OBJECTIVEThis study used next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies to characterize the gut virome at the onset of islet autoimmunity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe conducted a case-control study nested within the Finnish Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) cohort. The stool virome in 19 case children, who turned islet autoantibody positive before the age of 2 years and later developed clinical type 1 diabetes, and 19 tightly matched control subjects was analyzed using NGS performed from stool samples collected 3, 6, and 9 months before the onset of islet autoimmunity. Human virus findings were verified using real-time PCR. RESULTSOne or more human viruses were present in 10.4% and bacteriophages were in 54% of the samples. The virome composition showed no association with islet autoimmunity. NGS was less sensitive and specific than real-time PCR. CONCLUSIONSThe present data suggest no dramatic changes in the gut virome shortly before the emergence of islet autoimmunity and emphasize the need of verification of mass sequencing results when viral exposure is assessed in association studies.

The results confirm previous findings that an imbalance within the prevalent Bacteroides genus is associated with islet autoimmunity. The detected quantitative relation of the novel "orphan" bacteriophage CrAssphage with a prevalent species of the Bacteroides genus may exemplify possible modifiers of the bacteriome.

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Background During pregnancy, a number of changes affecting venous blood flow occur in the circulatory system, such as reduced vein wall tension or increased exposure to collagen fibers. These factors may cause blood stagnation, swelling of the legs, or endothelial damage and consequently lead to development of venous disease. Objectives The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of special footwear designed to improve blood circulation in the feet on venous blood flow changes observed during advancing phases of pregnancy. Methods Thirty healthy pregnant women participated in this study at 25, 30, and 35 weeks of gestation. Participants were allocated at random to an experimental group (n = 15) which was provided with the special footwear, or a control group (n = 15). At each data collection session, Doppler measurements of peak systolic blood flow velocity and cross-sectional area of the right popliteal vein were performed using a MySonoU6 ultrasound machine with a linear transducer (Samsung Medison). The differences were compared using Cohen’s d test to calculate effect size. Results With advancing phases of pregnancy, peak systolic velocity in the popliteal vein decreased significantly in the control group, whereas it increased significantly in the experimental group. No significant change in cross-sectional area was observed in any of the groups. Conclusions Findings in the experimental group demonstrated that wearing the footwear tested may prevent venous blood velocity from reducing during advanced phases of pregnancy. Nevertheless, there is a need for further investigation of the beneficial effect on venous flow of the footwear tested and its application.

This paper examines the relations and the tensions between debility and disability in global contexts defined by complex forms of bio-social precarity. My focus is Baan Kamlangchay, in Thailand, a care home providing care for older people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease from the global North. I treat Baan Kamlangchay as one concrete example of emerging circuits of transnational care/reproductive labour in order to investigate the interrelations between disability and wider global bio-political inequalities. Using the concept of ‘biolegitimacy’, I discuss the power dynamics in the relationships between the racialised and gendered care workers in the centre and (white) disabled residents. I argue that debility, understood as the flexible gradation of dis/ability and in/capacity, allows us to better understand these novel forms of embodied precarity and their political implications in global contexts.