The role of the gut microbiome in the development of renal stone diseases has not been well characterized. This study focused on the taxonomic and functional profiles of gut microbiomes according to ...the prevalence and incidence of nephrolithiasis. Stool samples from 915 Korean adults were collected at baseline. Participants were followed for a median of 4.0 years. We evaluated the biodiversity of the gut microbiota and taxonomic profiles associated with nephrolithiasis status, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Nephrolithiasis status was categorized into three groups: control (no-stone at both baseline and follow-up visits), incidental nephrolithiasis, and prevalent nephrolithiasis. Compared to the control and incidental nephrolithiasis, the prevalent nephrolithiasis showed a reduced evenness in alpha diversity. Nephrolithiasis was associated with a reduced abundance of some key taxa involved in short-chain fatty acid production. Moreover, the abundance of Bifidobacterium, which possess oxalate-degrading ability, was higher in the control. Conversely, there was no significant difference in the bacterial composition between the incidental and prevalent nephrolithiasis. In our study with repeated nephrolithiasis measurements, prevalent renal stones were associated with an altered gut microbiota composition compared to the control. Besides the known oxalate degradation pathway, other functional pathways inferred in this study require further investigation.
This study was designed to investigate associations among five factor personality traits, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms and to examine the roles of personality and perceived stress in the ...relationship between gender and depressive symptoms. The participants (N = 3,950) were part of a cohort study for health screening and examination at the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital. Personality was measured with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Perceived stress level was evaluated with a self-reported stress questionnaire developed for the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A higher degree of neuroticism and lower degrees of extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were significantly associated with greater perceived stress and depressive symptoms. Neuroticism and extraversion had significant direct and indirect effects (via stress as a mediator) on depressive symptoms in both genders. Agreeableness and conscientiousness had indirect effects on depression symptoms in both genders. Multiple mediation models were used to examine the mediational roles of each personality factor and perceived stress in the link between gender and depressive symptoms. Four of the personality factors (except openness) were significant mediators, along with stress, on the relationship between gender and depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest that the links between personality factors and depressive symptoms are mediated by perceived stress. As such, personality is an important factor to consider when examining the link between gender and depression.
Measuring the temperature of satellites is crucial for thermal control. Efficient heat control is possible when the location of the heat source can be quickly identified and the heat transfer area ...can be measured. Grid-type thin-film temperature sensors have been proposed for this purpose. Grid-type thin-film temperature sensors use electrohydrodynamic (EHD) inkjet printing technology, a next-generation printing technology. Sensors with high sensing resolution can be manufactured using these technologies. However, the EHD inkjet printing technology is sensitive to printing conditions, and determining the optimal conditions is crucial. Therefore, we produce inks for application in EHD inkjet printing technology and conduct experiments to validate their characteristics. In addition, we determine the optimal conditions for printing and manufacturing grid-type thin-film temperature sensors. The heating element is placed at an arbitrary location and the location of heat generation is detected using the manufactured temperature sensors. We have obtained visualization data showing the heat distribution with time. As a result, the production of a grid-type thin film temperature sensor using the printing process was confirmed. This temperature sensor was able to track the heat source and check the distribution process through which heat is transferred. Therefore, it can be expected to be used in fields that require temperature monitoring.
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•Grid-type thin-film temperature sensors have been proposed.•The sensors were fabricated to evaluate the temperature distribution•The optimal conditions for printing and manufacturing sensors determined.•The heating source can be easily detected using the sensors.•Visualization data showing the heat distribution are presented with time.
Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) inkjet printing is an efficient technique for printing multiple sensors in a multifaceted area. It can be applied to various fields according to the shape of the printing ...result and the algorithm employed. In this study, temperature sensors capable of detecting heat sources were fabricated. Inks suitable for EHD inkjet printing were produced, and optimal parameters for printing were determined. Printing was performed using the corresponding parameters, and various printing results were obtained. Furthermore, an experiment was conducted to confirm the temperature measurement characteristics of the results and the tolerance of the sensor. Grid-type sensors were fabricated based on the results, and the sensor characteristics were confirmed in an orthogonal form. Heat was applied to arbitrary positions. Resistance to changes due to heat was measured, and the location at which the heat was generated was detected by varying the change in resistance. Through this study, efficient heat control can be achieved, as the location of the heat source can be identified quickly.
Objectives
While common in the elderly, dry mouth can negatively affect their oral health and nutritional status. Self‐administered oral care by the elderly can improve their oral health and prevent ...oral diseases. This study aimed to identify the content of oral health promotion programmes for community‐dwelling elderly and to determine which programmes are effective in improving oral health decreasing xerostomia in these populations.
Methods
A systematic literature search and meta‐analysis was conducted using the PRISMA guidelines. All available papers published in English or Korean were searched between 1 June and 13 June 2018. The relevant databases in PubMed Central, MEDLINE, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library and Embase, as well as open dissertation and academic searches, were performed. Data were extracted from the selected studies based on PICOS, and the health outcomes of the elderly were subjected to meta‐analysis categorized by salivary secretion rates and oral health‐related quality of life (OHQoL).
Results
A total of nine studies had sufficient data for a systematic review and meta‐analysis. The intervention programmes consisted mainly of oral health promotion programmes, mouth exercises, toothbrushing and salivary massage. The meta‐analysis indicated that elderly participating in oral health programmes had significantly increased oral salivary secretion rates and OHQoL (effect sizes of 0.63 and 0.80, respectively).
Conclusions
Oral health promotion programmes in the elderly provide the positive effects of relieving dry mouth and improving OHQoL. This systematic review confirmed the contents and effects of the oral health promotion programmes provided to community‐dwelling elderly.
