Interactions between Human Gut Microbiome Dynamics and Sub-Optimal Health Symptoms during Seafaring Expeditions.

During long ocean voyages, crew members are subject to complex pressures from their living and working environment, which lead to chronic diseases-like sub-optimal health status. Although the association between dysbiotic gut microbiome and chronic diseases has been broadly reported, the correlation between the sub-optimal health status and gut microbiome remains elusive. Here, the health status of 77 crew members (20-35 years old Chinese, male) during a 135-day sea expedition was evaluated using the shotgun metagenomics of stool samples and health questionnaires taken before and after the voyage. We found five core symptoms (e.g., abnormal defecation frequency, insomnia, poor sleep quality, nausea, and overeating) in 55 out of 77 crew members suffering from sub-optimal health status, and this was termed "seafaring syndrome" (SS) in this study. Significant correlation was found between the gut microbiome and SS rather than any single symptom. For example, SS was proven to be associated with individual perturbation in the gut microbiome, and the microbial dynamics between SS and non-SS samples were different during the voyage. Moreover, the microbial signature for SS was identified using the variation of 19 bacterial species and 26 gene families. Furthermore, using a Random Forest model, SS was predicted with high accuracy (84.4%, area under the concentration-time curve = 0.91) based on 28 biomarkers from pre-voyage samples, and the prediction model was further validated by another 30-day voyage cohort (accuracy = 83.3%). The findings in this study provide insights to help us discover potential predictors or even therapeutic targets for dysbiosis-related diseases. IMPORTANCE Systemic and chronic diseases are important health problems today and have been proven to be strongly associated with dysbiotic gut microbiome. Studying the association between the gut microbiome and sub-optimal health status of humans in extreme environments (such as ocean voyages) will give us a better understanding of the interactions between observable health signs and a stable versus dysbiotic gut microbiome states. In this paper, we illustrated that ocean voyages could trigger different symptoms for different crew member cohorts due to individual differences; however, the co-occurrence of high prevalence symptoms indicated widespread perturbation of the gut microbiome. By investigating the microbial signature and gut microbiome dynamics, we demonstrated that such sub-optimal health status can be predicted even before the voyage. We termed this phenomenon as "seafaring syndrome." This study not only provides the potential strategy for health management in extreme environments but also can assist the prediction of other dysbiosis-related diseases.

Improvement in resilience and stress-related blood markers following ten months yoga practice in Antarctica.

BACKGROUND: Wintering is associated with distress to humans who work in the isolated and confined environment of Antarctica and yoga has been proved helpful for coping with stress. Therefore, a study was conducted on 14 winter expedition members of Indian Scientific Antarctic Expedition (2016) to find out the effects of yoga on stress-related markers. METHODS: Participants were divided into yoga, and control (non-yoga) groups. The yoga group practiced yoga for 10 months (from January to October 2016) daily in the morning for an hour. The Resilience test questionnaire was administrated at baseline and endpoint of the study. Blood samples were collected during the study at different intervals for the estimation of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), serotonin and cortisol using ELISA. RESULTS: A trend of improvement was observed in the resilience test score in the yoga group. From January to October, 8-OHdG serum values in the yoga group declined by 55.9% from 1010.0 ± 67.8 pg/mL to 445.6 ± 60.5 pg/mL (Mean ± SD); in the control group, the decline was 49.9% from 1060.4 ± 54.6 pg/mL to 531.1 ± 81.8 pg/mL. In serotonin serum levels in the yoga group, there was a 3.1% increase from 6.4 ± 1.6 ng/mL to 6.6 ± 0.4 ng/mL while no increase was noticed in the control group. Cortisol values in the yoga group decreased by 19.9% from 321.0 ± 189.6 ng/mL to 257.1 ± 133.8 ng/mL; in the control group it increased by 2.8% from 241.2 ± 51.8 ng/mL to 247.8 ± 90.9 ng/mL. CONCLUSIONS: It could be concluded from the present study that following 10 months yoga practice may be useful for better resilience and management of stress-related blood markers for the polar sojourners.

How challenges and peers contribute to social-emotional learning in outdoor adventure education programs.

