Impact of climate variability and anthropogenic activity on streamflow in the Three Rivers Headwater Region, Tibetan Plateau, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Chong; Li, Daiqing; Gao, Yanni; Liu, Wenfeng; Zhang, Linbo

2017-07-01

Under the impacts of climate variability and human activities, there is violent fluctuation for streamflow in the large basins in China. Therefore, it is crucial to separate the impacts of climate variability and human activities on streamflow fluctuation for better water resources planning and management. In this study, the Three Rivers Headwater Region (TRHR) was chosen as the study area. Long-term hydrological data for the TRHR were collected in order to investigate the changes in annual runoff during the period of 1956-2012. The nonparametric Mann-Kendall test, moving t test, Pettitt test, Mann-Kendall-Sneyers test, and the cumulative anomaly curve were used to identify trends and change points in the hydro-meteorological variables. Change point in runoff was identified in the three basins, which respectively occurred around the years 1989 and 1993, dividing the long-term runoff series into a natural period and a human-induced period. Then, the hydrologic sensitivity analysis method was employed to evaluate the effects of climate variability and human activities on mean annual runoff for the human-induced period based on precipitation and potential evapotranspiration. In the human-induced period, climate variability was the main factor that increased (reduced) runoff in LRB and YARB (YRB) with contribution of more than 90 %, while the increasing (decreasing) percentage due to human activities only accounted for less than 10 %, showing that runoff in the TRHR is more sensitive to climate variability than human activities. The intra-annual distribution of runoff shifted gradually from a double peak pattern to a single peak pattern, which was mainly influenced by atmospheric circulation in the summer and autumn. The inter-annual variation in runoff was jointly controlled by the East Asian monsoon, the westerly, and Tibetan Plateau monsoons.

Characterizing the Sensitivity of Groundwater Storage to Climate variation in the Indus Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, L.; Sabo, J. L.

2017-12-01

Indus Basin represents an extensive groundwater aquifer facing the challenge of effective management of limited water resources. Groundwater storage is one of the most important variables of water balance, yet its sensitivity to climate change has rarely been explored. To better estimate present and future groundwater storage and its sensitivity to climate change in the Indus Basin, we analyzed groundwater recharge/discharge and their historical evolution in this basin. Several methods are applied to specify the aquifer system including: water level change and storativity estimates, gravity estimates (GRACE), flow model (MODFLOW), water budget analysis and extrapolation. In addition, all of the socioeconomic and engineering aspects are represented in the hydrological system through the change of temporal and spatial distributions of recharge and discharge (e.g., land use, crop structure, water allocation, etc.). Our results demonstrate that the direct impacts of climate change will result in unevenly distributed but increasing groundwater storage in the short term through groundwater recharge. In contrast, long term groundwater storage will decrease as a result of combined indirect and direct impacts of climate change (e.g. recharge/discharge and human activities). The sensitivity of groundwater storage to climate variation is characterized by topography, aquifer specifics and land use. Furthermore, by comparing possible outcomes of different human interventions scenarios, our study reveals human activities play an important role in affecting the sensitivity of groundwater storage to climate variation. Over all, this study presents the feasibility and value of using integrated hydrological methods to support sustainable water resource management under climate change.

Maternal sensitivity moderates the impact of prenatal anxiety disorder on infant responses to the still-face procedure.

PubMed

Grant, Kerry-Ann; McMahon, Catherine; Reilly, Nicole; Austin, Marie-Paule

2010-12-01

Animal studies have demonstrated the interactive effects of prenatal stress exposure and postnatal rearing style on offspring capacity to manage stress. However, little is known about how parenting quality impacts the association between maternal prenatal anxiety and stress reactivity in human infants. This prospective study examined the impact of prenatal anxiety disorder and maternal caregiving sensitivity on infants' responses to a standardised interactive stressor (still-face procedure). Eighty-four women completed a clinical interview during pregnancy to assess anxiety symptoms meeting DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. At infant age 7 months, maternal sensitivity to infant distress and infant negative affect were observed and coded during the still-face procedure. Maternal postnatal (concurrent) anxiety and depression were also assessed at this time. Results indicated a negative association between maternal sensitivity to infant distress and infant negative affect responses to the still-face procedure. An unexpected finding was a positive association between parity and infant reactivity. The main effect for sensitivity was qualified by a significant interaction, p<.05, suggesting that the impact of sensitivity was particularly marked among infants of women who experienced an anxiety disorder during pregnancy. This finding is consistent with a cumulative risk model suggesting that maternal prenatal anxiety and quality of maternal care act in concert to shape infant outcomes. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Human Skin Cells Are More Sensitive than Human Lung Cells to the Cytotoxic and Cell Cycle Arresting Impacts of Particulate and Soluble Hexavalent Chromium

PubMed Central

Xie, Hong; Holmes, Amie L.; Wise, Sandra S.; Young, Jamie L.; Wise, James T. F.; Wise, John Pierce

2015-01-01

Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) is a known human lung carcinogen, with solubility playing an important role in its carcinogenic potency. Dermal exposure to Cr(VI) is common and has been associated with skin damage; however, no link between chromate exposure and skin cancer has been found. In this study, we compared the cytotoxic and clastogenic effects of Cr(VI) and its impacts on cell cycle progression in human lung and skin fibroblasts. We found human skin cells arrested earlier in their cell cycle and exhibit more cytotoxicity than human lung cells, despite taking up similar amounts of Cr. These outcomes are consistent with a hypothesis that different cellular and molecular responses underlie the differences in carcinogenic outcome in these two tissues. PMID:25805272

Identification of potential impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on streamflow alterations in the Tarim River Basin, China.

PubMed

Xue, Lianqing; Yang, Fan; Yang, Changbing; Chen, Xinfang; Zhang, Luochen; Chi, Yixia; Yang, Guang

2017-08-15

Understanding contributions of climate change and human activities to changes in streamflow is important for sustainable management of water resources in an arid area. This study presents quantitative analysis of climatic and anthropogenic factors to streamflow alteration in the Tarim River Basin (TRB) using the double mass curve method (DMC) and the Budyko methods. The time series (1960~2015) are divided into three periods: the prior impacted period (1960~1972) and the two post impacted periods, 1973~1986 and 1987~2015 with trend analysis. Our results suggest that human activities played a dominant role in deduction in the streamflow in TRB with contribution of 144.6% to 120.68% during the post impacted period I and 228.68% to 140.38% during the post impacted period II. Climatic variables accounted for 20.68%~44.6% of the decrease during the post impacted period I and 40.38% ~128.68% during the post impacted period II. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the streamflow alteration was most sensitive to changes in landscape parameters. The aridity index and all the elasticities showed an obvious increasing trend from the upstream to the downstream in the TRB. Our study suggests that it is important to take effective measures for sustainable development of eco-hydrological and socio-economic systems in the TRB.

Why humans do not make good vampires. Testing the ability of humans to detect true blood.

PubMed

De Smet, Delphine; Van Speybroeck, Linda; Verplaetse, Jan

2012-01-01

Research indicating the effects of real blood or of its iconic representation on human behaviour has thus far concentrated on phobia and aggressiveness. Little is known about other responses or, more fundamentally, about the biological basis of all such responses. In this study it is examined whether or not humans are able to detect real blood. Human subjects (n = 89) were asked to distinguish different kinds of blood from red control fluids under varying visual and choice conditions. Relevant differences between subjects were tested for through written questionnaires, including standardized scales for disgust sensitivity (DS-R) and blood phobia (MBPI) and performance on two clinical olfactory tests. Analysis of variance shows that humans are excellent detectors of animal blood (in casu pig blood), whereas the ability of detecting human blood is much less developed. Surprisingly, differences in olfactory capacities and personal experience with blood have no effect on blood detection, while blood fear lowers and disgust sensitivity ameliorates this performance. This study allows further mapping of the exact role of disgust sensitivity in human behaviour, as well as a deliberate choice of materials in blood-related experiments. It is imperative for further research on the behavioural and psychological impact 'blood' resorts on humans.

Sensitivity of macrobenthic secondary production to trawling in the English sector of the Greater North Sea: A biological trait approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolam, S. G.; Coggan, R. C.; Eggleton, J.; Diesing, M.; Stephens, D.

2014-01-01

Demersal trawling constitutes the most significant human impact on both the structure and functioning of coastal seabed fauna. While a number of studies have assessed the impacts of trawling on faunal community structure and the degree to which different taxa are vulnerable to trawling, few have focused on how these impacts affect important ecological functions of the seabed. In this study, we use biological trait analysis (BTA) to assess the relative sensitivity of benthic macrofauna to trawling, in both the short- and long-term, and use this information to describe the spatial variation in sensitivity of secondary production for the Greater North Sea (GNS). Within the GNS, estimates of total production varied by almost three orders of magnitude, from 1.66 kJ m- 2 y- 1 to 968.9 kJ m- 2 y- 1. Large-scale patterns were observed in the proportion of secondary production derived from trawling-sensitive taxa. In the southern North Sea, total production is predominantly governed by taxa with low sensitivity to trawling, whereas production is relatively trawling-sensitive in the northern North Sea and western English Channel. In general, the more sensitive and productive regions are associated with poorly-sorted, gravelly or muddy sediments, while the less sensitive and less productive regions are associated with well-sorted, sandy substrates. These relationships between production sensitivity and environmental features are primarily due to variations in long-term recovery; total production of most assemblages is highly sensitive to the direct impacts of trawling. We discuss the implications of these findings for management 1decisions to improve the environmental sustainability of trawling.

Review of human-animal interactions and their impact on animal productivity and welfare

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Humans and animals are in regular and at times close contact in modern intensive farming systems. The quality of human-animal interactions can have a profound impact on the productivity and welfare of farm animals. Interactions by humans may be neutral, positive or negative in nature. Regular pleasant contact with humans may result in desirable alterations in the physiology, behaviour, health and productivity of farm animals. On the contrary, animals that were subjected to aversive human contact were highly fearful of humans and their growth and reproductive performance could be compromised. Farm animals are particularly sensitive to human stimulation that occurs early in life, while many systems of the animals are still developing. This may have long-lasting impact and could possibly modify their genetic potential. The question as to how human contact can have a positive impact on responses to stressors, and productivity is not well understood. Recent work in our laboratory suggested that pleasant human contact may alter ability to tolerate various stressors through enhanced heat shock protein (hsp) 70 expression. The induction of hsp is often associated with increased tolerance to environmental stressors and disease resistance in animals. The attitude and consequent behaviour of stockpeople affect the animals’ fear of human which eventually influence animals’ productivity and welfare. Other than attitude and behaviour, technical skills, knowledge, job motivation, commitment and job satisfaction are prerequisites for high job performance. PMID:23855920

Review of human-animal interactions and their impact on animal productivity and welfare.

PubMed

Zulkifli, Idrus

2013-07-15

Humans and animals are in regular and at times close contact in modern intensive farming systems. The quality of human-animal interactions can have a profound impact on the productivity and welfare of farm animals. Interactions by humans may be neutral, positive or negative in nature. Regular pleasant contact with humans may result in desirable alterations in the physiology, behaviour, health and productivity of farm animals. On the contrary, animals that were subjected to aversive human contact were highly fearful of humans and their growth and reproductive performance could be compromised. Farm animals are particularly sensitive to human stimulation that occurs early in life, while many systems of the animals are still developing. This may have long-lasting impact and could possibly modify their genetic potential. The question as to how human contact can have a positive impact on responses to stressors, and productivity is not well understood. Recent work in our laboratory suggested that pleasant human contact may alter ability to tolerate various stressors through enhanced heat shock protein (hsp) 70 expression. The induction of hsp is often associated with increased tolerance to environmental stressors and disease resistance in animals. The attitude and consequent behaviour of stockpeople affect the animals' fear of human which eventually influence animals' productivity and welfare. Other than attitude and behaviour, technical skills, knowledge, job motivation, commitment and job satisfaction are prerequisites for high job performance.

Morphological and sedimentological responses of streams to human impact in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains, USA

Treesearch

Katie Price; David S. Leigh

2006-01-01

Morphological and sedimentological responses of streams to basin-scale impact have been well documented for intensively agricultural or urban areas. Sensitivity thresholds of streams to modest levels of disturbance, however, are not well understood. This study addresses the influence of forest conversion on streams of the southern Blue Ridge Mountains, a region that...

Environmental influences on amphibian assemblages across subalpine wet meadows in the Klamath Mountains, California.

Treesearch

Esther M. Cole; Malcolm North

2014-01-01

Many high-elevation regions in the western USA are protected public lands that remain relatively undisturbed by human impact. Over the last century, however, nonnative trout and cattle have been introduced to subalpine wetland habitats used by sensitive amphibian species. Our study compares the relative importance of cattle and trout impact on amphibian assemblages,...

Impact of Change in Attitudes Under Three Variations of Sensitivity Training. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colonie Central School District 1, Albany, NY.

This pilot study was designed to help teachers become more aware of their own behavior and its effect on the emotions and attitudes of their students. An inservice program was offered to 22 teachers, affecting approximately 540 children in eight elementary schools in Albany, New York. It was hypothesized that the impact of human relations training…

Human Mars Ascent Vehicle Configuration and Performance Sensitivities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Polsgrove, Tara P.; Thomas, Herbert D.; Stephens, Walter; Collins, Tim; Rucker, Michelle; Gernhardt, Mike; Zwack, Matthew R.; Dees, Patrick D.

2017-01-01

The total ascent vehicle mass drives performance requirements for the Mars descent systems and the Earth to Mars transportation elements. Minimizing Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) mass is a priority and minimizing the crew cabin size and mass is one way to do that. Human missions to Mars may utilize several small cabins where crew members could live for days up to a couple of weeks. A common crew cabin design that can perform in each of these applications is desired and could reduce the overall mission cost. However, for the MAV, the crew cabin size and mass can have a large impact on vehicle design and performance. This paper explores the sensitivities to trajectory, propulsion, crew cabin size and the benefits and impacts of using a common crew cabin design for the MAV. Results of these trades will be presented along with mass and performance estimates for the selected design.

Experimental evidence of human recreational disturbance effects on bird-territory establishment.

PubMed

Bötsch, Yves; Tablado, Zulima; Jenni, Lukas

2017-07-12

The worldwide increase in human outdoor activities raises concerns for wildlife. Human disturbances, even at low levels, are likely to impact species during sensitive periods of the annual cycle. However, experimental studies during the putative sensitive period of territory establishment of birds which not only investigate low disturbance levels, but which also exclude the effect of habitat modification (e.g. walking trails) are lacking. Here, we experimentally disturbed birds in forest plots by walking through twice a day during territory establishment. Later we compared the breeding bird community of experimentally disturbed plots with that of undisturbed control plots. We discovered that the number of territories (-15.0%) and species richness (-15.2%) in disturbed plots were substantially reduced compared with control plots. Species most affected included those sensitive to human presence (assessed by flight-initiation distances), open-cup nesters and above-ground foragers. Long-distance migrants, however, were unaffected due to their arrival after experimental disturbance took place. These findings highlight how territory establishment is a sensitive period for birds, when even low levels of human recreation may be perceived as threatening, and alter settlement decisions. This can have important implications for the conservation of species, which might go unnoticed when focusing only on already established birds. © 2017 The Author(s).

Perceiving polarization with the naked eye: characterization of human polarization sensitivity

PubMed Central

Temple, Shelby E.; McGregor, Juliette E.; Miles, Camilla; Graham, Laura; Miller, Josie; Buck, Jordan; Scott-Samuel, Nicholas E.; Roberts, Nicholas W.

2015-01-01

Like many animals, humans are sensitive to the polarization of light. We can detect the angle of polarization using an entoptic phenomenon called Haidinger's brushes, which is mediated by dichroic carotenoids in the macula lutea. While previous studies have characterized the spectral sensitivity of Haidinger's brushes, other aspects remain unexplored. We developed a novel methodology for presenting gratings in polarization-only contrast at varying degrees of polarization in order to measure the lower limits of human polarized light detection. Participants were, on average, able to perform the task down to a threshold of 56%, with some able to go as low as 23%. This makes humans the most sensitive vertebrate tested to date. Additionally, we quantified a nonlinear relationship between presented and perceived polarization angle when an observer is presented with a rotatable polarized light field. This result confirms a previous theoretical prediction of how uniaxial corneal birefringence impacts the perception of Haidinger's brushes. The rotational dynamics of Haidinger's brushes were then used to calculate corneal retardance. We suggest that psychophysical experiments, based upon the perception of polarized light, are amenable to the production of affordable technologies for self-assessment and longitudinal monitoring of visual dysfunctions such as age-related macular degeneration. PMID:26136441

Perceiving polarization with the naked eye: characterization of human polarization sensitivity.

PubMed

Temple, Shelby E; McGregor, Juliette E; Miles, Camilla; Graham, Laura; Miller, Josie; Buck, Jordan; Scott-Samuel, Nicholas E; Roberts, Nicholas W

2015-07-22

Like many animals, humans are sensitive to the polarization of light. We can detect the angle of polarization using an entoptic phenomenon called Haidinger's brushes, which is mediated by dichroic carotenoids in the macula lutea. While previous studies have characterized the spectral sensitivity of Haidinger's brushes, other aspects remain unexplored. We developed a novel methodology for presenting gratings in polarization-only contrast at varying degrees of polarization in order to measure the lower limits of human polarized light detection. Participants were, on average, able to perform the task down to a threshold of 56%, with some able to go as low as 23%. This makes humans the most sensitive vertebrate tested to date. Additionally, we quantified a nonlinear relationship between presented and perceived polarization angle when an observer is presented with a rotatable polarized light field. This result confirms a previous theoretical prediction of how uniaxial corneal birefringence impacts the perception of Haidinger's brushes. The rotational dynamics of Haidinger's brushes were then used to calculate corneal retardance.We suggest that psychophysical experiments, based upon the perception of polarized light, are amenable to the production of affordable technologies for self-assessment and longitudinal monitoring of visual dysfunctions such as age-related macular degeneration.

Looking back - Looking forward: A novel multi-time slice weight-of-evidence approach for defining reference conditions to assess the impact of human activities on lake systems.

