A sweet lost to Neils Bohr Institute

A short trip to Odense.

First of all, please forgive my bad English.

I went to Odense for sample collection. So it is part of my research, and it is free. For your info, I am conducting research related to gut microbiota, in short, I work with shit, and I am happy.

Odense is a small city, as compared to Copenhagen. It is located 170km away from my city, and we took regional train to get there. The tix was rather expensive, but who’s care, the trip was covered by my SV, and I did it for the sake of science. I am happy, I tell you.

Denial? Nope. I am not. Grrr….I am happy.

While waiting for my train to get back to Copenhagen, my friend suggested to go to Hans Christian Andersen’s house. I have no idea who is Hans Christian Andersen, but according to my friend, he is/was very popular.  He keep on saying that Hans Christian Andersen was a prolific author.

When we arrived to the house, I was closed for visitor. I was disappointed, but luckily we got a clean and beautiful place to perform solat jamak.

By the way, according to Mr Google, I found that he was a prolific author for fairy-tale books, and I used to read his works like The Little Mermaid and few others when I was small. I also found that he was the author for The Snow Queen. Since Azkiya is a big fan of The Snow Queen (also known as Frozen), I plan to make another trip to Odense with my family.

Yups, we always had reasons to travel. Kehkehkeh. 

Your gut feeling : A brief introduction to gut microbiota of the elders by Fauzan Ahmad.

The ageing process is multifactorial and complex, that bring impact on the human body entirely [1]. The process seriously affects the human gut microbiota in particular, because it is accompanied by changes in the physiology of the gastrointestinal tract and associated immune system [2-4] due to reducing physical-activity levels and daily food intake (especially protein) with respect to lifestyle changing [5, 6]. In the elderly, the diversity and composition of the microbiota has been linked with various health parameters - may also be a risk [4] or protective factor in relation to immunoallergic and metabolic disorders [7].

Even though the process of aging is irreducible, the present knowledge believed that the age-dependent muscle loss can be partially diminished with an increased intake of dietary protein [8-10], and is optimally counteracted when adequate protein intake is combined with resistance training [11]. Moreover, the changing composition of the human microbiota is associated with changes in human behaviours [12]. However, this raises several questions about the usefulness of the present knowledge, especially with regard to protein intake and exercise as strategies in defining the composition and diversity of gut microbiota among the elderly.

Progress has been acceler­ated by metagenomics, which combines high-throughput DNA sequencing [13] and computational methods [14] to define the com­position of complex microbial communities without needing to culture the constituents. Most studies of the human microbiota describe bacterial diversity, which typically dominates the cellular fraction of the microbiota; but other taxa, including Archaea, fungi, and other microbial eukaryotes, and viruses can be present [15]. The understanding of the impact of exercise and the nutritional value of foods in terms of relevance to our microbiota is essential in developing new ways to manipulate the beneficial properties of our microbiota by finding ways to integrate health-promoting properties into modern living should be the goal.

REFERENCES

1.            Weinert, B.T. and P.S. Timiras, Invited review: Theories of aging. J Appl Physiol (1985), 2003. 95(4): p. 1706-16.

2.            Rampelli, S., et al., Functional metagenomic profiling of intestinal microbiome in extreme ageing. Aging (Albany NY), 2013. 5(12): p. 902-12.

3.            Hold, G.L., The gut microbiota, dietary extremes and exercise. Gut, 2014.

4.            Claesson, M.J., et al., Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly. Nature, 2012. 488(7410): p. 178-184.

5.            Bartali, B., et al., Low Nutrient Intake Is an Essential Component of Frailty in Older Persons. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 2006. 61(6): p. 589-593.

6.            Janssen, I., S.B. Heymsfield, and R. Ross, Low Relative Skeletal Muscle Mass (Sarcopenia) in Older Persons Is Associated with Functional Impairment and Physical Disability. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2002. 50(5): p. 889-896.

7.            Clarke, S.F., et al., Exercise and associated dietary extremes impact on gut microbial diversity. Gut, 2014.

8.            Fujita, S. and E. Volpi, Amino Acids and Muscle Loss with Aging. The Journal of Nutrition, 2006. 136(1): p. 277S-280S.

9.            Morley, J.E., et al., Nutritional recommendations for the management of sarcopenia. J Am Med Dir Assoc, 2010. 11(6): p. 391-6.

10.          Paddon-Jones, D., et al., Role of dietary protein in the sarcopenia of aging. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2008. 87(5): p. 1562S-1566S.

11.          Ferrando, A.A., et al., Resistance exercise maintains skeletal muscle protein synthesis during bed rest. J Appl Physiol (1985), 1997. 82(3): p. 807-10.

12.          Shanahan, F., The gut microbiota[mdash]a clinical perspective on lessons learned. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2012. 9(10): p. 609-614.

13.          Metzker, M.L., Sequencing technologies - the next generation. Nat Rev Genet, 2010. 11(1): p. 31-46.

14.          Caporaso, J.G., et al., QIIME allows analysis of high-throughput community sequencing data. Nat Methods, 2010. 7(5): p. 335-6.

15.          Goodrich, Julia K., et al., Conducting a Microbiome Study. Cell, 2014. 158(2): p. 250-262.

Pictoria #3: First day of autumn; my 30th birthday!

Did Darwin suffer from Bell's palsy too?

Tribute to ABAH

I still having a mixture of feelings due to the passing of my dad. I do not expect my last visit with my father a few weeks ago before I left for Copenhagen - is our last meeting.

He was very different. He got too close to me, too attach. I could not believe, my father had agreed to follow us wherever we went in Kedah. In fact, he had not even refused a cup of coffee that I offered to him.

I have known my father as a quiet and gentle man. In my life, had scolded me for once - when I was taking his money without his knowledge. Until now I'm still afraid to take an item without the owner's permission. It was a great life lesson, I think.

I still remember when I was a kid. I was trying to cheat while performing Asr prayers. I did not realize that my father was watching me. In the evening, my father called me. He asked me to accompany him for Maghrib prayer.

After we finished the prayers, he said, "This is how we pray."

I think he is having good time with my late mak, now. hehe

 Abah, I (we) always love you.

Pictoria #2 : Nyhavn