Is a vegan or a vegetarian diet associated with the microbiota composition in the gut? Results of a new cross-sectional study and systematic review

Abstract

It is assumed that diet influences the composition of gut microbiota, which in turn may affect human health status. This systematic review aimed to summarize associations of a vegan or vegetarian diet with the composition of microbiota. A literature search was conducted in PubMed and Embase for eligible human studies with vegan or vegetarian diets as an exposure and microbiota composition as an outcome in healthy adults. Furthermore, data from our cross-sectional study with vegan participants were included. Out of sixteen included studies, six investigated the association between gut microbiota composition in both vegans and in vegetarians, six in vegans and four studies in vegetarians compared to omnivores, respectively. Among 5 different phyla, 28 families, 96 genera and 177 species, Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium and Prevotella were the most reported genera, followed by the species Prevotella copri, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Escherichia coli in all diets. No consistent association between a vegan diet or vegetarian diet and microbiota composition compared to omnivores could be identified. Moreover, some studies revealed contradictory results. This result could be due to high microbial individuality, and/or differences in the applied approaches. Standardized methods with high taxonomical and functional resolutions are needed to clarify this issue.     

Landscape change in the multi-functional countryside: a biographical analysis of farmer decision-making in the English high weald

There is growing recognition that the landscape implications of agricultural restructuring are complex, location specific and subject to various feedback effects. This paper explores how the economic decline of mainstream farming in the English High Weald is redefining the relationship between agriculture and the landscape, encouraging existing farmers to diversify their income base but also creating opportunities for new forms of land occupancy and management in a multi-functional countryside. Through a biographical analysis of a range of different types of land manager, it is illustrated how attitudes to land use and the occupancy of rural land are changing, distinguishing between holdings that are still seen primarily as sites of production by their farming family occupiers and those that are coming to be regarded chiefly as spaces for living by a new category of lifestyle occupier. The implications of this differentiation of the stakeholder community for future landscape management in the United Kingdom and the European Union are explored.     

Imported modernity and local design: the creation of resilient public spaces in late Ottoman Palestine, 1878–1918

ABSTRACT

Jewish colonies were established in rural areas of Ottoman Palestine in the late nineteenth century; a period full of radical changes, including the industrial revolution, political and cultural shifts in the Ottoman Empire, and social transformations wrought by World War I. These global and local events had a significant impact on everyday life in the colonies, challenging the resilience of the built-up and open public spaces. According to urban space research, the ability of public spaces to withstand change depends on how these spaces are created and defined and the extent to which they evoke a communal sense of ownership and belonging. In light of the above, this paper combines archival and theoretical research in order to examine and characterize the resilience of public spaces in the Jewish colonies in Ottoman Palestine over four decades – from 1878, the foundation of the first colony, to 1918, the end of World War I. Planned and designed by mostly European-educated designers and entrepreneurs, the colonies’ public spaces demonstrated modernity, accommodated change, and created vibrant centres geared to serve a diverse ethnic local population.     

Reverse osmosis desalination plants — marine environmentalist regulator point of view

The environmental characteristics of the brine and its impacts on the marine environment were always the “backyard” and the less concern while planning and operating RO desalination plants. The lack of drinking water in Israel made desalination a national goal. The first huge RO plant was initially operated in Israel on 2005 — 100 Mm³/y and by the end of 2010 305 Mm³/y potable water expected to be produced. Construction and installation of desalination plants requires applying suitable environmental solutions for protecting and preserving the marine and coastal environment from ruin or deterioration.

The Israeli environmental legislation is described including the marine environmental policy and regulations as well as the acquired operational experience during the last two years. Results from the first year of operation and monitoring are shown along with the new appearance of the red phenomenon discharge of VID desalination plant in Ashkelon.

The environmental policy based on the precautionary principle is performed and includes environmental requirements and guidelines for pretreatment, discharge composition, planning marine outfall, background and compliance marine monitoring program and discharge quality standards.     