Personality is a trait that affects behavior and lifestyle, and sleep quality is an important component of a healthy life. We analyzed the association between personality traits and sleep quality in ...a cross-section of 1,406 young women (from 18 to 40 years of age) who were not reporting clinically meaningful depression symptoms. Surveys were carried out from December 2011 to February 2012, using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). All analyses were adjusted for demographic and behavioral variables. We considered beta weights, structure coefficients, unique effects, and common effects when evaluating the importance of sleep quality predictors in multiple linear regression models. Neuroticism was the most important contributor to PSQI global scores in the multiple regression models. By contrast, despite being strongly correlated with sleep quality, conscientiousness had a near-zero beta weight in linear regression models, because most variance was shared with other personality traits. However, conscientiousness was the most noteworthy predictor of poor sleep quality status (PSQI ≥ 6) in logistic regression models and individuals high in conscientiousness were least likely to have poor sleep quality, which is consistent with an OR of 0.813, with conscientiousness being protective against poor sleep quality. Personality may be a factor in poor sleep quality and should be considered in sleep interventions targeting young women.
A simple predictive biomarker for fatty liver disease is required for individuals with insulin resistance. Here, we developed a supervised machine learning-based classifier for fatty liver disease ...using fecal 16S rDNA sequencing data. Based on the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital cohort (n = 777), we generated a random forest classifier to predict fatty liver diseases in individuals with or without insulin resistance (n = 166 and n = 611, respectively). The model performance was evaluated based on metrics, including accuracy, area under receiver operating curve (AUROC), kappa, and F1-score. The developed classifier for fatty liver diseases performed better in individuals with insulin resistance (AUROC = 0.77). We further optimized the classifiers using genetic algorithm. The improved classifier for insulin resistance, consisting of ten microbial genera, presented an advanced classification (AUROC = 0.93), whereas the improved classifier for insulin-sensitive individuals failed to distinguish participants with fatty liver diseases from the healthy. The classifier for individuals with insulin resistance was comparable or superior to previous methods predicting fatty liver diseases (accuracy = 0.83, kappa = 0.50, F1-score = 0.89), such as the fatty liver index. We identified the ten genera as a core set from the human gut microbiome, which could be a diagnostic biomarker of fatty liver diseases for insulin resistant individuals. Collectively, these findings indicate that the machine learning classifier for fatty liver diseases in the presence of insulin resistance is comparable or superior to commonly used methods.
There have been few large-scale studies on the relationship between smoking and gut microbiota. We investigated the relationship between smoking status and the composition of gut microbiota. This was ...a population-based cross-sectional study using Healthcare Screening Center cohort data. A total of 758 men were selected and divided into three groups: never (
= 288), former (
= 267), and current smokers (
= 203). Among the three groups, there was no difference in alpha diversity, however, Jaccard-based beta diversity showed significant difference (
= 0.015). Pairwise permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) tests between never and former smokers did not show a difference; however, there was significant difference between never and current smokers (
= 0.017) and between former and current smokers (
= 0.011). Weighted UniFrac-based beta diversity also showed significant difference among the three groups (
= 0.038), and pairwise PERMANOVA analysis of never and current smokers showed significant difference (
= 0.01). In the analysis of bacterial composition, current smokers had an increased proportion of the phylum Bacteroidetes with decreased Firmicutes and Proteobacteria compared with never smokers, whereas there were no differences between former and never smokers. In conclusion, gut microbiota composition of current smokers was significantly different from that of never smokers. Additionally, there was no difference in gut microbiota composition between never and former smokers.
Background
A gut–muscle axis through which the microbiome influences skeletal muscle has been hypothesized. However, sex‐specific association between the characteristics of gut microbiota and ...skeletal muscle mass has not yet been reported. Herein, we performed sex‐specific analyses of faecal microbiota composition for the skeletal muscle mass in a population‐based cohort.
Methods
We collected faecal samples of 1052 middle‐aged participants (621 men and 431 women) who attended health screenings, and we analysed the intestinal microbiota using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Relative muscle mass was calculated using a bioelectrical impedance analysis and presented as the skeletal muscle mass index SMI (%) = total appendicular muscle mass (kg)/weight (kg) × 100. We categorized the subjects into four groups by the quartile of the SMI. Association tests between gut microbiota and SMI were conducted according to the microbial diversity, taxonomic profiling and functional inference in a sex‐stratified manner.
Results
The mean age and SMI of the total participants were 44.8 years (standard deviation SD, 8.2) and 41.4% (SD, 3.9), respectively. After adjustments for possible covariates such as age, body mass index and regular physical activity, the highest quartile (Q4) group of SMI had higher alpha diversity than the lowest quartile (Q1) group in male participants (coefficient = 10.79, P < 0.05, linear regression model), whereas there was no difference in diversity among SMI groups in females. At the species level, Haemophilus parainfluenzae (coefficient = 1.910) and Roseburia faecis (coefficient = 1.536) were more abundant in the highest SMI (Q4) group than in the lowest SMI (Q1) group in males. However, no significant taxon was observed along the SMI groups in females. The gut microbiota of the lowest SMI group (Q1) was enriched with genes involved in biosynthesis of amino acids and energy generation compared with that of the highest SMI group (Q4) in both sexes, although the significance of the inferred pathways was weak (P < 0.05 but the false discovery rate q > 0.05).
Conclusions
In this large sample of middle‐aged individuals, this study highlights fundamental sex‐specific differences in the microbial diversity, composition and metabolic pathways inferred from gut microbiota according to SMI. The gut microbiota may provide novel insights into the potential mechanisms underlying the sex dependence of skeletal muscle mass.
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