PubMed

Hollert, Henner; Crawford, Sarah E; Brack, Werner; Brinkmann, Markus; Fischer, Elske; Hartmann, Kai; Keiter, Steffen; Ottermanns, Richard; Ouellet, Jacob D; Rinke, Karsten; Rösch, Manfred; Roß-Nickoll, Martina; Schäffer, Andreas; Schüth, Christoph; Schulze, Tobias; Schwarz, Anja; Seiler, Thomas-Benjamin; Wessels, Martin; Hinderer, Matthias; Schwalb, Antje

2018-06-01

Lake ecosystems are sensitive recorders of environmental changes that provide continuous archives at annual to decadal resolution over thousands of years. The systematic investigation of land use changes and emission of pollutants archived in Holocene lake sediments as well as the reconstruction of contamination, background conditions, and sensitivity of lake systems offer an ideal opportunity to study environmental dynamics and consequences of anthropogenic impact that increasingly pose risks to human well-being. This paper discusses the use of sediment and other lines of evidence in providing a record of historical and current contamination in lake ecosystems. We present a novel approach to investigate impacts from human activities using chemical-analytical, bioanalytical, ecological, paleolimnological, paleoecotoxicological, archeological as well as modeling techniques. This multi-time slice weight-of-evidence (WOE) approach will generate knowledge on conditions prior to anthropogenic influence and provide knowledge to (i) create a better understanding of the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on biodiversity, (ii) assess water quality by using quantitative data on historical pollution and persistence of pollutants archived over thousands of years in sediments, and (iii) define environmental threshold values using modeling methods. This technique may be applied in order to gain insights into reference conditions of surface and ground waters in catchments with a long history of land use and human impact, which is still a major need that is currently not yet addressed within the context of the European Water Framework Directive. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pred-Skin: A Fast and Reliable Web Application to Assess Skin Sensitization Effect of Chemicals.

PubMed

Braga, Rodolpho C; Alves, Vinicius M; Muratov, Eugene N; Strickland, Judy; Kleinstreuer, Nicole; Trospsha, Alexander; Andrade, Carolina Horta

2017-05-22

Chemically induced skin sensitization is a complex immunological disease with a profound impact on quality of life and working ability. Despite some progress in developing alternative methods for assessing the skin sensitization potential of chemical substances, there is no in vitro test that correlates well with human data. Computational QSAR models provide a rapid screening approach and contribute valuable information for the assessment of chemical toxicity. We describe the development of a freely accessible web-based and mobile application for the identification of potential skin sensitizers. The application is based on previously developed binary QSAR models of skin sensitization potential from human (109 compounds) and murine local lymph node assay (LLNA, 515 compounds) data with good external correct classification rate (0.70-0.81 and 0.72-0.84, respectively). We also included a multiclass skin sensitization potency model based on LLNA data (accuracy ranging between 0.73 and 0.76). When a user evaluates a compound in the web app, the outputs are (i) binary predictions of human and murine skin sensitization potential; (ii) multiclass prediction of murine skin sensitization; and (iii) probability maps illustrating the predicted contribution of chemical fragments. The app is the first tool available that incorporates quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models based on human data as well as multiclass models for LLNA. The Pred-Skin web app version 1.0 is freely available for the web, iOS, and Android (in development) at the LabMol web portal ( http://labmol.com.br/predskin/ ), in the Apple Store, and on Google Play, respectively. We will continuously update the app as new skin sensitization data and respective models become available.

An integrated modeling framework for exploring flow regime and water quality changes with increasing biofuel crop production in the U.S. Corn Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaeger, Mary A.; Housh, Mashor; Cai, Ximing; Sivapalan, Murugesu

2014-12-01

To better address the dynamic interactions between human and hydrologic systems, we develop an integrated modeling framework that employs a System of Systems optimization model to emulate human development decisions which are then incorporated into a watershed model to estimate the resulting hydrologic impacts. The two models are run interactively to simulate the coevolution of coupled human-nature systems, such that reciprocal feedbacks between hydrologic processes and human decisions (i.e., human impacts on critical low flows and hydrologic impacts on human decisions on land and water use) can be assessed. The framework is applied to a Midwestern U.S. agricultural watershed, in the context of proposed biofuels development. This operation is illustrated by projecting three possible future coevolution trajectories, two of which use dedicated biofuel crops to reduce annual watershed nitrate export while meeting ethanol production targets. Imposition of a primary external driver (biofuel mandate) combined with different secondary drivers (water quality targets) results in highly nonlinear and multiscale responses of both the human and hydrologic systems, including multiple tradeoffs, impacting the future coevolution of the system in complex, heterogeneous ways. The strength of the hydrologic response is sensitive to the magnitude of the secondary driver; 45% nitrate reduction target leads to noticeable impacts at the outlet, while a 30% reduction leads to noticeable impacts that are mainly local. The local responses are conditioned by previous human-hydrologic modifications and their spatial relationship to the new biofuel development, highlighting the importance of past coevolutionary history in predicting future trajectories of change.

Health impact assessment of a skin sensitizer: Analysis of potential policy measures aimed at reducing geraniol concentrations in personal care products and household cleaning products.

PubMed

Jongeneel, W P; Delmaar, J E; Bokkers, B G H

2018-06-08

A methodology to assess the health impact of skin sensitizers is introduced, which consists of the comparison of the probabilistic aggregated exposure with a probabilistic (individual) human sensitization or elicitation induction dose. The health impact of potential policy measures aimed at reducing the concentration of a fragrance allergen, geraniol, in consumer products is analysed in a simulated population derived from multiple product use surveys. Our analysis shows that current dermal exposure to geraniol from personal care and household cleaning products lead to new cases of contact allergy and induce clinical symptoms for those already sensitized. We estimate that this exposure results yearly in 34 new cases of geraniol contact allergy per million consumers in Western and Northern Europe, mainly due to exposure to household cleaning products. About twice as many consumers (60 per million) are projected to suffer from clinical symptoms due to re-exposure to geraniol. Policy measures restricting geraniol concentrations to <0.01% will noticeably reduce new cases of sensitization and decrease the number of people with clinical symptoms as well as the frequency of occurrence of these clinical symptoms. The estimated numbers should be interpreted with caution and provide only a rough indication of the health impact. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

A new method to assess the deformations of internal organs of the abdomen during impact.

PubMed

Helfenstein-Didier, Clémentine; Rongiéras, Frédéric; Gennisson, Jean-Luc; Tanter, Mickaël; Beillas, Philippe

2016-11-16

Due to limitations of classic imaging approaches, the internal response of abdominal organs is difficult to observe during an impact. Within the context of impact biomechanics for the protection of the occupant of transports, this could be an issue for human model validation and injury prediction. In the current study, a previously developed technique (ultrafast ultrasound imaging) was used as the basis to develop a protocol to observe the internal response of abdominal organs in situ at high imaging rates. The protocol was applied to 3 postmortem human surrogates to observe the liver and the colon during impacts delivered to the abdomen. The results show the sensitivity of the liver motion to the impact location. Compression of the colon was also quantified and compared to the abdominal compression. These results illustrate the feasibility of the approach. Further tests and comparisons with simulations are under preparation.

Low-frequency sound affects active micromechanics in the human inner ear

PubMed Central

Kugler, Kathrin; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Grothe, Benedikt; Kössl, Manfred; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike; Drexl, Markus

2014-01-01

Noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common auditory pathologies, resulting from overstimulation of the human cochlea, an exquisitely sensitive micromechanical device. At very low frequencies (less than 250 Hz), however, the sensitivity of human hearing, and therefore the perceived loudness is poor. The perceived loudness is mediated by the inner hair cells of the cochlea which are driven very inadequately at low frequencies. To assess the impact of low-frequency (LF) sound, we exploited a by-product of the active amplification of sound outer hair cells (OHCs) perform, so-called spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. These are faint sounds produced by the inner ear that can be used to detect changes of cochlear physiology. We show that a short exposure to perceptually unobtrusive, LF sounds significantly affects OHCs: a 90 s, 80 dB(A) LF sound induced slow, concordant and positively correlated frequency and level oscillations of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions that lasted for about 2 min after LF sound offset. LF sounds, contrary to their unobtrusive perception, strongly stimulate the human cochlea and affect amplification processes in the most sensitive and important frequency range of human hearing. PMID:26064536

Sea-Level Rise and Land Subsidence in Deltas: Estimating Future Flood Risk Through Integrated Natural and Human System Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tessler, Z. D.; Vorosmarty, C. J.

2016-12-01

Deltas are highly sensitive to local human activities, land subsidence, regional water management, global sea-level rise, and climate extremes. We present a new delta flood exposure and risk framework for estimating the sensitivity of deltas to relative sea-level rise. We have applied this framework to a set of global environmental, geophysical, and social indicators over 48 major river deltas to quantify how contemporary risks vary across delta systems. The risk modeling framework incorporates upstream sediment flux and coastal land subsidence models, global empirical estimates of contemporary storm surge exposure, and population distribution and growth. Future scenarios are used to test the impacts on coastal flood risk of upstream dam construction, coastal population growth, accelerated sea-level rise, and enhanced storm surge. Results suggest a wide range of outcomes across different delta systems within each scenario. Deltas in highly engineered watersheds (Mississippi, Rhine) exhibit less sensitivity to increased dams due to saturation of sediment retention effects, though planned or under-construction dams are expected to have a substantial impact in the Yangtze, Irrawaddy, and Magdalena deltas. Population growth and sea-level rise are expected to be the dominant drivers of increased human risk in most deltas, with important exceptions in several countries, particularly China, where population are forecast to contract over the next several decades.

Effects of Inhibiting Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 (DPP4) in Cows with Subclinical Ketosis.

PubMed

Schulz, Kirsten; Frahm, Jana; Kersten, Susanne; Meyer, Ulrich; Rehage, Jürgen; Piechotta, Marion; Meyerholz, Maria; Breves, Gerhard; Reiche, Dania; Sauerwein, Helga; Dänicke, Sven

2015-01-01

The inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) via specific inhibitors is known to result in improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity and decreased accumulation of hepatic fat in type II diabetic human patients. The metabolic situation of dairy cows can easily be compared to the status of human diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver. For both, insulin sensitivity is reduced, while hepatic fat accumulation increases, characterized by high levels of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and ketone bodies.Therefore, in the present study, a DPP4 inhibitor was employed (BI 14332) for the first time in cows. In a first investigation BI 14332 treatment (intravenous injection at dosages of up to 3 mg/kg body weight) was well tolerated in healthy lactating pluriparous cows (n = 6) with a significant inhibition of DPP4 in plasma and liver. Further testing included primi- and pluriparous lactating cows suffering from subclinical ketosis (β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations in serum > 1.2 mM; n = 12). The intension was to offer effects of DPP4 inhibition during comprehensive lipomobilisation and hepatosteatosis. The cows of subclinical ketosis were evenly allocated to either the treatment group (daily injections, 0.3 mg BI 14332/kg body weight, 7 days) or the control group. Under condition of subclinical ketosis, the impact of DPP4 inhibition via BI 14332 was less, as in particular β-hydroxybutyrate and the hepatic lipid content remained unaffected, but NEFA and triglyceride concentrations were decreased after treatment. Owing to lower NEFA, the revised quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (surrogate marker for insulin sensitivity) increased. Therefore, a positive influence on energy metabolism might be quite possible. Minor impacts on immune-modulating variables were limited to the lymphocyte CD4+/CD8+ ratio for which a trend to decreased values in treated versus control animals was noted. In sum, the DPP4 inhibition in cows did not affect glycaemic control like it is shown in humans, but was able to impact hyperlipemia, as NEFA and TG decreased.

Impacts of climate change and environmental factors on reproduction and development in wildlife

PubMed Central

Milligan, Stuart R.; Holt, William V.; Lloyd, Rhiannon

2009-01-01

The robustness of the growth of the human population in the face of environmental impacts is in contrast to the sensitivity of wildlife. There is a danger that the success of reproduction of humans provides a false sense of security for the public, media and politicians with respect to wildlife survival, the maintenance of viable ecosystems and the capacity for recovery of damaged ecosystems and endangered species. In reality, the success of humans to populate the planet has been dependent on the combination of the ability to reproduce successfully and to minimize loss of offspring through controlling and manipulating their own micro-environment. In contrast, reproduction in wildlife is threatened by environmental changes operating at many different physiological levels. PMID:19833643

The psychosocial burden of human papillomavirus related disease and screening interventions.

PubMed

Pirotta, M; Ung, L; Stein, A; Conway, E L; Mast, T C; Fairley, C K; Garland, S

2009-12-01

(i) To assess the psychosocial burden of testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) related genital disease or of a HPV-related diagnosis; (ii) to compare an instrument specifically designed to measure HPV-related psychosocial burden with other generic quality of life (QoL) instruments. A cross-sectional design. Researchers recruited women from outpatient clinics at a major tertiary women's hospital and a sexual health centre who completed surveys within 3 months of receiving 331 women, 18-45 years, who had experienced a normal cervical Papanicolaou (Pap) result, an abnormal Pap result, biopsy confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or external genital warts (EGW). The HPV impact profile (HIP) designed to assess the psychosocial impact of HPV; two general health-related QoL surveys-the EuroQoL VAS and the Sheehan disability scale; and a HPV knowledge survey. Response rate was 78%. Significant psychosocial impacts were found for women screened for, or having a diagnosis of, HPV-related genital disease. The largest impact was in women with CIN 2/3 and EGW. This HPV-related psychosocial impact was most sensitively detected with the HIP. Relative to generic measures of QoL, the HIP provided insight into the full range of psychosocial impacts of HPV testing and diagnoses. Clinicians need to be aware of the potential psychosocial impact of testing for or diagnosing HPV-related genital disease, in particular CIN 2/3 and EGW. The HIP survey is a more sensitive measure of the psychosocial impact of HPV-related genital disease than generic QoL surveys.

Development of a human-specific B. thetaiotaomicron IMS ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Immunomagnetic separation/adenosine triphosphate (IMS/ATP) assays utilize paramagnetic beads and target-specific antibodies to isolate target organisms. Following isolation, adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) is extracted from the target population and quantified. An inversely-coupled (Inv-IMS/ATP)assay for detection of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron was developed and applied for rapid detection of human-associated fecal contamination in surface waters in Baja California. Specificity of the assay was tested against challenge solutions of varying concentrations of dog, gull, horse and chicken feces, and a field validation survey of coastal and WWTP effluent water quality in Rosarito and Enseneda, Baja California was conducted. Inv IMS/ATP measurements made shown to be specific and sensitive to human fecal contamination. At test concentrations of less than 1000 MPN ENT/100 mL, sensitivity and specificity of the assay both exceeded 80%. Moreover, the Inv-IMS/ATP assay yielded measurements of viable B. thetaiotaomicron that were comparable to the HF183 human marker in complex surface waters impacted with both wastewater and runoff, and the Inv-IMS/ATP assay was able to effectively differentiate between surface waters impacted with adequately and inadequately treated wastewater. The Inv-IMS/ATP assays shows promise for rapid evaluation of recreational water quality in areas where access to more expensive methods is limited and in areas where water quality in unpredicta

Targeted disruption of FANCC and FANCG in human cancer provides a preclinical model for specific therapeutic options.

PubMed

Gallmeier, Eike; Calhoun, Eric S; Rago, Carlo; Brody, Jonathan R; Cunningham, Steven C; Hucl, Tomas; Gorospe, Myriam; Kohli, Manu; Lengauer, Christoph; Kern, Scott E

2006-06-01

How specifically to treat pancreatic and other cancers harboring Fanconi anemia gene mutations has raised great interest recently, yet preclinical studies have been hampered by the lack of well-controlled human cancer models. We endogenously disrupted FANCC and FANCG in a human adenocarcinoma cell line and determined the impact of these genes on drug sensitivity, irradiation sensitivity, and genome maintenance. FANCC and FANCG disruption abrogated FANCD2 monoubiquitination, confirming an impaired Fanconi anemia pathway function. On treatment with DNA interstrand-cross-linking agents, FANCC and FANCG disruption caused increased clastogenic damage, G2/M arrest, and decreased proliferation. The extent of hypersensitivity varied among agents, with ratios of inhibitory concentration 50% ranging from 2-fold for oxaliplatin to 14-fold for melphalan, a drug infrequently used in solid tumors. No hypersensitivity was observed on gemcitabine, etoposide, 3-aminobenzamide, NU1025, or hydrogen peroxide. FANCC and FANCG disruption also resulted in increased clastogenic damage on irradiation, but only FANCG disruption caused a subsequent decrease in relative survival. Finally, FANCC and FANCG disruption increased spontaneous chromosomal breakage, supporting the role of these genes in genome maintenance and likely explaining why they are mutated in sporadic cancer. Our human cancer cell model provides optimal controls to elucidate fundamental biologic features of individual Fanconi anemia gene defects and facilitates preclinical studies of therapeutic options. The impact of Fanconi gene defects on drug and irradiation sensitivity renders these genes promising targets for a specific, genotype-based therapy for individual cancer patients, providing a strong rationale for clinical trials.

Determinants of choice, and vulnerability and recovery in addiction.

PubMed

Lamb, R J; Maguire, David R; Ginsburg, Brett C; Pinkston, Jonathan W; France, Charles P

2016-06-01

Addiction may be viewed as choice governed by competing contingencies. One factor impacting choice, particularly as it relates to addiction, is sensitivity to delayed rewards. Discounting of delayed rewards influences addiction vulnerability because of competition between relatively immediate gains of drug use, e.g. intoxication, versus relatively remote gains of abstinence, e.g. family stability. Factors modifying delay sensitivity can be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, increased delay sensitivity can be similarly observed in adolescent humans and non-human animals. Similarly, genetic factors influence delay sensitivity in humans and animals. Recovery from addiction may also be viewed as choice behavior. Thus, reinforcing alternative behavior facilitates recovery because reinforcing alternative behavior decreases the frequency of using drugs. How reinforcing alternative behavior influences recovery can also be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, relapse risk decreases as abstinence duration increases, and this decreasing risk can be modeled in animals using choice procedures. In summary, addiction in many respects can be conceptualized as a problem of choice. Animal models of choice disorders stand to increase our understanding of the core processes that establish and maintain addiction and serve as a proving ground for development of novel treatments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Determinants of choice, and vulnerability and recovery in addiction

PubMed Central

Lamb, R.J.; Maguire, David R.; Ginsburg, Brett C.; Pinkston, Jonathan W.; France, Charles P.

2016-01-01

Addiction may be viewed as choice governed by competing contingencies. One factor impacting choice, particularly as it relates to addiction, is sensitivity to delayed rewards. Discounting of delayed rewards influences addiction vulnerability because of competition between relatively immediate gains of drug use, e.g. intoxication, versus relatively remote gains of abstinence, e.g. family stability. Factors modifying delay sensitivity can be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, increased delay sensitivity can be similarly observed in adolescent humans and non-human animals. Similarly, genetic factors influence delay sensitivity in humans and animals. Recovery from addiction may also be viewed as choice behavior. Thus, reinforcing alternative behavior facilitates recovery because reinforcing alternative behavior decreases the frequency of using drugs. How reinforcing alternative behavior influences recovery can also be modeled in the laboratory. For instance, relapse risk decreases as abstinence duration increases, and this decreasing risk can be modeled in animals using choice procedures. In summary, addiction in many respects can be conceptualized as a problem of choice. Animal models of choice disorders stand to increase our understanding of the core processes that establish and maintain addiction and serve as a proving ground for development of novel treatments. PMID:27083500

Cost, energy, global warming, eutrophication and local human health impacts of community water and sanitation service options.