INTRODUCTION: Many youth development programs view adolescents' process of grappling with challenges as a major driver of social-emotional learning. Our goal was to understand these processes as experienced and enacted by youth. We focused on the program Outward Bound in the United States because its students experience significant physical and social challenges and it has well-developed staff practices for facilitating learning from challenges. METHODS: Group interviews were conducted with 32 youth (ages 14-18; 50% female), immediately following their completion of Outward Bound expedition courses. Students were asked to provide a detailed narrative account of an episode on course in which they learned from challenges. Grounded theory analyses identified three processes that contributed to learning. RESULTS: First, students, described developing skills for persistence through successfully enduring distress and a process of experimenting with new mindsets that helped them rise above their anxiety and distress. Second, we found that peers provided skillful and responsive on-the-spot support that motivated youth, helped them succeed, and scaffolded students' learning strategies for dealing with physical, social, and emotional challenges. Third, we found that this peer support and scaffolding was animated by a culture of compassion and mutual commitment, which was cultivated by staff and embraced by youth. CONCLUSIONS: These findings from Outward Bound illuminate a learning model that may be useful to other youth programs. This model combines intense challenges with attuned peer support for adolescents' active processes of addressing and learning from challenges. We highlight program structures and staff practices that support these processes.

Dynamics of indicators of expeditioners' psychological states during long Antarctic stay

This study examines the dynamics of expeditioners' psychological states during one year of work at the Antarctic station. It included twelve expeditioners of Akademik Vernadsky Ukrainian Antarctic Station. Thirteen series of monthly studies were carried out using the modified methodology of the scaled psychological state self-assessment. The states were assessed for the psycho-physiological (well-being, activity, mood, performance, health status) and social-psychological (satisfaction with relations with colleagues, satisfaction with the environment and work performed, life satisfaction) components. In general, the self-assessed indicators of expeditioners' psychological states rise significantly during the first four months of the year-long expedition. Further, their average self-assessments begin to decline gradually, reaching the lowest values in the last two months of staying at the Antarctic station. However, some indicators showed dynamics slightly different from the general tendency, and psychological states of some expeditioners remained quite stable during all expedition. The results of this study can be used for better psychological selection of Antarctic expedition participants and psychological support for them

No disponible

Monitoring daily events, coping strategies, and emotion during a desert expedition in the Middle East.

Personnel operating in extreme environmental conditions are exposed to a variety of stressors. Whether a person adjusts to the conditions and is able to cope has implications for their psychological health. In previous extreme-environment work, temporal changes in stress, coping, and emotion have been reported. Building on previous studies, we used a diary methodology to explore temporal changes in and associations between daily events, coping strategies, and affect during a unique hyperarid desert expedition. Four participants undertaking a crossing of the Empty Quarter desert were recruited to the study. Participants completed pre-expedition, postexpedition, and 4-month follow-up questionnaires. A daily self-report diary was used to collect situational data. Time-based changes were analysed before testing predictive models linking events and coping strategies with affective responses. Findings suggest that participants had an overall positive experience. There were changes in both the events experienced and coping strategies used during the expedition. Variation in events and coping strategies significantly predicted fluctuations in positive and negative affect. Results offer valuable mechanistic information that could inform monitoring systems aimed at tracking psychological variables during operations in extreme environments. Results are discussed in relation to the novel context, diary methodology, and implications for those operating in extremes.

Coping strategies for the participants in the Antarctic expedition / Las estrategias para combater el estrés de los participantes en la expedición Antartida

The ХХV Bulgarian Antarctic expedition on the Livingston isles, which included scientists and alpinists, began in November 2016. The aim of the present research is to study security need and sensation seeking and to find a relation with the participants’preferred coping strategies in highly risky activities in an extreme climatic and social environment. Subject of the study were 21 participants in the Antarctic expedition, mean age 27 and 70. We have used: Security need scale; Scale for assessment of Psychic Instability and Sensation Seeking Scale and the Bulgarian adaptation of Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced scale - COPE 1. Low levels of Security need are established. The leading subscales of the Sensation Seeking Scale are those of sensation seeking, followed by dysfunctional impulsiveness. Functional impulsiveness is characterized with the lowest values. The cognitive engagement coping strategies are the main ones, whereas cognitive and emotional disengagement strategies are the least used. The results from the regression analysis show that the high levels of sensation seeking influence negatively the use of the strategic behavioral disengagement. The present study adds to the understanding the role of security need and sensation seeking being a motivational power of human behavior, which is in the base of the desire to participate in difficult and challenging missions in extreme conditions in highly risky activities (AU)

