List and briefly describe 4 defenses of the human gastrointestinal tract, and 4 microbial-caused diseases of the human GI tract.

human resource planning and forecasting( human resource planning process, forecasting HR requirements, methods to forecast HR needs)

How does traditional security’s immigration policy response exacerbate human trafficking and differ from a human security approach?

How has Modern agriculture affected human cultures and our planet?

There are two topics present, how modern agriculture has affected the planet and human societies. Explain each topic completely, then draw connections between the two. How has the change in human societies affected how agriculture impacts our world?

In the first by-pass step of gluconeogenesis, the conversion of pyruvate to phosphoenolpyruvate, pyruvate is carboxylated by pyruvate carboxylase to oxaloacetate, which is subsequently decarboxylated by PEP carboxykinase to yield phosphoenolpyruvate. Explain using thermodynamic terms why this by-pass step is necessary. Why couldn't the glycolytic enzyme responsible for interconverting phosphoenolpyruvate and pyruvate also participate in the gluconeogenesis pathway?

The following question refers to the enzyme chymotrypsin.

For an experiment, you are asked to modify the sequence of chymotrypsin so that, it instead of cleaving C-terminal to a Phe/Tyr residue, it cleaves after Lys. Please describe the strategy you would take in your design, considering what you have learned. Please explain with clarity and detail.

Use this extract taken from the article, “L-Glutamine changes gut bacteria leading to weight loss,” (appeared in Preventdisese.com on November 2, 2019) to answer the questions that follow:

L-Glutamine is the most common amino acid found in your muscles and it plays a key role in protein metabolism, and the ability to secrete human growth hormone, which helps metabolize body fat and support new muscle growth. Researchers have now found that a daily L-glutamine dose of 30 grams per day was associated with a significant reduction in the ratio of specific biomarkers for obesity. The 30g dose studied was associated with a significant reduction in the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes in obese and overweight people. “The finding that L-glutamine promotes changes in the gut microbiota composition provides support for the importance of some nutrients in modulating the intestinal bacterial profile,” wrote the researchers in Nutrition. “These changes resembled the weight loss programs established in the literature”. A new study, albeit small scale and of limited duration, suggested that the amino acid L-glutamine may also have weight management potential by changing the bacterial composition in the gut. The Brazilian researchers did not observe any changes in body weight during their 14 day study, but noted that a longer intervention period “may result in metabolic changes”. The researchers recruited 33 overweight and obese adults, aged between 23 and 59 and randomly assigned them to receive supplements of L-glutamine or L-alanine for two weeks. A reduction of 0.3 was observed in the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes in the L-glutamine group, they added (from 0.85 to 0.57), while L-alanine was associated with an increase from 0.91 to 1.12. “Thus, these findings suggest that oral supplementation of L-glutamine have similar effects on gut microbiota as weight loss,” said the researchers. “We would like to highlight that although the age range of the volunteers was large (23-59 years) and aging may have an effect on intestinal microbiota, the results obtained in this study were statistically significant”.

(a) Is the study by Brazilian researchers that was cited in this article observational or experimental? In less than 50 words clearly explain your choice based on the extract given above.

(b) Identify the variable(s) of interest.

(c) Explain explicitly what a confounding variable is. Identify one plausible confounding variable in this study, explain why it is a confounding variable and suggest a possible way to overcome the impact of the confounding variable.

(d) Is the conclusion from this particular study reflected in the title of the article appropriate? Justify your response.

Bank Balance Sheet (Note: Use this information for all three problems)

Item                             Amount            Duration       Interest Rate       

Cash-type Securities       $50m                1.2 year             2.25%

Commercial Loans          $100m             2.4 years           4.50%

Mortgages                     $350m             8.0 years           6.50%

Core Deposits                $270m             1.0 year             2.00%

Notes Payable                $180m             2.0 years           4.50%

2. On-Balance Sheet Immunization Analysis (Use balance sheet information above, 6 points)

Immunization formulas: 1) Setting D_A x A = D_L x L will immunize the bank against interest rate risk.

2) Setting the Leverage-Adjusted Duration Gap equal to 0 will also immunize the bank against interest rate risk

(0 = D_A – k D_L ).

a. Calculate the duration of assets as a group and the duration of liabilities as a group, using a weighted-average approach (weight each item by the percentage it represents of the total amount). Also, calculate and report the adjusted duration gap.

Assume the bank wants to leave its assets unchanged, and change the composition of its liabilities, but keep the current dollar amount of liabilities the same.

b. What D_L would immunize the bank against interest rate risk? Use either immunization formula.

c. Assume the bank wants to keep its core deposits unchanged, but can issue new zero coupon bonds of any maturity to replace all of the current notes payable, and thereby achieve the desired D_L. Calculate the required maturity of the zero-coupon bonds to immunize the bank against interest rate risk.

d. If the strategy in part b immunizes the bank from interest rate risk, and interest rates do rise from an average rate of 6.0% to 7.0%, calculate the new value of the bank’s assets (A), the bank’s liabilities (L) and the net worth (E). Use the formula: %A or %L = -D x [ ΔR / (1 + R) ]

e. Explain the main implications of this exercise in a full essay of a full paragraph or more, and refer specifically to your numerical results above.