PubMed

Schoen, Mary E; Xue, Xiaobo; Wood, Alison; Hawkins, Troy R; Garland, Jay; Ashbolt, Nicholas J

2017-02-01

We compared water and sanitation system options for a coastal community across selected sustainability metrics, including environmental impact (i.e., life cycle eutrophication potential, energy consumption, and global warming potential), equivalent annual cost, and local human health impact. We computed normalized metric scores, which we used to discuss the options' strengths and weaknesses, and conducted sensitivity analysis of the scores to changes in variable and uncertain input parameters. The alternative systems, which combined centralized drinking water with sanitation services based on the concepts of energy and nutrient recovery as well as on-site water reuse, had reduced environmental and local human health impacts and costs than the conventional, centralized option. Of the selected sustainability metrics, the greatest advantages of the alternative community water systems (compared to the conventional system) were in terms of local human health impact and eutrophication potential, despite large, outstanding uncertainties. Of the alternative options, the systems with on-site water reuse and energy recovery technologies had the least local human health impact; however, the cost of these options was highly variable and the energy consumption was comparable to on-site alternatives without water reuse or energy recovery, due to on-site reuse treatment. Future work should aim to reduce the uncertainty in the energy recovery process and explore the health risks associated with less costly, on-site water treatment options. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental performance of green building code and certification systems.

PubMed

Suh, Sangwon; Tomar, Shivira; Leighton, Matthew; Kneifel, Joshua

2014-01-01

We examined the potential life-cycle environmental impact reduction of three green building code and certification (GBCC) systems: LEED, ASHRAE 189.1, and IgCC. A recently completed whole-building life cycle assessment (LCA) database of NIST was applied to a prototype building model specification by NREL. TRACI 2.0 of EPA was used for life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). The results showed that the baseline building model generates about 18 thousand metric tons CO2-equiv. of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and consumes 6 terajoule (TJ) of primary energy and 328 million liter of water over its life-cycle. Overall, GBCC-compliant building models generated 0% to 25% less environmental impacts than the baseline case (average 14% reduction). The largest reductions were associated with acidification (25%), human health-respiratory (24%), and global warming (GW) (22%), while no reductions were observed for ozone layer depletion (OD) and land use (LU). The performances of the three GBCC-compliant building models measured in life-cycle impact reduction were comparable. A sensitivity analysis showed that the comparative results were reasonably robust, although some results were relatively sensitive to the behavioral parameters, including employee transportation and purchased electricity during the occupancy phase (average sensitivity coefficients 0.26-0.29).

The Impact of Direct Involvement I and Direct Involvement II Experiences on Secondary School Students' Social Capital, as Measured by Co-Cognitive Factors of the Operation Houndstooth Intervention Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sands, Michelle M.; Heilbronner, Nancy N.

2014-01-01

A mixed-methods study grounded in Renzulli's Operation Houndstooth Intervention Theory examined the impact of different types of volunteer experiences on the six co-cognitive factors (Optimism, Courage, Romance With a Topic/Discipline, Sensitivity to Human Concerns, Physical/Mental Energy, and Vision/Sense of Destiny) associated with the…

Evolutionary relevance facilitates visual information processing.

PubMed

Jackson, Russell E; Calvillo, Dusti P

2013-11-03

Visual search of the environment is a fundamental human behavior that perceptual load affects powerfully. Previously investigated means for overcoming the inhibitions of high perceptual load, however, generalize poorly to real-world human behavior. We hypothesized that humans would process evolutionarily relevant stimuli more efficiently than evolutionarily novel stimuli, and evolutionary relevance would mitigate the repercussions of high perceptual load during visual search. Animacy is a significant component to evolutionary relevance of visual stimuli because perceiving animate entities is time-sensitive in ways that pose significant evolutionary consequences. Participants completing a visual search task located evolutionarily relevant and animate objects fastest and with the least impact of high perceptual load. Evolutionarily novel and inanimate objects were located slowest and with the highest impact of perceptual load. Evolutionary relevance may importantly affect everyday visual information processing.

Sensitivity of future U.S. water shortages to socioeconomic and climate drivers: A case study in Georgia using an integrated human-earth system modeling framework

DOE PAGES

Scott, Michael J.; Daly, Don S.; Hejazi, Mohamad I.; ...

2016-02-06

Here, one of the most important interactions between humans and climate is in the demand and supply of water. Humans withdraw, use, and consume water and return waste water to the environment for a variety of socioeconomic purposes, including domestic, commercial, and industrial use, production of energy resources and cooling thermal-electric power plants, and growing food, fiber, and chemical feed stocks for human consumption. Uncertainties in the future human demand for water interact with future impacts of climatic change on water supplies to impinge on water management decisions at the international, national, regional, and local level, but until recently toolsmore » were not available to assess the uncertainties surrounding these decisions. This paper demonstrates the use of a multi-model framework in a structured sensitivity analysis to project and quantify the sensitivity of future deficits in surface water in the context of climate and socioeconomic change for all U.S. states and sub-basins. The framework treats all sources of water demand and supply consistently from the world to local level. The paper illustrates the capabilities of the framework with sample results for a river sub-basin in the U.S. state of Georgia.« less

Simulating Emission and Chemical Evolution of Coarse Sea-Salt Particles in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Model

EPA Science Inventory

Chemical processing of sea-salt particles in coastal environments significantly impacts concentrations of particle components and gas-phase species and has implications for human exposure to particulate matter and nitrogen deposition to sensitive ecosystems. Emission of sea-sal...

Differentiated human midbrain-derived neural progenitor cells express excitatory strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors containing α2β subunits.

PubMed

Wegner, Florian; Kraft, Robert; Busse, Kathy; Härtig, Wolfgang; Ahrens, Jörg; Leffler, Andreas; Dengler, Reinhard; Schwarz, Johannes

2012-01-01

Human fetal midbrain-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs) may deliver a tissue source for drug screening and regenerative cell therapy to treat Parkinson's disease. While glutamate and GABA(A) receptors play an important role in neurogenesis, the involvement of glycine receptors during human neurogenesis and dopaminergic differentiation as well as their molecular and functional characteristics in NPCs are largely unknown. Here we investigated NPCs in respect to their glycine receptor function and subunit expression using electrophysiology, calcium imaging, immunocytochemistry, and quantitative real-time PCR. Whole-cell recordings demonstrate the ability of NPCs to express functional strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors after differentiation for 3 weeks in vitro. Pharmacological and molecular analyses indicate a predominance of glycine receptor heteromers containing α2β subunits. Intracellular calcium measurements of differentiated NPCs suggest that glycine evokes depolarisations mediated by strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors and not by D-serine-sensitive excitatory glycine receptors. Culturing NPCs with additional glycine, the glycine-receptor antagonist strychnine, or the Na(+)-K(+)-Cl(-) co-transporter 1 (NKCC1)-inhibitor bumetanide did not significantly influence cell proliferation and differentiation in vitro. These data indicate that NPCs derived from human fetal midbrain tissue acquire essential glycine receptor properties during neuronal maturation. However, glycine receptors seem to have a limited functional impact on neurogenesis and dopaminergic differentiation of NPCs in vitro.

Differentiated Human Midbrain-Derived Neural Progenitor Cells Express Excitatory Strychnine-Sensitive Glycine Receptors Containing α2β Subunits

PubMed Central

Wegner, Florian; Kraft, Robert; Busse, Kathy; Härtig, Wolfgang; Ahrens, Jörg; Leffler, Andreas; Dengler, Reinhard; Schwarz, Johannes

2012-01-01

Background Human fetal midbrain-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs) may deliver a tissue source for drug screening and regenerative cell therapy to treat Parkinson’s disease. While glutamate and GABAA receptors play an important role in neurogenesis, the involvement of glycine receptors during human neurogenesis and dopaminergic differentiation as well as their molecular and functional characteristics in NPCs are largely unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we investigated NPCs in respect to their glycine receptor function and subunit expression using electrophysiology, calcium imaging, immunocytochemistry, and quantitative real-time PCR. Whole-cell recordings demonstrate the ability of NPCs to express functional strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors after differentiation for 3 weeks in vitro. Pharmacological and molecular analyses indicate a predominance of glycine receptor heteromers containing α2β subunits. Intracellular calcium measurements of differentiated NPCs suggest that glycine evokes depolarisations mediated by strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors and not by D-serine-sensitive excitatory glycine receptors. Culturing NPCs with additional glycine, the glycine-receptor antagonist strychnine, or the Na+-K+-Cl− co-transporter 1 (NKCC1)-inhibitor bumetanide did not significantly influence cell proliferation and differentiation in vitro. Conclusions/Significance These data indicate that NPCs derived from human fetal midbrain tissue acquire essential glycine receptor properties during neuronal maturation. However, glycine receptors seem to have a limited functional impact on neurogenesis and dopaminergic differentiation of NPCs in vitro. PMID:22606311

Insulin-Sensitizing Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Lost in Translation?

PubMed Central

Lalia, Antigoni Z.; Lanza, Ian R.

2016-01-01

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) of marine origin, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have been long studied for their therapeutic potential in the context of type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and glucose homeostasis. Glaring discordance between observations in animal and human studies precludes, to date, any practical application of n-3 PUFA as nutritional therapeutics against insulin resistance in humans. Our objective in this review is to summarize current knowledge and provide an up-to-date commentary on the therapeutic value of EPA and DHA supplementation for improving insulin sensitivity in humans. We also sought to discuss potential mechanisms of n-3 PUFA action in target tissues, in specific skeletal muscle, based on our recent work, as well as in liver and adipose tissue. We conducted a literature search to include all preclinical and clinical studies performed within the last two years and to comment on representative studies published earlier. Recent studies support a growing consensus that there are beneficial effects of n-3 PUFA on insulin sensitivity in rodents. Observational studies in humans are encouraging, however, the vast majority of human intervention studies fail to demonstrate the benefit of n-3 PUFA in type 2 diabetes or insulin-resistant non-diabetic people. Nevertheless, there are still several unanswered questions regarding the potential impact of n-3 PUFA on metabolic function in humans. PMID:27258299

Commonalities between Disaster and Climate Change Risks for Health: A Theoretical Framework.

PubMed

Banwell, Nicola; Rutherford, Shannon; Mackey, Brendan; Street, Roger; Chu, Cordia

2018-03-16

Disasters and climate change have significant implications for human health worldwide. Both climate change and the climate-sensitive hazards that result in disasters, are discussed in terms of direct and indirect impacts on health. A growing body of literature has argued for the need to link disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. However, there is limited articulation of the commonalities between these health impacts. Understanding the shared risk pathways is an important starting point for developing joint strategies for adapting to, and reducing, health risks. Therefore, this article discusses the common aspects of direct and indirect health risks of climate change and climate-sensitive disasters. Based on this discussion a theoretical framework is presented for understanding these commonalities. As such, this article hopes to extend the current health impact frameworks and provide a platform for further research exploring opportunities for linked adaptation and risk reduction strategies.

Commonalities between Disaster and Climate Change Risks for Health: A Theoretical Framework

PubMed Central

Banwell, Nicola; Rutherford, Shannon; Mackey, Brendan; Street, Roger; Chu, Cordia

2018-01-01

Disasters and climate change have significant implications for human health worldwide. Both climate change and the climate-sensitive hazards that result in disasters, are discussed in terms of direct and indirect impacts on health. A growing body of literature has argued for the need to link disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. However, there is limited articulation of the commonalities between these health impacts. Understanding the shared risk pathways is an important starting point for developing joint strategies for adapting to, and reducing, health risks. Therefore, this article discusses the common aspects of direct and indirect health risks of climate change and climate-sensitive disasters. Based on this discussion a theoretical framework is presented for understanding these commonalities. As such, this article hopes to extend the current health impact frameworks and provide a platform for further research exploring opportunities for linked adaptation and risk reduction strategies. PMID:29547592

Chronic smoking and alcoholism change expression of selective genes in the human prefrontal cortex.

PubMed

Flatscher-Bader, Traute; Wilce, Peter A

2006-05-01

Alcoholism is commonly associated with chronic smoking. A number of gene expression profiles of regions within the human mesocorticolimbic system have identified potential alcohol-sensitive genes; however, the influence of smoking on these changes was not taken into account. This study addressed the impact of alcohol and smoking on the expression of 4 genes, previously identified as alcoholism-sensitive, in the human prefrontal cortex (PFC). mRNA expression of apolipoprotein D, tissue inhibitor of the metalloproteinase 3, high-affinity glial glutamate transporter and midkine, was measured in the PFC of alcoholic subjects and controls with and without smoking comorbidity using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The results show that alcohol affects transcription of some of these genes. Additionally, smoking has a marked influence on gene expression. This study emphasizes the need for careful case selection in future gene expression studies to delineate the adaptive molecular process associated with smoking and alcohol.

Quantitative analysis of the effect of climate change and human activities on runoff in the Liujiang River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LI, X.

2017-12-01

Abstract: As human basic and strategic natural resources, Water resources have received an unprecedented challenge under the impacts of global climate change. Analyzing the variation characteristics of runoff and the effect of climate change and human activities on runoff could provide the basis for the reasonable utilization and management of water resources. Taking the Liujiang River Basin as the research object, the discharge data of hydrological station and meteorological data at 24 meteorological stations in the Guangxi Province as the basis, the variation characteristics of runoff and precipitation in the Liujiang River Basin was analyzed, and the quantitatively effect of climate change and human activities on runoff was proposed. The results showed that runoff and precipitation in the Liujiang River Basin had an increasing trend from 1964 to 2006. Using the method of accumulative anomaly and the orderly cluster method, the runoff series was divided into base period and change period. BP - ANN model and sensitivity coefficient method were used for quantifying the influences of climate change and human activities on runoff. We found that the most important factor which caused an increase trend of discharges in the Liujiang River Basin was precipitation. Human activities were also important factors which influenced the intra-annual distribution of runoff. Precipitation had a more sensitive influence to runoff variation than potential evaporation in the Liujiang River Basin. Key words: Liujiang River Basin, climate change, human activities, BP-ANN, sensitivity coefficient method

Human impact on wildfires varies between regions and with vegetation productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lasslop, Gitta; Kloster, Silvia

2017-11-01

We assess the influence of humans on burned area simulated with a dynamic global vegetation model. The human impact in the model is based on population density and cropland fraction, which were identified as important drivers of burned area in analyses of global datasets, and are commonly used in global models. After an evaluation of the sensitivity to these two variables we extend the model by including an additional effect of the cropland fraction on the fire duration. The general pattern of human influence is similar in both model versions: the strongest human impact is found in regions with intermediate productivity, where fire occurrence is not limited by fuel load or climatic conditions. Human effects in the model increases burned area in the tropics, while in temperate regions burned area is reduced. While the population density is similar on average for the tropical and temperate regions, the cropland fraction is higher in temperate regions, and leads to a strong suppression of fire. The model shows a low human impact in the boreal region, where both population density and cropland fraction is very low and the climatic conditions, as well as the vegetation productivity limit fire. Previous studies attributed a decrease in fire activity found in global charcoal datasets to human activity. This is confirmed by our simulations, which only show a decrease in burned area when the human influence on fire is accounted for, and not with only natural effects on fires. We assess how the vegetation-fire feedback influences the results, by comparing simulations with dynamic vegetation biogeography to simulations with prescribed vegetation. The vegetation-fire feedback increases the human impact on burned area by 10% for present day conditions. These results emphasize that projections of burned area need to account for the interactions between fire, climate, vegetation and humans.

Effects of Inhibiting Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 (DPP4) in Cows with Subclinical Ketosis

PubMed Central

Schulz, Kirsten; Frahm, Jana; Kersten, Susanne; Meyer, Ulrich; Rehage, Jürgen; Piechotta, Marion; Meyerholz, Maria; Breves, Gerhard; Reiche, Dania; Sauerwein, Helga; Dänicke, Sven

2015-01-01

The inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) via specific inhibitors is known to result in improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity and decreased accumulation of hepatic fat in type II diabetic human patients. The metabolic situation of dairy cows can easily be compared to the status of human diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver. For both, insulin sensitivity is reduced, while hepatic fat accumulation increases, characterized by high levels of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and ketone bodies.Therefore, in the present study, a DPP4 inhibitor was employed (BI 14332) for the first time in cows. In a first investigation BI 14332 treatment (intravenous injection at dosages of up to 3 mg/kg body weight) was well tolerated in healthy lactating pluriparous cows (n = 6) with a significant inhibition of DPP4 in plasma and liver. Further testing included primi- and pluriparous lactating cows suffering from subclinical ketosis (β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations in serum > 1.2 mM; n = 12). The intension was to offer effects of DPP4 inhibition during comprehensive lipomobilisation and hepatosteatosis. The cows of subclinical ketosis were evenly allocated to either the treatment group (daily injections, 0.3 mg BI 14332/kg body weight, 7 days) or the control group. Under condition of subclinical ketosis, the impact of DPP4 inhibition via BI 14332 was less, as in particular β-hydroxybutyrate and the hepatic lipid content remained unaffected, but NEFA and triglyceride concentrations were decreased after treatment. Owing to lower NEFA, the revised quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (surrogate marker for insulin sensitivity) increased. Therefore, a positive influence on energy metabolism might be quite possible. Minor impacts on immune-modulating variables were limited to the lymphocyte CD4+/CD8+ ratio for which a trend to decreased values in treated versus control animals was noted. In sum, the DPP4 inhibition in cows did not affect glycaemic control like it is shown in humans, but was able to impact hyperlipemia, as NEFA and TG decreased. PMID:26291537

An epidermal equivalent assay for identification and ranking potency of contact sensitizers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gibbs, Susan, E-mail: S.Gibbs@VUMC.nl; Corsini, Emanuela; Spiekstra, Sander W.