El inicio de la 25ª Expedición Antártica Búlgara en las islas de Livingston en la que han participado científicos y escaladores, ha sido el noviembre 2016. El propósito de este estudio es investigar la necesidad de seguridad, la búsqueda de sensaciones y revelar las interrelaciones con las estrategias de coping preferidas en actividades de alto riesgo en las condiciones climáticas extremas y sociales. El sujeto del estudio han sido 21 participantes en la Expedición Antártica de edad media entre 27 y 70. Están utilizados: escala de la necesidad de seguridad, escala para la evaluación de la inestabilidad psíquica y de la búsqueda de sensaciones y la adaptación búlgara del cuestionario de las estrategias preferidas para combatir el estrés - COPE 1. Se establecen niveles bajos de necesidad de seguridad. Las subescalas principales de la escala de buscar sensaciones son la búsqueda de sensaciones, seguida de la impulsividad disfuncional. La impulsividad funcional se caracteriza por los valores más bajos. Las estrategias de afrontamiento cognitivo son las principales, mientras que las estrategias cognitivas y de desmovilización emocional son las menos utilizadas. Los resultados del análisis de regresión muestran que los altos niveles de búsqueda de sensaciones influyen negativamente en el uso de la desviación estratégica del comportamiento. El estudio facilita la comprensión del papel de la necesidad de seguridad y la búsqueda de sensaciones como un poder motivacional del comportamiento humano, que está en la base del deseo de participar en misiones difíciles en condiciones extremas en actividades de alto riesgo (AU)

Medication Use Among Mount Everest Climbers: Practice and Attitudes.

Luks, Andrew M., Colin Grissom, Luanne Freer, and Peter Hackett. Medication use among mount Everest climbers: practice and attitudes. High Alt Med Biol. 17:315-322, 2016.-The lay public, media, and medical experts have expressed concern about the ethics of climbers using medications to improve performance and increase the odds of summit success while climbing at high altitude, but the true incidence of this practice remains unclear. We conducted an anonymous survey of climbers who have attempted to climb Mt. Everest to gather information about medication use and attitudes toward medication and supplemental oxygen use while climbing the mountain. One hundred eighty-seven individuals completed the survey, providing information about medication and oxygen use for 262 expeditions to Mt. Everest between 1963 and 2015, the majority of which occurred after the year 2000. The majority of respondents were male (82%) and from English-speaking countries (75%). Medications were used on 43% of climbs, with acetazolamide being the most commonly used medication. Reported use of dexamethasone, nifedipine, sildenafil, or tadalafil was uncommon as was use of multiple medications at the same time. The majority of respondents indicated that it was acceptable for climbers to use medications and supplemental oxygen to prevent altitude illness while climbing Mt. Everest. Opinions were more mixed regarding whether summiting without the use of medications or oxygen carried the same value as reaching the summit using those interventions. Our data suggest that less than one-half of Mt. Everest climbers use medications during their expedition, with the primary medication used being acetazolamide, for prevention of altitude illness. Given the limitations of the study design and preliminary nature of these data, further research is warranted to further clarify these issues.

Different adaptations of Chinese winter-over expeditioners during prolonged Antarctic and sub-Antarctic residence.

Prolonged residence in Antarctica is characterized by exposure to isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environment. Winter-over expeditioners at research stations often exhibit a complex of psychophysiological symptoms, which varied by stations and sociocultural backgrounds. To understand the different patterns of psychophysiological responses provoked by environmental stress, we conducted a longitudinal assessment of mood and endocrine function in two groups of Chinese expeditioners who were deployed to sub-Antarctic (Great Wall Station, 62°S, N = 12) and Antarctic (Zhongshan Station, 66°S, N = 16) from December 2003 to 2005. Measures of mood, thyroid function, the levels of plasma catecholamine, and circulating interleukins were obtained at departure from China, mid-winter (Antarctica), end of winter (Antarctica), and return to China, respectively. The Zhongshan Station crew experienced significant increases in fatigue, anger, tension, confusion, and decrease in free thyroxine (FT4), norepinephrine (NE), and epinephrine (E) during the winter, increase in thyrotropin (TSH) and total triiodothyronine (TT3) when returning, whereas their counterparts at Great Wall Station only experienced increased TT3 after deployment. Moreover, compared with the Great Wall Station crew, the Zhongshan Station crew exhibited greater increase in anger, greater decrease in FT4, total thyroxine (TT4), NE and E over the winter, and greater increase in TSH when returning. Chinese expeditioners who lived and worked at the Antarctic station and the sub-Antarctic station for over a year showed different change patterns in mood and endocrine hormones. Negative mood and endocrine dysfunction were positively associated with the severity of environment. The study is a supplement to scientific knowledge on psychophysiological variation under ICE environment, which has certain applied value for the development of preventive countermeasures or interventions.

