent politicking and its result as a policy that the officials must execute. His triad passion for a cause, sense of responsibility and detached judgement among politicians correspond to the references to politicking, polity and politicisation, whereas the ethic of responsibility refers to situational politicking, but the ethic of conviction to a strict policy, which in some cases contains chances to politicise the situation. Weber’s final metaphor of politics as slow and patient drilling of hard board can be read in a way containing all the four aspects of politics.

Numerical simulation of ice-induced vibrations of steady-state type

Ice force is one kind of nonnegligible external loads that nature exerts on structures. The action of drifting ice floes may induce strong vibrations of offshore structures, and further reduce the structural safety and serviceability. The aim of this article is to develop a method to simulate the most dangerous situation during the interaction between ice and structure, that is, the ice-induced vibrations of steady-state type. A simulation methodology to realize structural steady-state vibration is proposed; it can simulate a special phenomenon of negative damping. The calculation of effective ice pressure is accomplished by an empirical formula which considers the dependence of the crushing strength on the ice velocity. The most important contribution of the simulation method is to capture the steady-state vibration phenomenon. The presented simulation methodology is conducted on the same model test introduced in a referenced study to verify the efficacy. Calculational examples show good agreements with the results of the model test, and the frequency contents of the generations coincide well with the targets. They directly prove the validity of the proposed simulation method. In addition, the numerical simulation method can be used in connection with finite element programs to perform a steady-state vibration analysis of offshore structures.