2013-10-15

The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of combining the epidermal equivalent (EE) potency assay with the assay which assesses release of interleukin-18 (IL-18) to provide a single test for identification and classification of skin sensitizing chemicals, including chemicals of low water solubility or stability. A protocol was developed using different 3D-epidermal models including in house VUMC model, epiCS® (previously EST1000™), MatTek EpiDerm™ and SkinEthic™ RHE and also the impact of different vehicles (acetone:olive oil 4:1, 1% DMSO, ethanol, water) was investigated. Following topical exposure for 24 h to 17 contact allergens and 13 non-sensitizers a robustmore » increase in IL-18 release was observed only after exposure to contact allergens. A putative prediction model is proposed from data obtained from two laboratories yielding 95% accuracy. Correlating the in vitro EE sensitizer potency data, which assesses the chemical concentration which results in 50% cytotoxicity (EE-EC{sub 50}) with human and animal data showed a superior correlation with human DSA{sub 05} (μg/cm{sup 2}) data (Spearman r = 0.8500; P value (two-tailed) = 0.0061) compared to LLNA data (Spearman r = 0.5968; P value (two-tailed) = 0.0542). DSA{sub 05} = induction dose per skin area that produces a positive response in 5% of the tested population Also a good correlation was observed for release of IL-18 (SI-2) into culture supernatants with human DSA{sub 05} data (Spearman r = 0.8333; P value (two-tailed) = 0.0154). This easily transferable human in vitro assay appears to be very promising, but additional testing of a larger chemical set with the different EE models is required to fully evaluate the utility of this assay and to establish a definitive prediction model. - Highlights: • A potential epidermal equivalent assay to label and classify sensitizers • Il-18 release distinguishes sensitizers from non sensitizers • IL-18 release can rank sensitizer potency • EC50 (chemical concentration causing 50% decrease in cell viability) ranks potency • In vitro: human DSA{sub 05} correlation is better than in vitro: LLNA correlation.« less

Third Pole Environment (TPE) -Latest Progress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Z.; Yao, T.; Zhang, F.; Yang, X.; Wang, W.; Ping, F.

2014-12-01

Centered on the Tibetan Plateau, the Third Pole region is a unique geographical unit, which represents one of the largest ice masses on the Earth. The region has great impacts on environmental changes in China, the Northern Hemisphere and the globe.It also demonstrates sensitive feedbacks to global changes and the impacts of anthropogenic activities in surrounding regions. Like the Arctic and Antarctica, the Third Pole region is an especially sensitive area that draws great attention from the scientific community. In 2009, with support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and international organizations, the Third Pole Environment (TPE) program, led by Chinese scientists, was officially launched. The program focuses on the theme of "water-ice-air-ecosystem-human" interactions, with the aim to address the following scientific questions, such as the spatial and temporal characteristics of past environmental changes in the Third pole, the interactions between hydrosphere and cryosphere and hazard processes, the ecological systems' impacts on and response to environmental changes, and the impacts of anthropogenic activities on environmental changes in the region and adaptation strategies. The goal of the program is to reveal environmental change processes and mechanisms on the Third Pole and their influences on and responses to global changes, and thus to serve for enhancement of human adaptation to the changing environment and realization of human-nature harmony. Under the leadership of the co-chairs, and relying on Scientific Committee and the TPE office, the program has accomplished a number of scientific tasks since its inauguration. TPE has made tremendous progress in the research of glacier changes, interactions between the westerlies and monsoon, establishment of field stations, data sharing and education.

Smart wearable Kevlar-based safeguarding electronic textile with excellent sensing performance.

PubMed

Wang, Sheng; Xuan, Shouhu; Liu, Mei; Bai, Linfeng; Zhang, Shuaishuai; Sang, Min; Jiang, Wanquan; Gong, Xinglong

2017-03-29

A novel S-ST/MWCNT/Kevlar-based wearable electronic textile (WET) with enhanced safeguarding performance and force sensing ability was fabricated. Stab resistance performance tests under quasi-static and dynamic conditions show that the maximum resistance force and penetration impact energy for the WET are 18 N and 11.76 J, which represent a 90% and 50% increment with respect to the neat Kevlar, respectively. Dynamic impact resistance tests show that the WET absorbs all the impact energy. The maximum resistance force of the WET is 1052 N, which represents an improvement of about 190% with respect to neat Kevlar. With the incorporation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), the WET can achieve a stable electrical conductivity of ∼10 -2 S m -1 , and the conductivity is highly sensitive to external mechanic forces. Notably, the sensing fabric also exhibits an outstanding ability to detect and analyze external forces. In addition, it can be fixed at any position of the human body and exhibits an ideal monitoring performance. Because of its flexibility, high sensitivity to various types of deformations and excellent safeguarding performance, the WET has a strong potential for wearable monitoring devices that simultaneously provide body protection and monitor the movements of the human body under various conditions.

Coral Reefs as Sites for Experiential Environmental Education: Learning with Australian Students--A Foundational Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stepath, Carl Myron

2006-01-01

Marine education aims to educate a citizenry capable of making astute decisions about the impact of human activities, and encourage ecologically sensitive practices. Coral reefs are critically important, and are in serious decline. This research explores high school students' reef experiences with respect to specific learning outcomes. Queensland…

DEVELOPMENT OF PATHWAY SELECTIVE CELLS AND ASSAYS FOR SENSITIVE DETECTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICANTS VIA HIGH THROUGHPUT LABEL-FREE CELL-BASED SCREENING - PHASE I

EPA Science Inventory

The Impact of Salient Advertisements on Reading and Attention on Web Pages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simola, Jaana; Kuisma, Jarmo; Oorni, Anssi; Uusitalo, Liisa; Hyona, Jukka

2011-01-01

Human vision is sensitive to salient features such as motion. Therefore, animation and onset of advertisements on Websites may attract visual attention and disrupt reading. We conducted three eye tracking experiments with authentic Web pages to assess whether (a) ads are efficiently ignored, (b) ads attract overt visual attention and disrupt…

Exploring the Impact of Culture- and Language-Influenced Physics on Science Attitude Enhancement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morales, Marie Paz E.

2016-01-01

"Culture," a set of principles that trace and familiarize human beings within their existential realities, may provide an invisible lens through which reality could be discerned. Critically explored in this study is how culture- and language-sensitive curriculum materials in physics improve Pangasinan learners' attitude toward science.…

Using Simulations To Understand Older Adults with Sensory Impairment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clubok, Miriam

2000-01-01

Summarizes two popular models for increasing sensitivity to sensory impairment in the elderly and details a third model used in training human service students and practitioners. Ideas and techniques presented work toward understanding the impact of sensory impairment on the daily life of older adults and to identify coping techniques to improve…

Integrating Antiretroviral Strategies for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevention: Post- and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and Early Treatment.

PubMed

Grant, Robert M; Smith, Dawn K

2015-12-01

Best practices for integrating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and antiretroviral interventions for prevention and treatment are suggested based on research evidence and existing normative guidance. The goal is to provide high-impact prevention services during periods of substantial risk. Antiretroviral medications are recommended for postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and treatment of HIV infection. We reviewed research evidence and current normative guidelines to identify best practices for integrating these high-impact prevention strategies. More sensitive HIV tests used for screening enable earlier diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection, more appropriate counseling, and help limit drug resistance. A fully suppressive PEP regimen should be initiated based on exposure history or physical findings when sensitive diagnostic testing is delayed or not available and antibody tests are negative. Transitions from PEP to PrEP are often warranted because HIV exposure events may continue to occur. This algorithmic approach to integrating PEP, PrEP, and early treatment decisions may increase the uptake of these interventions by a greater number and diversity of knowledgeable healthcare providers.

Integrating Antiretroviral Strategies for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevention: Post- and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and Early Treatment

PubMed Central

Grant, Robert M.; Smith, Dawn K.

2015-01-01

Best practices for integrating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and antiretroviral interventions for prevention and treatment are suggested based on research evidence and existing normative guidance. The goal is to provide high-impact prevention services during periods of substantial risk. Antiretroviral medications are recommended for postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and treatment of HIV infection. We reviewed research evidence and current normative guidelines to identify best practices for integrating these high-impact prevention strategies. More sensitive HIV tests used for screening enable earlier diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection, more appropriate counseling, and help limit drug resistance. A fully suppressive PEP regimen should be initiated based on exposure history or physical findings when sensitive diagnostic testing is delayed or not available and antibody tests are negative. Transitions from PEP to PrEP are often warranted because HIV exposure events may continue to occur. This algorithmic approach to integrating PEP, PrEP, and early treatment decisions may increase the uptake of these interventions by a greater number and diversity of knowledgeable healthcare providers. PMID:26512356

Phenformin-Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction Sensitizes Hepatocellular Carcinoma for Dual Inhibition of mTOR.

PubMed

Veiga, Sonia Rosa; Ge, Xuemei; Mercer, Carol A; Hernández-Alvarez, María Isabel; Thomas, Hala Elnakat; Hernández-Losa, Javier; Ramón Y Cajal, Santiago; Zorzano, Antonio; Thomas, George; Kozma, Sara C

2018-04-24

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks second in cancer mortality and has limited therapeutic options. We recently described the synergistic effect of allosteric and ATP-site competitive inhibitors against the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) for the treatment of HCC. However, such inhibitors induce glycemia and increase mitochondrial efficiency. Here we determined whether the mitochondrial complex I inhibitor Phenformin could reverse both side effects, impose an energetic-stress on cancer cells and suppress the growth of HCC. Human HCC cell lines were used in vitro to access the signaling and energetic impact of mTOR inhibitors and Phenformin, either alone or in combination. Next, the therapeutic utility of these drugs alone or in combination was investigated pre-clinically in human orthotopic tumors implanted in mice, by analyzing their impact on the tumor burden and overall survival. We found Phenformin caused mitochondrial dysfunction and fragmentation, inducing a compensatory shift to glycolysis. In contrast, dual inhibition of mTOR impaired cell growth and glycolysis, while increasing mitochondrial fusion and efficiency. In a mouse model of human HCC, dual inhibition of mTOR, together with Phenformin, was highly efficacious in controlling tumor burden. However, more striking, pretreatment with Phenformin sensitized tumors to dual inhibition of mTOR, leading to a dramatic improvement in survival. Treatment of HCC cells in vitro with the biguanide Phenformin causes a metabolic shift to glycolysis, mitochondrial dysfunction and fragmentation, and dramatically sensitizes orthotopic liver tumors to dual inhibition of mTOR. We therefore propose this therapeutic approach should be tested clinically in HCC. Copyright ©2018, American Association for Cancer Research.

Alkylation sensitivity screens reveal a conserved cross-species functionome

PubMed Central

Svilar, David; Dyavaiah, Madhu; Brown, Ashley R.; Tang, Jiang-bo; Li, Jianfeng; McDonald, Peter R.; Shun, Tong Ying; Braganza, Andrea; Wang, Xiao-hong; Maniar, Salony; St Croix, Claudette M.; Lazo, John S.; Pollack, Ian F.; Begley, Thomas J.; Sobol, Robert W.

2013-01-01

To identify genes that contribute to chemotherapy resistance in glioblastoma, we conducted a synthetic lethal screen in a chemotherapy-resistant glioblastoma derived cell line with the clinical alkylator temozolomide (TMZ) and an siRNA library tailored towards “druggable” targets. Select DNA repair genes in the screen were validated independently, confirming the DNA glycosylases UNG and MYH as well as MPG to be involved in the response to high dose TMZ. The involvement of UNG and MYH is likely the result of a TMZ-induced burst of reactive oxygen species. We then compared the human TMZ sensitizing genes identified in our screen with those previously identified from alkylator screens conducted in E. coli and S. cerevisiae. The conserved biological processes across all three species composes an Alkylation Functionome that includes many novel proteins not previously thought to impact alkylator resistance. This high-throughput screen, validation and cross-species analysis was then followed by a mechanistic analysis of two essential nodes: base excision repair (BER) DNA glycosylases (UNG, human and mag1, S. cerevisiae) and protein modification systems, including UBE3B and ICMT in human cells or pby1, lip22, stp22 and aim22 in S. cerevisiae. The conserved processes of BER and protein modification were dual targeted and yielded additive sensitization to alkylators in S. cerevisiae. In contrast, dual targeting of BER and protein modification genes in human cells did not increase sensitivity, suggesting an epistatic relationship. Importantly, these studies provide potential new targets to overcome alkylating agent resistance. PMID:23038810

Increased alignment sensitivity improves the usage of genome alignments for comparative gene annotation.

PubMed

Sharma, Virag; Hiller, Michael

2017-08-21

Genome alignments provide a powerful basis to transfer gene annotations from a well-annotated reference genome to many other aligned genomes. The completeness of these annotations crucially depends on the sensitivity of the underlying genome alignment. Here, we investigated the impact of the genome alignment parameters and found that parameters with a higher sensitivity allow the detection of thousands of novel alignments between orthologous exons that have been missed before. In particular, comparisons between species separated by an evolutionary distance of >0.75 substitutions per neutral site, like human and other non-placental vertebrates, benefit from increased sensitivity. To systematically test if increased sensitivity improves comparative gene annotations, we built a multiple alignment of 144 vertebrate genomes and used this alignment to map human genes to the other 143 vertebrates with CESAR. We found that higher alignment sensitivity substantially improves the completeness of comparative gene annotations by adding on average 2382 and 7440 novel exons and 117 and 317 novel genes for mammalian and non-mammalian species, respectively. Our results suggest a more sensitive alignment strategy that should generally be used for genome alignments between distantly-related species. Our 144-vertebrate genome alignment and the comparative gene annotations (https://bds.mpi-cbg.de/hillerlab/144VertebrateAlignment_CESAR/) are a valuable resource for comparative genomics. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Assessing the ecological vulnerability of the upper reaches of the Minjiang River.

PubMed

Zhang, Jifei; Sun, Jian; Ma, Baibing; Du, Wenpeng

2017-01-01

The upper reaches of the Minjiang River (URMR), located on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in southwestern China, are an important component of the ecological barrier of the Upper Yangtze River Basin. Climate change and human activities have increased the ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of the region, which may pose a threat to the ecological security of the Yangtze River Basin and have negative impacts on local social and economic development. In this study, we analyzed land use and cover change (LUCC) of the URMR between 2000 and 2010, and found that the total rate of LUCC was less than 0.50% during this period. In addition, net primary production (NPP) was employed to describe the changes in ecosystem sensitivity and vulnerability, and the results demonstrated that slightly and moderately sensitive and vulnerable zones occupied the largest area, distributed mainly in forest, shrub, and grassland ecosystems. However, compared with the period from 2000 to 2005, the ecological sensitivity and vulnerability showed a worsening trend in the period 2005-2010. Exploring the relationship between vulnerability/sensitivity and environmental factors, we found that sensitivity and vulnerability were positively correlated with precipitation (>700 mm) and aridity index (>36 mm/°C). The results highlight that the future ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of URMR should be further investigated, and that the LUCC induced by human activities and climate change have caused alteration of in ecosystem vulnerability.

Use of satellite imagery as environmental impact assessment tool: a case study from the NW Egyptian Red Sea coastal zone.

PubMed

Moufaddal, Wahid M

2005-08-01

Knowledge and detecting impacts of human activities on the coastal ecosystem is an essential management requirement and also very important for future and proper planning of coastal areas. Moreover, documentation of these impacts can help in increasing public awareness about side effects of unsustainable practices. Analysis of multidate remote sensing data can be used as an effective tool in environmental impact assessment (EIA). Being synoptic and frequent in coverage, multidate data from Landsat and other satellites provide a reference record and bird's eye viewing to the environmental situation of the coastal ecosystem and the associated habitats. Furthermore, integration of satellite data with field observations and background information can help in decision if a certain activity has caused deterioration to a specific habitat or not. The present paper is an attempt to utilize remote sensing data for assessment impacts of some human activities on the major sensitive habitats of the NW Egyptian Red Sea coastal zone, definitely between Ras Gemsha and Safaga. Through multidate change analysis of Landsat data (TM & ETM+ sensors), it was possible to depict some of the human infringements in the area and to provide, in some cases, exclusive evidences for the damaging effect of some developmental activities.

Application of the HARDMAN methodology to the single channel ground-airborne radio system (SINCGARS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balcom, J.; Park, J.; Toomer, L.; Feng, T.

1984-12-01

The HARDMAN methodology is designed to assess the human resource requirements early in the weapon system acquisition process. In this case, the methodology was applied to the family of radios known as SINCGARS (Single Channel Ground-Airborne Radio System). At the time of the study, SINCGARS was approaching the Full-Scale Development phase, with 2 contractors in competition. Their proposed systems were compared with a composite baseline comparison (reference) system. The systems' manpower, personnel and training requirements were compared. Based on RAM data, the contractors' MPT figures showed a significant reduction from the figures derived for the baseline comparison system. Differences between the two contractors were relatively small. Impact and some tradeoff analyses were hindered by data access problems. Tactical radios, manpower and personnel requirements analysis, impact and tradeoff analysis, human resource sensitivity, training requirements analysis, human resources in LCSMM, and logistics analyses are discussed.

The impact of climate change on the epidemiology and control of Rift Valley fever.

PubMed

Martin, V; Chevalier, V; Ceccato, P; Anyamba, A; De Simone, L; Lubroth, J; de La Rocque, S; Domenech, J

2008-08-01

Climate change is likely to change the frequency of extreme weather events, such as tropical cyclones, floods, droughts and hurricanes, and may destabilise and weaken the ecosystem services upon which human society depends. Climate change is also expected to affect animal, human and plant health via indirect pathways: it is likely that the geography of infectious diseases and pests will be altered, including the distribution of vector-borne diseases, such as Rift Valley fever, yellow fever, malaria and dengue, which are highly sensitive to climatic conditions. Extreme weather events might then create the necessary conditions for Rift Valley fever to expand its geographical range northwards and cross the Mediterranean and Arabian seas, with an unexpected impact on the animal and human health of newly affected countries. Strengthening global, regional and national early warning systems is crucial, as are co-ordinated research programmes and subsequent prevention and intervention measures.

Effects of neonatal pain, stress and their interrelation on pain sensitivity in later life in male rats.

PubMed

Butkevich, Irina P; Mikhailenko, Viktor A; Vershinina, Elena A; Aloisi, Anna Maria

2016-08-31

Neonatal pain and stress induce long-term changes in pain sensitivity. Therefore their interrelation is a topical subject of clinical and basic research. The present study investigated the effects of inflammatory peripheral pain and stress of maternal deprivation (MD)-isolation in 1-2- and 7-8-day-old Wistar rats (P1,2 and P7,8 respectively, ages comparable to preterm and full-term human babies) on basal pain and pain sensitivity in conditions of inflammatory pain (formalin test) during adolescence. The neonatal impacts were: pain (formalin injection, FOR in the paw), stress (a short 60-min MD), or pain+stress combination (FOR+MD), and appropriate controls. We found that stress of short-term maternal deprivation-isolation and inflammatory pain on P1,2 and P7,8 significantly increased the vulnerability of the nociceptive system to inflammatory pain. Maternal deprivation-isolation on P1,2 as compared with a similar impact on P7,8 had a greater effect on pain sensitivity of the adolescent rats, but the influence of early pain was independent of the injury age. Only adolescent rats with an early combination of pain and maternal deprivation-isolation showed hypoalgesia in the hot plate (HP) test. However licking duration (reflecting pain sensitivity) in these rats did not exceed licking duration in animals exposed only to maternal deprivation-isolation or pain. This study adds new data to the growing body of work demonstrating that early noxious impacts have long-term consequences for the functional activity of the nociceptive system. Our new findings may help to understand the impact of pain and maternal separation in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Comparative environmental and human health evaluations of thermolysis and solvolysis recycling technologies of carbon fiber reinforced polymer waste.