Fearless Temperament and Overconfidence in an Unsuccessful Special Forces Polar Expedition.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of the influence of personality and decision processes on the performance of two-person expedition teams has application for the composition of small teams for planetary exploration and potentially responding to off-nominal situations. CASE REPORT: We studied a two-man Special Forces team with a goal of reaching the North Pole in the shortest amount of time. Both subjects had high scores on measures of leadership/dominance, fearlessness, and achievement, and low scores on harm avoidance (high risk-taking). Differences were noted on scales measuring empathy, agreeableness, extraversion, emotional regulation, and callousness. Individual differences in the primacy of personal values of tradition vs. pleasure-seeking were evident. DISCUSSION: High dominance traits of both team members, incompatibility in other characteristics and values, and minimal pretraining had a significant impact on the decision to abort the trek because of severe frostbite suffered by one subject. Implications for dyads exploring the Mars surface are discussed.

Finding the team for Mars: a psychological and human factors analysis of a Mars Desert Research Station crew.

A two-week mission in March and April of 2011 sent six team members to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). MDRS, a research facility in the high Utah desert, provides an analogue for the harsh and unusual working conditions that will be faced by men and women who one day explore Mars. During the mission a selection of quantitative and qualitative psychological tests were administered to the international, multidisciplinary team. A selection of the results are presented along with discussion.

Keeping your cool: a case study of a female explorer's solo North Pole expedition.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored stress and coping experiences during a solo expedition to the North Pole using concurrent and retrospective methods. METHODS: A 47-year-old female explorer, with 12 years of polar experience, completed a daily diary during the expedition. On return, 2 semistructured interviews were completed to identify the challenges and coping efforts perceived as being most pertinent during her expedition. RESULTS: Inductive coding identified 4 broad stressors, including environmental conditions, personal challenges, supporting resources, and expedition progress. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the importance of expedition preparation in establishing coping efficacy in managing the extreme demands placed upon polar explorers. Findings also evidence idiosyncrasies in the choice and application of coping strategies and, thus, highlight the need to avoid generalizations regarding coping outcomes.

From convicts to colonists: the health of prisoners and the voyage to Australia, 1823-53.

From 1815, naval surgeons accompanied all convict voyages from Britain and Ireland to the Australian colonies. As their authority grew, naval surgeons on convict ships increasingly used their medical observations about the health of convicts to make pointed and sustained criticisms of British penal reforms. Beyond their authority at sea, surgeons' journals and correspondence brought debates about penal reform in Britain into direct conversation with debates about colonial transportation. In the 1830s, naval surgeons' claims brought them into conflict with their medical colleagues on land, as well as with the colonial governor, George Arthur. As the surgeons continued their attempts to combat scurvy, their rhetoric changed. By the late 1840s, as convicts' bodies betrayed the disturbing effects of separate confinement as they boarded the convict ships, surgeons could argue convincingly that the voyage itself was a space that could medically, physically and spiritually reform convicts. By the mid-1840s, surgeons took the role of key arbiters of convicts' potential contribution to the Australian colonies.

"Muy poco se sabe de los resultados": Francis E. Bond's expedition to the Paria Peninsula and delta of the Orinoco, Venezuela (1911).

The natural history expedition of the American banker and stock broker Francis E. Bond and companions to the Paria Peninsula and delta of the Orinoco, Venezuela, in early 1911 is described. Biographical details are provided for the three principles: Francis E. Bond, Stewardson Brown and Thomas S. Gillin. The itinerary of their three and a half month expedition is elaborated, and notes are provided on the collection of plants, animals, and artefacts that they gathered in South America and deposited in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia on their return.

Mental health response to acute stress following wilderness disaster.