Does it make sense to modify tropical cyclones? A decision-analytic assessment

Recent dramatic increases in damages caused by tropical cyclones (TCs) and improved understanding of TC physics have led DHS to fund research on intentional hurricane modification. We present a decision analytic assessment of whether it is potentially cost-effective to attempt to lower the wind speed of TCs approaching South Florida by reducing sea surface temperatures with wind-wave pumps. Using historical data on hurricanes approaching South Florida, we develop prior probabilities of how storms might evolve. The effects of modification are estimated using a modern TC model. The FEMA HAZUS-MH MR3 damage model and census data on the value of property at risk are used to estimate expected economic losses. We compare wind damages after storm modification with damages after implementing hardening strategies protecting buildings. We find that if it were feasible and properly implemented, modification could reduce net losses from an intense storm more than hardening structures. However, hardening provides "fail safe" protection for average storms that might not be achieved if the only option were modification. The effect of natural variability is larger than that of either strategy. Damage from storm surge is modest in the scenario studied but might be abated by modification.     

Effect of particle size on arsenic bioaccessibility in gold mine tailings of Nova Scotia

Tailings samples from the Goldenville and Montague abandoned gold mines in Nova Scotia, Canada were subjected to bioaccessibility tests to examine the effects of the choice of particle size fraction on the bioaccessibility of arsenic. The proportion of finer grains (< 150 μm) in this sample set varied from 6.0 to 66 wt.%. Samples were sieved to < 250, < 150, and < 45 μm particle size fractions. The arsenic bioaccessibility ranged from less than 1.0 to 48%, but no systematic variation was observed (p > 0.13) precluding the association of greater percent arsenic bioaccessibility with a specific particle size fraction, method or site. On the other hand, the highest bioaccessible arsenic concentrations (up to 5200 mg kg^− 1) were consistently observed in samples sieved to the < 45 μm particle size, for both the physiologically based extraction test and a glycine-buffered bioaccessibility method (in 89 and 87% of samples tested, respectively). This was due to higher total arsenic concentrations in the same particle size fraction. Grain maps obtained by X-ray absorption spectroscopy indicate that samples with the highest percent arsenic bioaccessibility contain amorphous pentavalent arsenic distributed throughout the sample as well as grains coated with pentavalent arsenic. Arsenic bioaccessibilities lower than 10% were found in samples with encapsulated arsenopyrite and some grains composed primarily of pentavalent arsenic. The < 45 μm particle size fraction appears to yield conservative (protective) estimates of the bioaccessible dose of arsenic, but wide variations exist in particle size distribution and arsenic bioaccessibility between samples. As well, sieving to < 45 μm may exclude potentially relevant particles by restricting the study to an average particle size that is smaller than the average size of particles found on human hands, and may unduly influence the resulting bioaccessibility measurements.     

Synthesen 3-substituierter 7,8-Dimethyl-1,5-dihydro-2,4-benzdithiepine

Synthesis of 3-Substituted 7,8-Dimethyl-1,5-dihydro-2,4-benzdithiepines 7,8-Dimethyl-1,5-dihydro-2,4-benzdithiepines substituted in 3-position are available from the dithiol 1 and aldehydes or acetales. By chlorination of the dithiepin 6 the 3-chloro-dithiepin 3 is formed, which was not available in pure state, but can be transformed in situ with N- or C-nucleophiles into the respective 2 -derivatives. By oxidation of 6 using chloramin T and subsequent reaction with methanol the 3-methoxy derivative 4 is formed via the S-tosyliminocompound 5 .     

A Synthetic Protocell-Based Heparin Scavenger

Heparin is a commonly applied blood anticoagulant agent in clinical use. After treatment, excess heparin needs to be removed to circumvent side effects and recover the blood-clotting cascade. Most existing heparin antidotes rely on direct heparin binding and complexation, yet selective compartmentalization and sequestration of heparin would be beneficial for safety and efficiency. However, such systems have remained elusive. Herein, a semipermeable protein-based microcompartment (proteinosome) is loaded with a highly positively charged chitosan derivative, which can induce electrostatics-driven internalization of anionic guest molecules inside the compartment. Chitosan-loaded proteinosomes are subsequently employed to capture heparin, and an excellent heparin-scavenging performance is demonstrated under physiologically relevant conditions. Both the highly positive scavenger and the polyelectrolyte complex are confined and shielded by the protein compartment in a time-dependent manner. Moreover, selective heparin-scavenging behavior over serum albumin is realized through adjusting the localized scavenger or surrounding salt concentrations at application-relevant circumstances. In vitro studies reveal that the cytotoxicity of the cationic scavenger and the produced polyelectrolyte complex is reduced by protocell shielding. Therefore, the proteinosome-based systems may present a novel polyelectrolyte-scavenging method for biomedical applications.