PubMed

Khalil, Y F

2018-06-01

This quantitative research aims to compare environmental and human health impacts associated with two recycling technologies of CFRP waste. The 'baseline' recycling technology is the conventional thermolysis process via pyrolysis and the 'alternative' recycling technology is an emerging chemical treatment via solvolysis using supercritical water (SCW) to digest the thermoset matrix. Two Gate-to-Gate recycling models are developed using GaBi LCA platform. The selected functional unit (FU) is 1 kg CFRP waste and the geographical boundary of this comparative LCIA is defined to be within the U.S. The results of this comparative assessment brought to light new insights about the environmental and human health impacts of CFRP waste recycling via solvolysis using SCW and, therefore, helped close a gap in the current state of knowledge about sustainability of SCW-based solvolysis as compared to pyrolysis. Two research questions are posed to identify whether solvolysis recycling offers more environmental and human health gains relative to the conventional pyrolysis recycling. These research questions lay the basis for formulating two null hypotheses (H 0,1 and H 0,2 ) and their associated research hypotheses (H 1,1 and H 1,2 ). LCIA results interpretation included 'base case' scenarios, 'sensitivity studies,' and 'scenarios analysis.' The results revealed that: (a) recycling via solvolysis using SCW exhibits no gains in environmental and human health impacts relative to those impacts associated with recycling via pyrolysis and (b) use of natural gas in lieu of electricity for pyrolyzer's heating reduces the environmental and human health impacts by 37% (lowest) and up to 95.7% (highest). It is recommended that on-going experimental efforts that focus only on identifying the best solvent for solvolysis-based recycling should also consider quantification of the energy intensity as well as environmental and human health impacts of the proposed solvents. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vulnerability assessment of atmospheric environment driven by human impacts.

PubMed

Zhang, Yang; Shen, Jing; Ding, Feng; Li, Yu; He, Li

2016-11-15

Atmospheric environment quality worsening is a substantial threat to public health worldwide, and in many places, air pollution due to the intensification of the human activity is increasing dramatically. However, no studies have been investigated the integration of vulnerability assessment and atmospheric environment driven by human impacts. The objective of this study was to identify and prioritize the undesirable environmental changes as an early warning system for environment managers and decision makers in term of human, atmospheric environment, and social economic elements. We conduct a vulnerability assessment method of atmospheric environment associated with human impact, this method integrates spatial context of Geographic Information System (GIS) tool, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method, ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operators under the Exposure-Sensitivity- Adaptive Capacity (ESA) framework. Decision makers can find out relevant vulnerability assessment results with different vulnerable attitudes. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, China, we further applied this developed method and proved it to be reliable and consistent with the China Environmental Status Bulletin. Results indicate that the vulnerability of atmospheric environment in the BTH region is not optimistic, and environment managers should do more about air pollution. Thus, the most appropriate strategic decision and development program of city or state can be picked out assisting by the vulnerable results. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Age-associated loss of selectivity in human olfactory sensory neurons

PubMed Central

Rawson, Nancy E.; Gomez, George; Cowart, Beverly J.; Kriete, Andres; Pribitkin, Edmund; Restrepo, Diego

2011-01-01

We report a cross-sectional study of olfactory impairment with age based on both odorant-stimulated responses of human olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) and tests of olfactory threshold sensitivity. A total of 621 OSNs from 440 subjects in two age groups of younger ( 45 years) and older (≥60 years) subjects were investigated using fluorescence intensity ratio fura-2 imaging. OSNs were tested for responses to two odorant mixtures, as well as to subsets of and individual odors in those mixtures. Whereas cells from younger donors were highly selective in the odorants to which they responded, cells from older donors were more likely to respond to multiple odor stimuli, despite a loss in these subjects’ absolute olfactory sensitivity, suggesting a loss of specificity. This degradation in peripheral cellular specificity may impact odor discrimination and olfactory adaptation in the elderly. It is also possible that chronic adaptation as a result of reduced specificity contributes to observed declines in absolute sensitivity. PMID:22074806

Amphetamine sensitization alters reward processing in the human striatum and amygdala.

PubMed

O'Daly, Owen G; Joyce, Daniel; Tracy, Derek K; Azim, Adnan; Stephan, Klaas E; Murray, Robin M; Shergill, Sukhwinder S

2014-01-01

Dysregulation of mesolimbic dopamine transmission is implicated in a number of psychiatric illnesses characterised by disruption of reward processing and goal-directed behaviour, including schizophrenia, drug addiction and impulse control disorders associated with chronic use of dopamine agonists. Amphetamine sensitization (AS) has been proposed to model the development of this aberrant dopamine signalling and the subsequent dysregulation of incentive motivational processes. However, in humans the effects of AS on the dopamine-sensitive neural circuitry associated with reward processing remains unclear. Here we describe the effects of acute amphetamine administration, following a sensitising dosage regime, on blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal in dopaminoceptive brain regions during a rewarded gambling task performed by healthy volunteers. Using a randomised, double-blind, parallel-groups design, we found clear evidence for sensitization to the subjective effects of the drug, while rewarded reaction times were unchanged. Repeated amphetamine exposure was associated with reduced dorsal striatal BOLD signal during decision making, but enhanced ventromedial caudate activity during reward anticipation. The amygdala BOLD response to reward outcomes was blunted following repeated amphetamine exposure. Positive correlations between subjective sensitization and changes in anticipation- and outcome-related BOLD signal were seen for the caudate nucleus and amygdala, respectively. These data show for the first time in humans that AS changes the functional impact of acute stimulant exposure on the processing of reward-related information within dopaminoceptive regions. Our findings accord with pathophysiological models which implicate aberrant dopaminergic modulation of striatal and amygdala activity in psychosis and drug-related compulsive disorders.

Bird use of organic apple orchards: Frugivory, pest control and implications for production

PubMed Central

Pejchar, Liba; Werner, Scott J.

2017-01-01

As the largest terrestrial biomes, crop and pasturelands can have very large positive or negative impacts on biodiversity and human well-being. Understanding how animals use and impact agroecosystems is important for making informed decisions that achieve conservation and production outcomes. Yet, few studies examine the tradeoffs associated with wildlife in agricultural systems. We examined bird use of organic apple orchards as well as how birds influence fruit production positively through control of an economically important insect pest (codling moth (Cydia pomonella)) and negatively through fruit damage. We conducted transect surveys, observed bird frugivory and assessed bird and insect damage with an exclosure experiment in small organic farms in western Colorado. We found that organic apple orchards in this region provide habitat for a large number of both human-adapted and human-sensitive species and that the species in orchards were relatively similar to adjacent hedgerow habitats. Habitat use did not vary as a function of orchard characteristics, and apple damage by both birds and C. pomonella was consistent within and across apple blocks that varied in size. A small subset of bird species was observed foraging on apples yet the effect of birds as agents of fruit damage appeared rather minor and birds did not reduce C. pomonella damage. Our results demonstrate that organic apple orchards have the potential to provide habitat for diverse bird communities, including species typically sensitive to human activities, with little apparent effect on production. PMID:28910290

Worldwide variability in growth and its association with health: Incorporating body composition, developmental plasticity, and intergenerational effects.

PubMed

Wells, Jonathan C K

2017-03-01

In their seminal book "Worldwide variation in human growth," published in 1976, Eveleth and Tanner highlighted substantial variability within and between populations in the magnitude and schedule of human growth. In the four decades since then, research has clarified why growth variability is so closely associated with human health. First, growth patterns are strongly associated with body composition, both in the short- and long-term. Poor growth in early life constrains the acquisition of lean tissue, while compensatory "catch-up" growth may elevate body fatness. Second, these data are examples of the fundamental link between growth and developmental plasticity. Growth is highly sensitive to ecological stresses and stimuli during early "critical windows," but loses much of this sensitivity as it undergoes canalization during early childhood. Crucially, the primary source of stimuli during early "critical windows" is not the external environment itself, but rather maternal phenotype, which transduces the impact of ecological conditions. Maternal phenotype, representing many dimensions of "capital," thus generates a powerful impact on the developmental trajectory of the offspring. There is increasing evidence that low levels of maternal capital impact the offspring's size at birth, schedule of maturation, and body composition and physiological function in adulthood. While evidence has accrued of substantial heritability in adult height, it is clear that the pathway through which it is attained has major implications for metabolic phenotype. Integrating these perspectives is important for understanding how developmental plasticity may on the one hand contribute to adaptation, while on the other shape susceptibility to non-communicable disease. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Impacts of Migratory Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) on Microbial Water Quality in the Central Platte River, Nebraska, USA

EPA Science Inventory

Wild birds have been shown to be significant sources of numerous types of pathogens that are relevant to humans and agriculture. The presence of large numbers of migratory birds in such a sensitive and important ecosystem as the Platte River in central Nebraska, USA, could potent...

Risk Perceptions That Effect Behavior and Attitudes in Safety Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-01-01

Turner, B.A. (1978), Man-made Disasters. London, Wykeham. Van Manen , Max. 1990. Reasearching lived experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. New York: State University of New York. ...method employed tried to capture the “essence” of lived experiences, which may have an impact on aviation safety. In Max Van Manen’s book

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF HUMAN PON1 POLYMORPHISMS: SENSITIVITY AND MONTE CARLO ANALYSES USING A PHYSIOLOGICALLY BASED PHARMACOKINETIC/ PHARMACODYNAMIC (PBPK/PD) MODEL FOR CHLORPYRIFOS. (R828608)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Privileged Detection of Conspecifics: Evidence from Inversion Effects during Continuous Flash Suppression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stein, Timo; Sterzer, Philipp; Peelen, Marius V.

2012-01-01

The rapid visual detection of other people in our environment is an important first step in social cognition. Here we provide evidence for selective sensitivity of the human visual system to upright depictions of conspecifics. In a series of seven experiments, we assessed the impact of stimulus inversion on the detection of person silhouettes,…

Results of the fourth joint U.S.-Russian Bering and Chukchi Seas expedition (BERPAC)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

It is important to monitor the status of arctic oceans especially in terms of the impact human activities are making on these sensitive ecosystems. This is a compilation of research findings from a joint US/Russian expedition to the Bering and Chukchi seas that focuses on the significance of long-t...

Hemicholinium-3 sensitive choline transport in human T lymphocytes: Evidence for use as a proxy for brain choline transporter (CHT) capacity.

PubMed

Koshy Cherian, Ajeesh; Parikh, Vinay; Wu, Qi; Mao-Draayer, Yang; Wang, Qin; Blakely, Randy D; Sarter, Martin

2017-09-01

The synaptic uptake of choline via the high-affinity, hemicholinium-3-dependent choline transporter (CHT) strongly influences the capacity of cholinergic neurons to sustain acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis and release. To advance research on the impact of CHT capacity in humans, we established the presence of the neuronal CHT protein in human T lymphocytes. Next, we demonstrated CHT-mediated choline transport in human T cells. To address the validity of T cell-based choline uptake as a proxy for brain CHT capacity, we isolated T cells from the spleen, and synaptosomes from cortex and striatum, of wild type and CHT-overexpressing mice (CHT-OXP). Choline uptake capacity in T cells from CHT-OXP mice was two-fold higher than in wild type mice, mirroring the impact of CHT over-expression on synaptosomal CHT-mediated choline uptake. Monitoring T lymphocyte CHT protein and activity may be useful for estimating human CNS cholinergic capacity and for testing hypotheses concerning the contribution of CHT and, more generally, ACh signaling in cognition, neuroinflammation and disease. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of climate change on human health and health systems in Tanzania: a review.

PubMed

Mboera, Leonard E G; Mayala, Benjamin K; Kweka, Eliningaya J; Mazigo, Humphrey D

2011-12-01

Climate change (CC) has a number of immediate and long-term impacts on the fundamental determinants of human health. A number of potential human health effects have been associated either directly or indirectly with global climate change. Vulnerability to the risks associated with CC may exacerbate ongoing socio-economic challenges. The objective of this review was to analyse the potential risk and vulnerability in the context of climate-sensitive human diseases and health system in Tanzania. Climate sensitive vector- and waterborne diseases and other health related problems and the policies on climate adaptation in Tanzania during the past 50 years are reviewed. The review has shown that a number of climate-associated infectious disease epidemics have been reported in various areas of the country; mostly being associated with increase in precipitation and temperature. Although, there is no single policy document that specifically addresses issues of CC in the country, the National Environmental Management Act of 1997 recognizes the importance of CC and calls for the government to put up measures to address the phenomenon. A number of strategies and action plans related to CC are also in place. These include the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, the National Action Programme, and the National Bio-safety Framework. The government has put in place a National Climate Change Steering Committee and the National Climate Change Technical Committee to oversee and guide the implementation of CC activities in the country. Recognizing the adverse impacts of natural disasters and calamities, the government established a Disaster Management Division under the Prime Minister's Office. Epidemic Preparedness and Response Unit of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is responsible for emergency preparedness, mostly disease outbreaks. However, specific climate changes associated with human health issues are poorly addressed in the MoHSW strategies and the national health research priorities. In conclusion, CC threatens to slow, halt or reverses the progress the country has made or is making to achieve its national and millennium development goals. It is therefore important that Tanzania prepares itself to appropriately address CC impact on human health. It is equally important that policy makers and other stakeholders are engaged in a process to update and adapt priorities, mobilize resources and build interdisciplinary research and implementation capacity on climate change and its mitigation.

Speaking from the Inside: Challenges Faced by Communication Researchers Investigating Disease-Related Issues in a Hospital Setting.

PubMed

Bourquin, Céline; Stiefel, Friedrich; Singy, Pascal

2015-09-01

This commentary came from within the framework of integrating the humanities in medicine and from accompanying research on disease-related issues by teams involving clinicians and researchers in medical humanities. The purpose is to reflect on the challenges faced by researchers when conducting emotionally laden research and on how they impact observations and subsequent research findings. This commentary is furthermore a call to action since it promotes the institutionalization of a supportive context for medical humanities researchers who have not been trained to cope with sensitive medical topics in research. To that end, concrete recommendations regarding training and supervision were formulated.

Attributing anthropogenic impact on regional heat wave events using CAM5 model large ensemble simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lo, S. H.; Chen, C. T.

2017-12-01

Extreme heat waves have serious impacts on society. It was argued that the anthropogenic forcing might substantially increase the risk of extreme heat wave events (e.g. over western Europe in 2003 and over Russia in 2010). However, the regional dependence of such anthropogenic impact and the sensitivity of the attributed risk to the definition of heat wave still require further studies. In our research framework, the change in the frequency and severity of a heat wave event under current conditions is calculated and compared with the probability and magnitude of the event if the effects of particular external forcing, such as due to human influence, had been absent. In our research, we use the CAM5 large ensemble simulation from the CLIVAR C20C+ Detection and Attribution project (http://portal.nersc.gov/c20c/main.html, Folland et al. 2014) to detect the heat wave events occurred in both historical all forcing run and natural forcing only run. The heat wave events are identified by partial duration series method (Huth et al., 2000). We test the sensitivity of heat wave thresholds from daily maximum temperature (Tmax) in warm season (from May to September) between 1959 and 2013. We consider the anthropogenic effect on the later period (2000-2013) when the warming due to human impact is more evident. Using Taiwan and surrounding area as our preliminary research target, We found the anthropogenic effect will increase the heat wave day per year from 30 days to 75 days and make the mean starting(ending) day for heat waves events about 15-30 days earlier(later). Using the Fraction of Attribution Risk analysis to estimate the risk of frequency of heat wave day, our results show the anthropogenic forcing very likely increase the heat wave days over Taiwan by more than 50%. Further regional differences and sensitivity of the attributed risk to the definition of heat wave will be compared and discussed.

National Biological Service Research Supports Watershed Planning

USGS Publications Warehouse

Snyder, Craig D.

1996-01-01

The National Biological Service's Leetown Science Center is investigating how human impacts on watershed, riparian, and in-stream habitats affect fish communities. The research will provide the basis for a Ridge and Valley model that will allow resource managers to accurately predict and effectively mitigate human impacts on water quality. The study takes place in the Opequon Creek drainage basin of West Virginia. A fourth-order tributary of the Potomac, the basin falls within the Ridge and Valley. The study will identify biological components sensitive to land use patterns and the condition of the riparian zone; the effect of stream size, location, and other characteristics on fish communities; the extent to which remote sensing can reliable measure the riparian zone; and the relationship between the rate of landscape change and the structure of fish communities.

Rapid and sensitive analysis of phthalate metabolites, bisphenol A, and endogenous steroid hormones in human urine by mixed-mode solid-phase extraction, dansylation, and ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Wang, He-xing; Wang, Bin; Zhou, Ying; Jiang, Qing-wu

2013-05-01

Steroid hormone levels in human urine are convenient and sensitive indicators for the impact of phthalates and/or bisphenol A (BPA) exposure on the human steroid hormone endocrine system. In this study, a rapid and sensitive method for determination of 14 phthalate metabolites, BPA, and ten endogenous steroid hormones in urine was developed and validated on the basis of ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The optimized mixed-mode solid phase-extraction separated the weakly acidic or neutral BPA and steroid hormones from acidic phthalate metabolites in urine: the former were determined in positive ion mode with a methanol/water mobile phase containing 10 mM ammonium formate; the latter were determined in negative ion mode with a acetonitrile/water mobile phase containing 0.1 % acetic acid, which significantly alleviated matrix effects for the analysis of BPA and steroid hormones. Dansylation of estrogens and BPA realized simultaneous and sensitive analysis of the endogenous steroid hormones and BPA in a single chromatographic run. The limits of detection were less than 0.84 ng/mL for phthalate metabolites and less than 0.22 ng/mL for endogenous steroid hormones and BPA. This proposed method had satisfactory precision and accuracy, and was successfully applied to the analyses of human urine samples. This method could be valuable when investigating the associations among endocrine-disrupting chemicals, endogenous steroid hormones, and relevant adverse outcomes in epidemiological studies.