Expedition physicians should be prepared to respond to traumatic stress disorders following wilderness disasters. Stress disorder symptoms include re-experiencing the traumatic event, avoiding stimuli associated with the traumatic event, and increased physical arousal. These symptoms can also be seen in healthy individuals, and should only lead to disorder diagnosis when they cause distress or impairment. Treatment options for stress disorders include observation, psychological interventions, and medication. Approximately half of those with diagnosable stress disorders will return to nondiagnosable status over time without therapeutic intervention. Psychological interventions with empirical support concentrate on providing either noninvasive support in the short term, such as psychological first aid (PFA), or more long-term controlled re-experiencing of the precipitating trauma, such as many exposure-based therapies. Exposure-based treatments can result in temporary increases in symptoms before long-term gains are realized, so they are not recommended for wilderness settings. Medications to treat stress disorders include benzodiazepines, propranolol, and antidepressant medications. Benzodiazepines are often carried in wilderness first aid kits, but they provide very limited stress disorder symptom relief. Propranolol is being explored as a method of preventing traumatic stress disorders, but the data are not currently conclusive. Antidepressant medications are a good long-term strategy for stress disorder treatment, but they are of limited utility in wilderness settings as they are unlikely to be included in expedition medical kits and require approximately 4 weeks of administration for symptom reduction. Recommendations for wilderness treatment of stress disorders focus on increasing knowledge of stress disorder diagnosis and PFA.

Robert Musil frente a Ernst Mach / Robert Musil versus a Ernst Mach

Sobre las teorías de Mach (TD de R. Musil) rebate que la representación científica tienda a construir un claro y completo inventario de hechos. Pues Mach se ve obligado a presuponer relaciones constantes en la naturaleza; pero esta regularidad de los fenómenos implica que la ley es algo más que cierto «cuadro», que las meras dependencias que defiende están en un segundo plano y que una relación teórica en física es mucho más que una relación de orden. Su concepción de laeconomía científica como «adaptación natural» significa un monismo biológico opuesto a las dualidades propias de un empirista (AU)

On Mach’s Theories (DT of R. Musil) rejects that the scientific representation tends to build a clear and complete inventory of facts. Mach finds himself obliged to presuppose constant relationshipsin nature; but this regularity of phenomena implies that the law is something more than a «table», that its mere dependencies are pushed into the background, and that a theoretical relationship in Physics is much more than an order relationship. His conception of scientific economy as a «natural adaptation» implies a biological monism opposed to the characteristic dualities of an empiricist (AU)

Polynesia and polygenism: the scientific use of travel literature in the early 19th century.

Christoph Meiners (1747-1810) was one of 18th-century Europe's most important readers of global travel literature, and he has been credited as a founder of the disciplines of ethnology and anthropology. This article examines a part of his final work, "Untersuchungen über die Verschiedenheiten der Menschennaturen" [Inquiries on the differences of human natures], published posthumously in the 1810s. Here Meiners developed an elaborate argument, based on empirical evidence, that the different races of men emerged indigenously at different times and in different places in natural history. Specifically this article shows how a sedentary scholar who never left Europe constructed a narrative of human origins and migrations on the basis of (1) French theory from the 1750s (Charles de Brosses and Simon Pelloutier) and (2) data gathered by explorers as reported in travel literature (J.R. Forster, Pérouse, Cook, Marsden).

The fate of the bird specimens from Cook's voyages possessed by Sir Joseph Banks.

Joseph Banks possessed the greater part of the zoological specimens collected on James Cook's three voyages round the world (1768-1780). In early 1792, Banks divided his zoological collection between John Hunter and the British Museum. It is probable that those donations together comprised most of the zoological specimens then in the possession of Banks, including such bird specimens as remained of those that had been collected by himself and Daniel Solander on Cook's first voyage, and those that had been presented to him from Cook's second and third voyages. The bird specimens included in the Banks donations of 1792 became part of a series of transactions during the succeeding 53 years which involved the British Museum, the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and William Bullock. It is a great pity that, of the extensive collection of bird specimens from Cook's voyages once possessed by Banks, only two are known with any certainty to survive.

Botany and zoology in the late seventeenth-century Philippines: the work of Georg Josef Camel SJ (1661-1706).

Georg Josef Camel (1661-1706) went to the Spanish colony of the Philippine Islands as a Jesuit lay brother in 1687, and he remained there until his death. Throughout his time in the Philippines, Camel collected examples of the flora and fauna, which he drew and described in detail. This paper offers an overview of his life, his publications and the Camel manuscripts, drawings and specimens that are preserved among the Sloane Manuscripts in the British Library and in the Sloane Herbarium at the Natural History Museum, London. It also discusses Camel's links and exchanges with scientifically minded plant collectors and botanists in London, Madras and Batavia. Among those with whom Camel corresponded were John Ray, James Petiver, and the Dutch physician Willem Ten Rhijne.