The shaping of social perception by stimulus and knowledge cues to human animacy

PubMed Central

Ramsey, Richard; Liepelt, Roman; Prinz, Wolfgang; Hamilton, Antonia F. de C.

2016-01-01

Although robots are becoming an ever-growing presence in society, we do not hold the same expectations for robots as we do for humans, nor do we treat them the same. As such, the ability to recognize cues to human animacy is fundamental for guiding social interactions. We review literature that demonstrates cortical networks associated with person perception, action observation and mentalizing are sensitive to human animacy information. In addition, we show that most prior research has explored stimulus properties of artificial agents (humanness of appearance or motion), with less investigation into knowledge cues (whether an agent is believed to have human or artificial origins). Therefore, currently little is known about the relationship between stimulus and knowledge cues to human animacy in terms of cognitive and brain mechanisms. Using fMRI, an elaborate belief manipulation, and human and robot avatars, we found that knowledge cues to human animacy modulate engagement of person perception and mentalizing networks, while stimulus cues to human animacy had less impact on social brain networks. These findings demonstrate that self–other similarities are not only grounded in physical features but are also shaped by prior knowledge. More broadly, as artificial agents fulfil increasingly social roles, a challenge for roboticists will be to manage the impact of pre-conceived beliefs while optimizing human-like design. PMID:26644594

The shaping of social perception by stimulus and knowledge cues to human animacy.

PubMed

Cross, Emily S; Ramsey, Richard; Liepelt, Roman; Prinz, Wolfgang; de C Hamilton, Antonia F

2016-01-19

Although robots are becoming an ever-growing presence in society, we do not hold the same expectations for robots as we do for humans, nor do we treat them the same. As such, the ability to recognize cues to human animacy is fundamental for guiding social interactions. We review literature that demonstrates cortical networks associated with person perception, action observation and mentalizing are sensitive to human animacy information. In addition, we show that most prior research has explored stimulus properties of artificial agents (humanness of appearance or motion), with less investigation into knowledge cues (whether an agent is believed to have human or artificial origins). Therefore, currently little is known about the relationship between stimulus and knowledge cues to human animacy in terms of cognitive and brain mechanisms. Using fMRI, an elaborate belief manipulation, and human and robot avatars, we found that knowledge cues to human animacy modulate engagement of person perception and mentalizing networks, while stimulus cues to human animacy had less impact on social brain networks. These findings demonstrate that self-other similarities are not only grounded in physical features but are also shaped by prior knowledge. More broadly, as artificial agents fulfil increasingly social roles, a challenge for roboticists will be to manage the impact of pre-conceived beliefs while optimizing human-like design. © 2015 The Authors.

Smoke in a new era of fire

Treesearch

Rachel White; Paul Hessburg; Sim Larkin; Morgan Varner

2017-01-01

Smoke from fire can sharply reduce air quality by releasing particulate matter, one of the most dangerous types of air pollution for human health. A third of U.S. households have someone sensitive to smoke. Minimizing the amount and impact of smoke is a high priority for land managers and regulators. One tool for achieving that goal is prescribed fire. Prescribed fire...

Assessing the ecological vulnerability of the upper reaches of the Minjiang River

PubMed Central

Sun, Jian; Ma, Baibing; Du, Wenpeng

2017-01-01

The upper reaches of the Minjiang River (URMR), located on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in southwestern China, are an important component of the ecological barrier of the Upper Yangtze River Basin. Climate change and human activities have increased the ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of the region, which may pose a threat to the ecological security of the Yangtze River Basin and have negative impacts on local social and economic development. In this study, we analyzed land use and cover change (LUCC) of the URMR between 2000 and 2010, and found that the total rate of LUCC was less than 0.50% during this period. In addition, net primary production (NPP) was employed to describe the changes in ecosystem sensitivity and vulnerability, and the results demonstrated that slightly and moderately sensitive and vulnerable zones occupied the largest area, distributed mainly in forest, shrub, and grassland ecosystems. However, compared with the period from 2000 to 2005, the ecological sensitivity and vulnerability showed a worsening trend in the period 2005–2010. Exploring the relationship between vulnerability/sensitivity and environmental factors, we found that sensitivity and vulnerability were positively correlated with precipitation (>700 mm) and aridity index (>36 mm/°C). The results highlight that the future ecological sensitivity and vulnerability of URMR should be further investigated, and that the LUCC induced by human activities and climate change have caused alteration of in ecosystem vulnerability. PMID:28753635

Social Regulation of Human Gene Expression: Mechanisms and Implications for Public Health

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Recent analyses have discovered broad alterations in the expression of human genes across different social environments. The emerging field of social genomics has begun to identify the types of genes sensitive to social regulation, the biological signaling pathways mediating these effects, and the genetic polymorphisms that modify their individual impact. The human genome appears to have evolved specific “social programs” to adapt molecular physiology to the changing patterns of threat and opportunity ancestrally associated with changing social conditions. In the context of the immune system, this programming now fosters many of the diseases that dominate public health. The embedding of individual genomes within a broader metagenomic network provides a framework for integrating molecular, physiologic, and social perspectives on human health. PMID:23927506

The impact of residential combustion emissions on atmospheric aerosol, human health, and climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butt, E. W.; Rap, A.; Schmidt, A.; Scott, C. E.; Pringle, K. J.; Reddington, C. L.; Richards, N. A. D.; Woodhouse, M. T.; Ramirez-Villegas, J.; Yang, H.; Vakkari, V.; Stone, E. A.; Rupakheti, M.; Praveen, P. S.; van Zyl, P. G.; Beukes, J. P.; Josipovic, M.; Mitchell, E. J. S.; Sallu, S. M.; Forster, P. M.; Spracklen, D. V.

2016-01-01

Combustion of fuels in the residential sector for cooking and heating results in the emission of aerosol and aerosol precursors impacting air quality, human health, and climate. Residential emissions are dominated by the combustion of solid fuels. We use a global aerosol microphysics model to simulate the impact of residential fuel combustion on atmospheric aerosol for the year 2000. The model underestimates black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC) mass concentrations observed over Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa, with better prediction when carbonaceous emissions from the residential sector are doubled. Observed seasonal variability of BC and OC concentrations are better simulated when residential emissions include a seasonal cycle. The largest contributions of residential emissions to annual surface mean particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations are simulated for East Asia, South Asia, and Eastern Europe. We use a concentration response function to estimate the human health impact due to long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 from residential emissions. We estimate global annual excess adult (> 30 years of age) premature mortality (due to both cardiopulmonary disease and lung cancer) to be 308 000 (113 300-497 000, 5th to 95th percentile uncertainty range) for monthly varying residential emissions and 517 000 (192 000-827 000) when residential carbonaceous emissions are doubled. Mortality due to residential emissions is greatest in Asia, with China and India accounting for 50 % of simulated global excess mortality. Using an offline radiative transfer model we estimate that residential emissions exert a global annual mean direct radiative effect between -66 and +21 mW m-2, with sensitivity to the residential emission flux and the assumed ratio of BC, OC, and SO2 emissions. Residential emissions exert a global annual mean first aerosol indirect effect of between -52 and -16 mW m-2, which is sensitive to the assumed size distribution of carbonaceous emissions. Overall, our results demonstrate that reducing residential combustion emissions would have substantial benefits for human health through reductions in ambient PM2.5 concentrations.

Variation in Estimated Ozone-Related Health Impacts of Climate Change due to Modeling Choices and Assumptions

PubMed Central

Post, Ellen S.; Grambsch, Anne; Weaver, Chris; Morefield, Philip; Leung, Lai-Yung; Nolte, Christopher G.; Adams, Peter; Liang, Xin-Zhong; Zhu, Jin-Hong; Mahoney, Hardee

2012-01-01

Background: Future climate change may cause air quality degradation via climate-induced changes in meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, and emissions into the air. Few studies have explicitly modeled the potential relationships between climate change, air quality, and human health, and fewer still have investigated the sensitivity of estimates to the underlying modeling choices. Objectives: Our goal was to assess the sensitivity of estimated ozone-related human health impacts of climate change to key modeling choices. Methods: Our analysis included seven modeling systems in which a climate change model is linked to an air quality model, five population projections, and multiple concentration–response functions. Using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (BenMAP), we estimated future ozone (O3)-related health effects in the United States attributable to simulated climate change between the years 2000 and approximately 2050, given each combination of modeling choices. Health effects and concentration–response functions were chosen to match those used in the U.S. EPA’s 2008 Regulatory Impact Analysis of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for O3. Results: Different combinations of methodological choices produced a range of estimates of national O3-related mortality from roughly 600 deaths avoided as a result of climate change to 2,500 deaths attributable to climate change (although the large majority produced increases in mortality). The choice of the climate change and the air quality model reflected the greatest source of uncertainty, with the other modeling choices having lesser but still substantial effects. Conclusions: Our results highlight the need to use an ensemble approach, instead of relying on any one set of modeling choices, to assess the potential risks associated with O3-related human health effects resulting from climate change. PMID:22796531

Exploring the impact of climate variability during the Last Glacial Maximum on the pattern of human occupation of Iberia.

PubMed

Burke, Ariane; Levavasseur, Guillaume; James, Patrick M A; Guiducci, Dario; Izquierdo, Manuel Arturo; Bourgeon, Lauriane; Kageyama, Masa; Ramstein, Gilles; Vrac, Mathieu

2014-08-01

The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) was a global climate event, which had significant repercussions for the spatial distribution and demographic history of prehistoric populations. In Eurasia, the LGM coincides with a potential bottleneck for modern humans and may mark the divergence date for Asian and European populations (Keinan et al., 2007). In this research, the impact of climate variability on human populations in the Iberian Peninsula during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is examined with the aid of downscaled high-resolution (16 × 16 km) numerical climate experiments. Human sensitivity to short time-scale (inter-annual) climate variability during this key time period, which follows the initial modern human colonisation of Eurasia and the extinction of the Neanderthals, is tested using the spatial distribution of archaeological sites. Results indicate that anatomically modern human populations responded to small-scale spatial patterning in climate variability, specifically inter-annual variability in precipitation levels as measured by the standard precipitation index. Climate variability at less than millennial scale, therefore, is shown to be an important component of ecological risk, one that played a role in regulating the spatial behaviour of prehistoric human populations and consequently affected their social networks. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dielectric elastomer for stretchable sensors: influence of the design and material properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jean-Mistral, C.; Iglesias, S.; Pruvost, S.; Duchet-Rumeau, J.; Chesné, S.

2016-04-01

Dielectric elastomers exhibit extended capabilities as flexible sensors for the detection of load distributions, pressure or huge deformations. Tracking the human movements of the fingers or the arms could be useful for the reconstruction of sporting gesture, or to control a human-like robot. Proposing new measurements methods are addressed in a number of publications leading to improving the sensitivity and accuracy of the sensing method. Generally, the associated modelling remains simple (RC or RC transmission line). The material parameters are considered constant or having a negligible effect which can lead to serious reduction of accuracy. Comparisons between measurements and modelling require care and skill, and could be tricky. Thus, we propose here a comprehensive modelling, taking into account the influence of the material properties on the performances of the dielectric elastomer sensor (DES). Various parameters influencing the characteristics of the sensors have been identified: dielectric constant, hyper-elasticity. The variations of these parameters as a function of the strain impact the linearity and sensitivity of the sensor of few percent. The sensitivity of the DES is also evaluated changing geometrical parameters (initial thickness) and its design (rectangular and dog-bone shapes). We discuss the impact of the shape regarding stress. Finally, DES including a silicone elastomer sandwiched between two high conductive stretchable electrodes, were manufactured and investigated. Classic and reliable LCR measurements are detailed. Experimental results validate our numerical model of large strain sensor (>50%).

Drugs, Biogenic Amine Targets and the Developing Brain

PubMed Central

Frederick, Aliya L.; Stanwood, Gregg D.

2009-01-01

Defects in the development of the brain have profound impacts on mature brain functions and underlie psychopathology. Classical neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, such as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetycholine, glutamate and GABA, have pleiotropic effects during brain development. In other words, these molecules produce multiple, diverse effects to serve as regulators of distinct cellular functions at different times in neurodevelopment. These systems are impacted upon by a variety of illicit drugs of abuse, neurotherapeutics, and environmental contaminants. In this review, we describe the impact of drugs and chemicals on brain formation and function in animal models and in human populations, highlighting sensitive periods and effects that may not emerge until later in life. PMID:19372683

Elucidative analysis and sequencing of two respiratory health monitoring methods to study the impact of varying atmospheric composition on human health

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Awasthi, Amit; Hothi, Navjot; Kaur, Prabhjot; Singh, Nirankar; Chakraborty, Monojit; Bansal, Sangeeta

2017-12-01

Atmospheric composition of ambient air consists of different gases in definite proportion that affect the earth's climate and its ecological system. Due to varied anthropogenic reasons, this composition is changed, which ultimately have an impact on the health of living beings. For survival, the human respiratory system is one of the sensitive systems, which is easily and closely affected by the change in atmospheric composition of an external environment. Many studies have been conducted to quantify the effects of atmospheric pollution on human health by using different approaches. This article presents different scenario of studies conducted to evaluate the effects on different human groups. Differences between the studies conducted using spirometry and survey methods are presented in this article to extract a better sequence between these two methodologies. Many studies have been conducted to measure the respiratory status by evaluating the respiratory symptoms and hospital admissions. Limited numbers of studies are found with repeated spirometry on the same subjects for long duration to nullify the error arising due to decrease in efforts by the same subjects during manoeuvre of pulmonary function tests. Present study reveals the importance of methodological sequencing in order to obtain more authentic and reliable results. This study suggests that impacts of deteriorating atmospheric composition on human health can be more significantly studied if spirometry is done after survey analysis. The article also proposes that efficiency and authenticity of surveys involving health impacts will increase, if medical data information of patients is saved in hospitals in a proper format.

Terrestrial acidification and ecosystem services: effects of acid rain on bunnies, baseball, and Christmas trees

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Irvine, Irina C.; Greaver, Tara; Phelan, Jennifer

Often termed “acid rain,” combined nitrogen and sulfur deposition can directly and indirectly impact the condition and health of forest ecosystems. Researchers use critical loads (CLs) to describe response thresholds, and recent studies on acid-sensitive biological indicators show that forests continue to be at risk from terrestrial acidification. However, rarely are impacts translated into changes in “ecosystem services” that impact human well-being. Further, the relevance of this research to the general public is seldom communicated in terms that can motivate action to protect valuable resources. To understand how changes in biological indicators affect human well-being, we used the STEPS (Stressor–Ecologicalmore » Production function–final ecosystem Services) Framework to quantitatively and qualitatively link CL exceedances to ecosystem service impacts. We specified the cause-and-effect ecological processes linking changes in biological indicators to final ecosystem services. The Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System (FEGS-CS) was used within the STEPS Framework to classify the ecosystem component and the beneficiary class that uses or values the component. We analyzed two acid-sensitive tree species, balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white ash (Fraxinus americana), that are common in northeastern USA. These well-known species provide habitat for animals and popular forest products that are relatable to a broad audience. We identified 160 chains with 10 classes of human beneficiaries for balsam fir and white ash combined, concluding that there are resources at risk that the public may value. Two stories resulting from these explorations into the cascading effects of acid rain on terrestrial resources are ideal for effective science communication: the relationship between (1) balsam fir as a popular Christmas tree and habitat for the snowshoe hare, a favorite of wildlife viewers, and (2) white ash because it is used for half of all baseball bats, fine wood products, and musical instruments. Thus, rather than focusing on biological indicators that may only be understood or appreciated by specific stakeholders or experts, this approach extends the analysis to include impacts on FEGS and humans. It also lays the foundation for developing stakeholder-specific narratives, quantitative measures of endpoints, and for conducting demand-based valuations of affected ecosystem services.« less

Terrestrial acidification and ecosystem services: effects of acid rain on bunnies, baseball, and Christmas trees

DOE PAGES

Irvine, Irina C.; Greaver, Tara; Phelan, Jennifer; ...

2017-06-22

Often termed “acid rain,” combined nitrogen and sulfur deposition can directly and indirectly impact the condition and health of forest ecosystems. Researchers use critical loads (CLs) to describe response thresholds, and recent studies on acid-sensitive biological indicators show that forests continue to be at risk from terrestrial acidification. However, rarely are impacts translated into changes in “ecosystem services” that impact human well-being. Further, the relevance of this research to the general public is seldom communicated in terms that can motivate action to protect valuable resources. To understand how changes in biological indicators affect human well-being, we used the STEPS (Stressor–Ecologicalmore » Production function–final ecosystem Services) Framework to quantitatively and qualitatively link CL exceedances to ecosystem service impacts. We specified the cause-and-effect ecological processes linking changes in biological indicators to final ecosystem services. The Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System (FEGS-CS) was used within the STEPS Framework to classify the ecosystem component and the beneficiary class that uses or values the component. We analyzed two acid-sensitive tree species, balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white ash (Fraxinus americana), that are common in northeastern USA. These well-known species provide habitat for animals and popular forest products that are relatable to a broad audience. We identified 160 chains with 10 classes of human beneficiaries for balsam fir and white ash combined, concluding that there are resources at risk that the public may value. Two stories resulting from these explorations into the cascading effects of acid rain on terrestrial resources are ideal for effective science communication: the relationship between (1) balsam fir as a popular Christmas tree and habitat for the snowshoe hare, a favorite of wildlife viewers, and (2) white ash because it is used for half of all baseball bats, fine wood products, and musical instruments. Thus, rather than focusing on biological indicators that may only be understood or appreciated by specific stakeholders or experts, this approach extends the analysis to include impacts on FEGS and humans. It also lays the foundation for developing stakeholder-specific narratives, quantitative measures of endpoints, and for conducting demand-based valuations of affected ecosystem services.« less

Perspective for Future Research Direction About Health Impact of Ambient Air Pollution in China.

PubMed

Dong, Guang-Hui

2017-01-01

Air pollution has become one of the major risks to human health because of the progressive increase in the use of vehicles powered by fossil fuels. Although lots of works on the health impact of ambient air pollution have been done in China, the following recommendations for future research were identified in this chapter: (1) the synergistic effect of indoor air pollution with climate change; (2) develop new technologies to improve accurate assessment of air pollution exposure; (3) well-designed cohort study of sensitive populations including children, older people, and people with chronic health problems; (4) multi-omics technologies in the underlying mechanisms study; and (5) benefits evaluation of improvement of air quality. In conclusion, China is becoming a suitable study site, providing an ideal opportunity to evaluate the effects of environmental pollution, including air pollution, on human health, which might serve as an example for developing countries where health impacts of air pollution are as serious as in China.

Climate change, vector-borne diseases and working population.

PubMed

Vonesch, Nicoletta; D'Ovidio, Maria Concetta; Melis, Paola; Remoli, Maria Elena; Ciufolini, Maria Grazia; Tomao, Paola

2016-01-01

Risks associated with climate change are increasing worldwide and the global effects include altered weather and precipitation patterns, rising temperatures and others; human health can be affected directly and indirectly. This paper is an overview of literature regarding climate changes, their interaction with vector-borne diseases and impact on working population. Articles regarding climate changes as drivers of vector-borne diseases and evidences of occupational cases have been picked up by public databank. Technical documents were also included in the study. Evidences regarding the impact of climate changes on vector-borne diseases in Europe, provided by the analysis of the literature, are presented. Climate-sensitive vector-borne diseases are likely to be emerging due to climate modifications, with impacts on public and occupational health. However, other environmental and anthropogenic drivers such as increasing travelling and trade, deforestation and reforestation, altered land use and urbanization can influence their spread. Further studies are necessary to better understand the phenomenon and implementation of adaptation strategies to protect human health should be accelerated and strengthened.

Fluorescence-based assay as a new screening tool for toxic chemicals

PubMed Central

Moczko, Ewa; Mirkes, Evgeny M.; Cáceres, César; Gorban, Alexander N.; Piletsky, Sergey

2016-01-01

Our study involves development of fluorescent cell-based diagnostic assay as a new approach in high-throughput screening method. This highly sensitive optical assay operates similarly to e-noses and e-tongues which combine semi-specific sensors and multivariate data analysis for monitoring biochemical processes. The optical assay consists of a mixture of environmental-sensitive fluorescent dyes and human skin cells that generate fluorescence spectra patterns distinctive for particular physico-chemical and physiological conditions. Using chemometric techniques the optical signal is processed providing qualitative information about analytical characteristics of the samples. This integrated approach has been successfully applied (with sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 97%) in assessing whether particular chemical agents are irritating or not for human skin. It has several advantages compared with traditional biochemical or biological assays and can impact the new way of high-throughput screening and understanding cell activity. It also can provide reliable and reproducible method for assessing a risk of exposing people to different harmful substances, identification active compounds in toxicity screening and safety assessment of drugs, cosmetic or their specific ingredients. PMID:27653274

Fluorescence-based assay as a new screening tool for toxic chemicals.

PubMed

Moczko, Ewa; Mirkes, Evgeny M; Cáceres, César; Gorban, Alexander N; Piletsky, Sergey

2016-09-22

Our study involves development of fluorescent cell-based diagnostic assay as a new approach in high-throughput screening method. This highly sensitive optical assay operates similarly to e-noses and e-tongues which combine semi-specific sensors and multivariate data analysis for monitoring biochemical processes. The optical assay consists of a mixture of environmental-sensitive fluorescent dyes and human skin cells that generate fluorescence spectra patterns distinctive for particular physico-chemical and physiological conditions. Using chemometric techniques the optical signal is processed providing qualitative information about analytical characteristics of the samples. This integrated approach has been successfully applied (with sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 97%) in assessing whether particular chemical agents are irritating or not for human skin. It has several advantages compared with traditional biochemical or biological assays and can impact the new way of high-throughput screening and understanding cell activity. It also can provide reliable and reproducible method for assessing a risk of exposing people to different harmful substances, identification active compounds in toxicity screening and safety assessment of drugs, cosmetic or their specific ingredients.

Fluorescence-based assay as a new screening tool for toxic chemicals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moczko, Ewa; Mirkes, Evgeny M.; Cáceres, César; Gorban, Alexander N.; Piletsky, Sergey

2016-09-01

Our study involves development of fluorescent cell-based diagnostic assay as a new approach in high-throughput screening method. This highly sensitive optical assay operates similarly to e-noses and e-tongues which combine semi-specific sensors and multivariate data analysis for monitoring biochemical processes. The optical assay consists of a mixture of environmental-sensitive fluorescent dyes and human skin cells that generate fluorescence spectra patterns distinctive for particular physico-chemical and physiological conditions. Using chemometric techniques the optical signal is processed providing qualitative information about analytical characteristics of the samples. This integrated approach has been successfully applied (with sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 97%) in assessing whether particular chemical agents are irritating or not for human skin. It has several advantages compared with traditional biochemical or biological assays and can impact the new way of high-throughput screening and understanding cell activity. It also can provide reliable and reproducible method for assessing a risk of exposing people to different harmful substances, identification active compounds in toxicity screening and safety assessment of drugs, cosmetic or their specific ingredients.

I-C-SEA Change: A participatory tool for rapid assessment of vulnerability of tropical coastal communities to climate change impacts.

PubMed

Licuanan, Wilfredo Y; Samson, Maricar S; Mamauag, Samuel S; David, Laura T; Borja-Del Rosario, Roselle; Quibilan, Miledel Christine C; Siringan, Fernando P; Sta Maria, Ma Yvainne Y; España, Norievill B; Villanoy, Cesar L; Geronimo, Rollan C; Cabrera, Olivia C; Martinez, Renmar Jun S; Aliño, Porfirio M

2015-12-01

We present a synoptic, participatory vulnerability assessment tool to help identify the likely impacts of climate change and human activity in coastal areas and begin discussions among stakeholders on the coping and adaptation measures necessary to minimize these impacts. Vulnerability assessment tools are most needed in the tropical Indo-Pacific, where burgeoning populations and inequitable economic growth place even greater burdens on natural resources and support ecosystems. The Integrated Coastal Sensitivity, Exposure, and Adaptive Capacity for Climate Change (I-C-SEA Change) tool is built around a series of scoring rubrics to guide non-specialists in assigning scores to the sensitivity and adaptive capacity components of vulnerability, particularly for coral reef, seagrass, and mangrove habitats, along with fisheries and coastal integrity. These scores are then weighed against threat or exposure to climate-related impacts such as marine flooding and erosion. The tool provides opportunities for learning by engaging more stakeholders in participatory planning and group decision-making. It also allows for information to be collated and processed during a "town-hall" meeting, facilitating further discussion, data validation, and even interactive scenario building.

Human Prostatic Acid Phosphatase: Structure, Function and Regulation

PubMed Central

Muniyan, Sakthivel; Chaturvedi, Nagendra K.; Dwyer, Jennifer G.; LaGrange, Chad A.; Chaney, William G.; Lin, Ming-Fong

2013-01-01

Human prostatic acid phosphatase (PAcP) is a 100 kDa glycoprotein composed of two subunits. Recent advances demonstrate that cellular PAcP (cPAcP) functions as a protein tyrosine phosphatase by dephosphorylating ErbB-2/Neu/HER-2 at the phosphotyrosine residues in prostate cancer (PCa) cells, which results in reduced tumorigenicity. Further, the interaction of cPAcP and ErbB-2 regulates androgen sensitivity of PCa cells. Knockdown of cPAcP expression allows androgen-sensitive PCa cells to develop the castration-resistant phenotype, where cells proliferate under an androgen-reduced condition. Thus, cPAcP has a significant influence on PCa cell growth. Interestingly, promoter analysis suggests that PAcP expression can be regulated by NF-κB, via a novel binding sequence in an androgen-independent manner. Further understanding of PAcP function and regulation of expression will have a significant impact on understanding PCa progression and therapy. PMID:23698773

Infrasounds and biorhythms of the human brain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panuszka, Ryszard; Damijan, Zbigniew; Kasprzak, Cezary; McGlothlin, James

2002-05-01

Low Frequency Noise (LFN) and infrasound has begun a new public health hazard. Evaluations of annoyance of (LFN) on human occupational health were based on standards where reactions of human auditory system and vibrations of parts of human body were small. Significant sensitivity has been observed on the central nervous system from infrasonic waves especially below 10 Hz. Observed follow-up effects in the brain gives incentive to study the relationship between parameters of waves and reactions obtained of biorhythms (EEG) and heart action (EKG). New results show the impact of LFN on the electrical potentials of the brain are dependent on the pressure waves on the human body. Electrical activity of circulatory system was also affected. Signals recorded in industrial workplaces were duplicated by loudspeakers and used to record data from a typical LFN spectra with 5 and 7 Hz in a laboratory chamber. External noise, electromagnetic fields, temperature, dust, and other elements were controlled. Results show not only a follow-up effect in the brain but also a result similar to arrhythmia in the heart. Relaxations effects were observed of people impacted by waves generated from natural sources such as streams and waterfalls.

Increased sensitivity to climate change in disturbed ecosystems.

PubMed

Kröel-Dulay, György; Ransijn, Johannes; Schmidt, Inger Kappel; Beier, Claus; De Angelis, Paolo; de Dato, Giovanbattista; Dukes, Jeffrey S; Emmett, Bridget; Estiarte, Marc; Garadnai, János; Kongstad, Jane; Kovács-Láng, Edit; Larsen, Klaus Steenberg; Liberati, Dario; Ogaya, Romà; Riis-Nielsen, Torben; Smith, Andrew R; Sowerby, Alwyn; Tietema, Albert; Penuelas, Josep

2015-03-24

Human domination of the biosphere includes changes to disturbance regimes, which push many ecosystems towards early-successional states. Ecological theory predicts that early-successional ecosystems are more sensitive to perturbations than mature systems, but little evidence supports this relationship for the perturbation of climate change. Here we show that vegetation (abundance, species richness and species composition) across seven European shrublands is quite resistant to moderate experimental warming and drought, and responsiveness is associated with the dynamic state of the ecosystem, with recently disturbed sites responding to treatments. Furthermore, most of these responses are not rapid (2-5 years) but emerge over a longer term (7-14 years). These results suggest that successional state influences the sensitivity of ecosystems to climate change, and that ecosystems recovering from disturbances may be sensitive to even modest climatic changes. A research bias towards undisturbed ecosystems might thus lead to an underestimation of the impacts of climate change.

The effect of menthol vapor on nasal sensitivity to chemical irritation.

PubMed

Wise, Paul M; Preti, George; Eades, Jason; Wysocki, Charles J

2011-10-01

Among other effects, menthol added to cigarettes may modulate sensory response to cigarette smoke either by masking "harshness" or contributing to a desirable "impact." However, harshness and impact have been imprecisely defined and assessed using subjective measures. Thus, the current experiments used an objective measure of sensitivity to chemical irritation in the nose to test the hypothesis that menthol vapor modulates sensitivity to chemical irritation in the airways. Nasal irritation thresholds were measured for 2 model compounds (acetic acid and allyl isothiocyanate) using nasal lateralization. In this technique, participants simultaneously sniff clean air in one nostril and chemical vapor in the other and attempt to identify the stimulated nostril. People cannot lateralize based on smell alone but can do so when chemicals are strong enough to feel. In one condition, participants were pretreated by sniffing menthol vapor. In a control condition, participants were pretreated by sniffing an odorless blank (within-subjects design). Pretreatment with menthol vapor decreased sensitivity to nasal irritation from acetic acid (participants required higher concentrations to lateralize) but increased sensitivity to allyl isothiocyanate (lower concentrations were required). The current experiments provide objective evidence that menthol vapor can modulate sensitivity to chemical irritation in the upper airways in humans. Cigarette smoke is a complex mixture of chemicals and particulates, and further work will be needed to determine exactly how menthol modulates smoking sensation. A better understanding could lead to treatments tailored to help menthol smokers quit by replacing the sensation of mentholated cigarettes.

A GIS framework for the assessment of tick impact on human health in a changing climate.

PubMed

Estrada-Peña, Agustin; Venzal, José M

2007-05-01

A framework to evaluate the impact of ticks on human health under various scenarios of climate change is proposed. The purpose is not to provide a comprehensive plan (e.g. the economic impact of ticks on human society is not included), instead we wish to describe a series of indices that would be helpful by obtaining homogeneous comparisons of impact and vulnerability exerted by ticks in different regions, countries or continents, using normalized sets of population, vegetation, climate and physical attributes of the territory. Three tick species, i.e. Dermacentor marginatus, Rhipicephalus turanicus and Hyalomma marginatum, have been traced over the territory of Spain to further explain the computation of these indices. The discussion is based on tick habitat suitability, used as a measure of the abiotic (climate) fitness of the habitat for the species in question, and the sensitivity of each tick species to the rate of change of habitat suitability with respect to climate change. The impact is the rate of change in habitat suitability weighted with a fuzzy logic function evaluating the total number of people in an area, percent of rural population and accessibility of the geographical divisions (expressed as hexagons with a 10 km radius) used in the study. The different climate scenarios evaluated in relation to ticks show that the north-western part of Spain would suffer the greatest impact in case the mean temperature would increase, while the Mediterranean region would suffer the highest impact if temperatures decreased. Vulnerability, based on the sanitary structure of the territory and on the impact on human activities due to the change in tick distribution and abundance, is proposed as a measure of adaptation of society to these climate scenarios. The cost is evaluated as a function of land use and tick habitat suitability in a buffer zone surrounding each geographic division. All indices proposed have been obtained by search of common and/or publicly available data sets.

A Functional, Genome-wide Evaluation of Liposensitive Yeast Identifies the “ARE2 Required for Viability” (ARV1) Gene Product as a Major Component of Eukaryotic Fatty Acid Resistance*

PubMed Central

Ruggles, Kelly V.; Garbarino, Jeanne; Liu, Ying; Moon, James; Schneider, Kerry; Henneberry, Annette; Billheimer, Jeff; Millar, John S.; Marchadier, Dawn; Valasek, Mark A.; Joblin-Mills, Aidan; Gulati, Sonia; Munkacsi, Andrew B.; Repa, Joyce J.; Rader, Dan; Sturley, Stephen L.

2014-01-01

The toxic subcellular accumulation of lipids predisposes several human metabolic syndromes, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and some forms of neurodegeneration. To identify pathways that prevent lipid-induced cell death, we performed a genome-wide fatty acid sensitivity screen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We identified 167 yeast mutants as sensitive to 0.5 mm palmitoleate, 45% of which define pathways that were conserved in humans. 63 lesions also impacted the status of the lipid droplet; however, this was not correlated to the degree of fatty acid sensitivity. The most liposensitive yeast strain arose due to deletion of the “ARE2 required for viability” (ARV1) gene, encoding an evolutionarily conserved, potential lipid transporter that localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. Down-regulation of mammalian ARV1 in MIN6 pancreatic β-cells or HEK293 cells resulted in decreased neutral lipid synthesis, increased fatty acid sensitivity, and lipoapoptosis. Conversely, elevated expression of human ARV1 in HEK293 cells or mouse liver significantly increased triglyceride mass and lipid droplet number. The ARV1-induced hepatic triglyceride accumulation was accompanied by up-regulation of DGAT1, a triglyceride synthesis gene, and the fatty acid transporter, CD36. Furthermore, ARV1 was identified as a transcriptional of the protein peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), a key regulator of lipid homeostasis whose transcriptional targets include DGAT1 and CD36. These results implicate ARV1 as a protective factor in lipotoxic diseases due to modulation of fatty acid metabolism. In conclusion, a lipotoxicity-based genetic screen in a model microorganism has identified 75 human genes that may play key roles in neutral lipid metabolism and disease. PMID:24273168

Climate change and environmental impacts on maternal and newborn health with focus on Arctic populations.

PubMed

Rylander, Charlotta; Odland, Jon Ø; Sandanger, Torkjel M

2011-01-01

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presented a report on global warming and the impact of human activities on global warming. Later the Lancet commission identified six ways human health could be affected. Among these were not environmental factors which are also believed to be important for human health. In this paper we therefore focus on environmental factors, climate change and the predicted effects on maternal and newborn health. Arctic issues are discussed specifically considering their exposure and sensitivity to long range transported contaminants. Considering that the different parts of pregnancy are particularly sensitive time periods for the effects of environmental exposure, this review focuses on the impacts on maternal and newborn health. Environmental stressors known to affects human health and how these will change with the predicted climate change are addressed. Air pollution and food security are crucial issues for the pregnant population in a changing climate, especially indoor climate and food security in Arctic areas. The total number of environmental factors is today responsible for a large number of the global deaths, especially in young children. Climate change will most likely lead to an increase in this number. Exposure to the different environmental stressors especially air pollution will in most parts of the world increase with climate change, even though some areas might face lower exposure. Populations at risk today are believed to be most heavily affected. As for the persistent organic pollutants a warming climate leads to a remobilisation and a possible increase in food chain exposure in the Arctic and thus increased risk for Arctic populations. This is especially the case for mercury. The perspective for the next generations will be closely connected to the expected temperature changes; changes in housing conditions; changes in exposure patterns; predicted increased exposure to Mercury because of increased emissions and increased biological availability. A number of environmental stressors are predicted to increase with climate change and increasingly affecting human health. Efforts should be put on reducing risk for the next generation, thus global politics and research effort should focus on maternal and newborn health.

Auditory Sensitivity and Masking Profiles for the Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris).

PubMed

Ghoul, Asila; Reichmuth, Colleen

2016-01-01

Sea otters are threatened marine mammals that may be negatively impacted by human-generated coastal noise, yet information about sound reception in this species is surprisingly scarce. We investigated amphibious hearing in sea otters by obtaining the first measurements of absolute sensitivity and critical masking ratios. Auditory thresholds were measured in air and underwater from 0.125 to 40 kHz. Critical ratios derived from aerial masked thresholds from 0.25 to 22.6 kHz were also obtained. These data indicate that although sea otters can detect underwater sounds, their hearing appears to be primarily air adapted and not specialized for detecting signals in background noise.

Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for Idaho National Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Christopher P. Ischay; Ernest L. Fossum; Polly C. Buotte

2014-10-01

The University of Idaho (UI) was asked to participate in the development of a climate change vulnerability assessment for Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This report describes the outcome of that assessment. The climate change happening now, due in large part to human activities, is expected to continue in the future. UI and INL used a common framework for assessing vulnerability that considers exposure (future climate change), sensitivity (system or component responses to climate), impact (exposure combined with sensitivity), and adaptive capacity (capability of INL to modify operations to minimize climate change impacts) to assess vulnerability. Analyses of climate change (exposure)more » revealed that warming that is ongoing at INL will continue in the coming decades, with increased warming in later decades and under scenarios of greater greenhouse gas emissions. Projections of precipitation are more uncertain, with multi model means exhibiting somewhat wetter conditions and more wet days per year. Additional impacts relevant to INL include estimates of more burned area and increased evaporation and transpiration, leading to reduced soil moisture and plant growth.« less

On diel variability of marine sediment backscattering properties caused by microphytobenthos photosynthesis: Impact of environmental factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorska, Natalia; Kowalska-Duda, Ewa; Pniewski, Filip; Latała, Adam

2018-06-01

The study has been motivated by the development of the hydroacoustic techniques for mapping and classifying the benthic habitats and for the research of the microbenthos photosynthesis in the semi-enclosed Baltic Sea, particularly sensitive to human activity. The investigation of the effect of the benthic microalgal photosynthesis on the echo signal from the Baltic sandy sediments is continuing. The study clarifies the impact of the abiotic and biotic factors on the diel variation of the backscattering caused by the benthic microalgal photosynthetic activity. Five multiday laboratory experiments, different in hydrophysical or biological conditions, were conducted. During each measurement series, the "day" (illumination) and "night" (darkness) conditions (L:D cycle) were simulated and the diel variations of the echo energy of the backscattered signal were analyzed. The hydroacoustic data were acquired along with measuring biological and biooptical parameters and oxygen concentration. The study demonstrated the impact of microphytobenthos photosynthesis on the backscattering properties of the marine sediment which is sensitive to the illumination level, benthic microalgal biomass and macrozoobenthos bioturbation.

Humans and seasonal climate variability threaten large-bodied coral reef fish with small ranges.

PubMed

Mellin, C; Mouillot, D; Kulbicki, M; McClanahan, T R; Vigliola, L; Bradshaw, C J A; Brainard, R E; Chabanet, P; Edgar, G J; Fordham, D A; Friedlander, A M; Parravicini, V; Sequeira, A M M; Stuart-Smith, R D; Wantiez, L; Caley, M J

2016-02-03

Coral reefs are among the most species-rich and threatened ecosystems on Earth, yet the extent to which human stressors determine species occurrences, compared with biogeography or environmental conditions, remains largely unknown. With ever-increasing human-mediated disturbances on these ecosystems, an important question is not only how many species can inhabit local communities, but also which biological traits determine species that can persist (or not) above particular disturbance thresholds. Here we show that human pressure and seasonal climate variability are disproportionately and negatively associated with the occurrence of large-bodied and geographically small-ranging fishes within local coral reef communities. These species are 67% less likely to occur where human impact and temperature seasonality exceed critical thresholds, such as in the marine biodiversity hotspot: the Coral Triangle. Our results identify the most sensitive species and critical thresholds of human and climatic stressors, providing opportunity for targeted conservation intervention to prevent local extinctions.

Vulnerability of Oyster Resource Users to Ecological Change: Case Study from Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Humphries, A.; La Peyre, M.; Hall, S.; Dowty Beech, R.

2016-02-01

Knowledge of vulnerability provides the foundation for developing actions that minimize impacts on people while maximizing the sustainability of ecosystem goods and services including fisheries. As a result, it is becoming increasingly important to determine if resource-dependent people are vulnerable to ecological change as anthropogenic and climate-induced stressors affect resources in different ways. In coastal Louisiana, the current era of rapid marsh loss and abrupt environmental variation (e.g., sediment diversions) has the potential to undermine oyster-associated livelihoods for those most vulnerable. To evaluate vulnerability, we examined dimensions of social sensitivity and adaptive capacity using semi-structured interviews with three stakeholder groups in the oyster fishery of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Results indicate that oyster owners/operators are highly dependent, and thus sensitive, to changes in the ecological conditions of the fishery due to high levels of occupational identity; however they are likely adaptable, reflected in their willingness to learn about new practices and evolve over time. In contrast, oyster fishers that do not own any portion of the business in which they operate are bad at coping with change and frequently hold negative or fatalistic views on financial planning. Overall, oyster resource users most vulnerable to ecological change will be those with high levels of stewardship, open-minded values, and a balanced perception of environment, as well as low to moderate levels of personal and financial buffers and trust. These results suggest that resource users with higher sensitivity to change are not necessarily most vulnerable because sensitivity may be offset by adaptive capacity. In other words, while sensitivity may determine the potential impact of a climate- or human-induced ecological change to the oyster fishery, adaptive capacity can be a major influence on what impacts actually eventuate.

Impact of human activities on the ecology of nontuberculous mycobacteria.

PubMed

Falkinham, Joseph O

2010-06-01

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are environmental opportunistic pathogens of humans and animals. They are found in a wide variety of habitats to which humans are exposed, including drinking water distribution systems and household water and plumbing. In that regard, they are distinct from their obligate pathogenic relatives, the members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Owing to the presence of NTM in the human environment, human activities have had direct impacts on their ecology and thereby their epidemiology. NTM are oligotrophic, able to grow at low organic matter concentrations and over a wide range of temperatures, and even at low oxygen concentrations. Thus, NTM are normal inhabitants of natural waters and drinking waters. Discovery of the presence of NTM-polluted soils is not surprising in light of the ability of NTM to degrade a variety of hydrocarbon pollutants. A major human activity selecting for the growth and predominance of mycobacteria in habitats is disinfection. In comparison to other bacteria, NTM are disinfectant, heavy metal and antibiotic resistant. Therefore, the use of any antimicrobial agent selects for mycobacteria. Use of disinfectant in drinking water treatment selects for mycobacteria that can grow and come to proliferate in drinking water distribution systems in the absence of disinfectant-sensitive competing microorganisms. NTM selection may also occur as a consequence of antibiotics in drinking water sources.

Optimising the quantification of cytokines present at low concentrations in small human mucosal tissue samples using Luminex assays☆

PubMed Central

Staples, Emily; Ingram, Richard James Michael; Atherton, John Christopher; Robinson, Karen

2013-01-01

Sensitive measurement of multiple cytokine profiles from small mucosal tissue biopsies, for example human gastric biopsies obtained through an endoscope, is technically challenging. Multiplex methods such as Luminex assays offer an attractive solution but standard protocols are not available for tissue samples. We assessed the utility of three commercial Luminex kits (VersaMAP, Bio-Plex and MILLIPLEX) to measure interleukin-17A (IL-17) and interferon-gamma (IFNγ) concentrations in human gastric biopsies and we optimised preparation of mucosal samples for this application. First, we assessed the technical performance, limits of sensitivity and linear dynamic ranges for each kit. Next we spiked human gastric biopsies with recombinant IL-17 and IFNγ at a range of concentrations (1.5 to 1000 pg/mL) and assessed kit accuracy for spiked cytokine recovery and intra-assay precision. We also evaluated the impact of different tissue processing methods and extraction buffers on our results. Finally we assessed recovery of endogenous cytokines in unspiked samples. In terms of sensitivity, all of the kits performed well within the manufacturers' recommended standard curve ranges but the MILLIPLEX kit provided most consistent sensitivity for low cytokine concentrations. In the spiking experiments, the MILLIPLEX kit performed most consistently over the widest range of concentrations. For tissue processing, manual disruption provided significantly improved cytokine recovery over automated methods. Our selected kit and optimised protocol were further validated by measurement of relative cytokine levels in inflamed and uninflamed gastric mucosa using Luminex and real-time polymerase chain reaction. In summary, with proper optimisation Luminex kits (and for IL-17 and IFNγ the MILLIPLEX kit in particular) can be used for the sensitive detection of cytokines in mucosal biopsies. Our results should help other researchers seeking to quantify multiple low concentration cytokines in small tissue samples. PMID:23644159

Environmental health indicators of climate change for the United States: findings from the State Environmental Health Indicator Collaborative.

PubMed

English, Paul B; Sinclair, Amber H; Ross, Zev; Anderson, Henry; Boothe, Vicki; Davis, Christine; Ebi, Kristie; Kagey, Betsy; Malecki, Kristen; Shultz, Rebecca; Simms, Erin

2009-11-01

To develop public health adaptation strategies and to project the impacts of climate change on human health, indicators of vulnerability and preparedness along with accurate surveillance data on climate-sensitive health outcomes are needed. We researched and developed environmental health indicators for inputs into human health vulnerability assessments for climate change and to propose public health preventative actions. We conducted a review of the scientific literature to identify outcomes and actions that were related to climate change. Data sources included governmental and nongovernmental agencies and the published literature. Sources were identified and assessed for completeness, usability, and accuracy. Priority was then given to identifying longitudinal data sets that were applicable at the state and community level. We present a list of surveillance indicators for practitioners and policy makers that include climate-sensitive health outcomes and environmental and vulnerability indicators, as well as mitigation, adaptation, and policy indicators of climate change. A review of environmental health indicators for climate change shows that data exist for many of these measures, but more evaluation of their sensitivity and usefulness is needed. Further attention is necessary to increase data quality and availability and to develop new surveillance databases, especially for climate-sensitive morbidity.

Environmental Health Indicators of Climate Change for the United States: Findings from the State Environmental Health Indicator Collaborative

PubMed Central

English, Paul B.; Sinclair, Amber H.; Ross, Zev; Anderson, Henry; Boothe, Vicki; Davis, Christine; Ebi, Kristie; Kagey, Betsy; Malecki, Kristen; Shultz, Rebecca; Simms, Erin

2009-01-01

Objective To develop public health adaptation strategies and to project the impacts of climate change on human health, indicators of vulnerability and preparedness along with accurate surveillance data on climate-sensitive health outcomes are needed. We researched and developed environmental health indicators for inputs into human health vulnerability assessments for climate change and to propose public health preventative actions. Data sources We conducted a review of the scientific literature to identify outcomes and actions that were related to climate change. Data sources included governmental and nongovernmental agencies and the published literature. Data extraction Sources were identified and assessed for completeness, usability, and accuracy. Priority was then given to identifying longitudinal data sets that were applicable at the state and community level. Data synthesis We present a list of surveillance indicators for practitioners and policy makers that include climate-sensitive health outcomes and environmental and vulnerability indicators, as well as mitigation, adaptation, and policy indicators of climate change. Conclusions A review of environmental health indicators for climate change shows that data exist for many of these measures, but more evaluation of their sensitivity and usefulness is needed. Further attention is necessary to increase data quality and availability and to develop new surveillance databases, especially for climate-sensitive morbidity. PMID:20049116

Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Modulates Human Airway Sensitization Induced by β2-Adrenoceptor Stimulation

PubMed Central

Faisy, Christophe; Grassin-Delyle, Stanislas; Blouquit-Laye, Sabine; Brollo, Marion; Naline, Emmanuel; Chapelier, Alain; Devillier, Philippe

2014-01-01

Background Regular use of β2-agonists may enhance non-specific airway responsiveness. The wingless/integrated (Wnt) signaling pathways are responsible for several cellular processes, including airway inflammation and remodeling while cAMP–PKA cascade can activate the Wnt signaling. We aimed to investigate whether the Wnt signaling pathways are involved in the bronchial hyperresponsiveness induced by prolonged exposure to β2-adrenoceptor agonists in human isolated airways. Methods Bronchi were surgically removed from 44 thoracic surgery patients. After preparation, bronchial rings and primary cultures of bronchial epithelial cells were incubated with fenoterol (0.1 µM, 15 hours, 37°C), a β2-agonist with high intrinsic efficacy. The effects of inhibitors/blockers of Wnt signaling on the fenoterol-induced airway sensitization were examined and the impact of fenoterol exposure on the mRNA expression of genes interacting with Wnt signaling or cAMP–PKA cascade was assessed in complete bronchi and in cultured epithelial cells. Results Compared to paired controls, fenoterol-sensitization was abolished by inhibition/blockage of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling, especially the cell-surface LRP5/6 co-receptors or Fzd receptors (1 µM SFRP1 or 1 µM DKK1) and the nuclear recruitment of TCF/LEF transcriptions factors (0.3 µM FH535). Wnt proteins secretion did not seem to be involved in the fenoterol-induced sensitization since the mRNA expression of Wnt remained low after fenoterol exposure and the inactivator of Wnt secretion (1 µM IWP2) had no effect on the fenoterol-sensitization. Fenoterol exposure did not change the mRNA expression of genes regulating Wnt signaling or cAMP–PKA cascade. Conclusions Collectively, our pharmacological investigations indicate that fenoterol-sensitization is modulated by the inhibition/blockage of canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway, suggesting a phenomenon of biased agonism in connection with the β2-adrenoceptor stimulation. Future experiments based on the results of the present study will be needed to determine the impact of prolonged fenoterol exposure on the extra- and intracellular Wnt signaling pathways at the protein expression level. PMID:25360795

Wnt/β-catenin signaling modulates human airway sensitization induced by β2-adrenoceptor stimulation.

PubMed

Faisy, Christophe; Grassin-Delyle, Stanislas; Blouquit-Laye, Sabine; Brollo, Marion; Naline, Emmanuel; Chapelier, Alain; Devillier, Philippe

2014-01-01

Regular use of β2-agonists may enhance non-specific airway responsiveness. The wingless/integrated (Wnt) signaling pathways are responsible for several cellular processes, including airway inflammation and remodeling while cAMP-PKA cascade can activate the Wnt signaling. We aimed to investigate whether the Wnt signaling pathways are involved in the bronchial hyperresponsiveness induced by prolonged exposure to β2-adrenoceptor agonists in human isolated airways. Bronchi were surgically removed from 44 thoracic surgery patients. After preparation, bronchial rings and primary cultures of bronchial epithelial cells were incubated with fenoterol (0.1 µM, 15 hours, 37 °C), a β2-agonist with high intrinsic efficacy. The effects of inhibitors/blockers of Wnt signaling on the fenoterol-induced airway sensitization were examined and the impact of fenoterol exposure on the mRNA expression of genes interacting with Wnt signaling or cAMP-PKA cascade was assessed in complete bronchi and in cultured epithelial cells. Compared to paired controls, fenoterol-sensitization was abolished by inhibition/blockage of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling, especially the cell-surface LRP5/6 co-receptors or Fzd receptors (1 µM SFRP1 or 1 µM DKK1) and the nuclear recruitment of TCF/LEF transcriptions factors (0.3 µM FH535). Wnt proteins secretion did not seem to be involved in the fenoterol-induced sensitization since the mRNA expression of Wnt remained low after fenoterol exposure and the inactivator of Wnt secretion (1 µM IWP2) had no effect on the fenoterol-sensitization. Fenoterol exposure did not change the mRNA expression of genes regulating Wnt signaling or cAMP-PKA cascade. Collectively, our pharmacological investigations indicate that fenoterol-sensitization is modulated by the inhibition/blockage of canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway, suggesting a phenomenon of biased agonism in connection with the β2-adrenoceptor stimulation. Future experiments based on the results of the present study will be needed to determine the impact of prolonged fenoterol exposure on the extra- and intracellular Wnt signaling pathways at the protein expression level.

Guiding principles for evaluating the impacts of conservation interventions on human well-being

PubMed Central

Woodhouse, Emily; Homewood, Katherine M.; Beauchamp, Emilie; Clements, Tom; McCabe, J. Terrence; Wilkie, David; Milner-Gulland, E. J.

2015-01-01

Measures of socio-economic impacts of conservation interventions have largely been restricted to externally defined indicators focused on income, which do not reflect people's priorities. Using a holistic, locally grounded conceptualization of human well-being instead provides a way to understand the multi-faceted impacts of conservation on aspects of people's lives that they value. Conservationists are engaging with well-being for both pragmatic and ethical reasons, yet current guidance on how to operationalize the concept is limited. We present nine guiding principles based around a well-being framework incorporating material, relational and subjective components, and focused on gaining knowledge needed for decision-making. The principles relate to four key components of an impact evaluation: (i) defining well-being indicators, giving primacy to the perceptions of those most impacted by interventions through qualitative research, and considering subjective well-being, which can affect engagement with conservation; (ii) attributing impacts to interventions through quasi-experimental designs, or alternative methods such as theory-based, case study and participatory approaches, depending on the setting and evidence required; (iii) understanding the processes of change including evidence of causal linkages, and consideration of trajectories of change and institutional processes; and (iv) data collection with methods selected and applied with sensitivity to research context, consideration of heterogeneity of impacts along relevant societal divisions, and conducted by evaluators with local expertise and independence from the intervention. PMID:26460137

Detection and Attribution of Anthropogenic Climate Change Impacts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosenzweig, Cynthia; Neofotis, Peter

2013-01-01

Human-influenced climate change is an observed phenomenon affecting physical and biological systems across the globe. The majority of observed impacts are related to temperature changes and are located in the northern high- and midlatitudes. However, new evidence is emerging that demonstrates that impacts are related to precipitation changes as well as temperature, and that climate change is impacting systems and sectors beyond the Northern Hemisphere. In this paper, we highlight some of this new evidence-focusing on regions and sectors that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC AR4) noted as under-represented-in the context of observed climate change impacts, direct and indirect drivers of change (including carbon dioxide itself), and methods of detection. We also present methods and studies attributing observed impacts to anthropogenic forcing. We argue that the expansion of methods of detection (in terms of a broader array of climate variables and data sources, inclusion of the major modes of climate variability, and incorporation of other drivers of change) is key to discerning the climate sensitivities of sectors and systems in regions where the impacts of climate change currently remain elusive. Attributing such changes to human forcing of the climate system, where possible, is important for development of effective mitigation and adaptation. Current challenges in documenting adaptation and the role of indigenous knowledge in detection and attribution are described.

Mechanistic Insights into Human Brain Impact Dynamics through Modal Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laksari, Kaveh; Kurt, Mehmet; Babaee, Hessam; Kleiven, Svein; Camarillo, David

2018-03-01

Although concussion is one of the greatest health challenges today, our physical understanding of the cause of injury is limited. In this Letter, we simulated football head impacts in a finite element model and extracted the most dominant modal behavior of the brain's deformation. We showed that the brain's deformation is most sensitive in low frequency regimes close to 30 Hz, and discovered that for most subconcussive head impacts, the dynamics of brain deformation is dominated by a single global mode. In this Letter, we show the existence of localized modes and multimodal behavior in the brain as a hyperviscoelastic medium. This dynamical phenomenon leads to strain concentration patterns, particularly in deep brain regions, which is consistent with reported concussion pathology.

Total environmental impacts of biofuels from corn stover using a hybrid life cycle assessment model combining process life cycle assessment and economic input-output life cycle assessment.

PubMed

Liu, Changqi; Huang, Yaji; Wang, Xinye; Tai, Yang; Liu, Lingqin; Liu, Hao

2018-01-01

Studies on the environmental analysis of biofuels by fast pyrolysis and hydroprocessing (BFPH) have so far focused only on the environmental impacts from direct emissions and have included few indirect emissions. The influence of ignoring some indirect emissions on the environmental performance of BFPH has not been well investigated and hence is not really understood. In addition, in order to avoid shifting environmental problems from one medium to another, a comprehensive assessment of environmental impacts caused by the processes must quantify the environmental emissions to all media (air, water, and land) in relation to each life cycle stage. A well-to-wheels assessment of the total environmental impacts resulting from direct emissions and indirect emissions of a BFPH system with corn stover is conducted using a hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) model combining the economic input-output LCA and the process LCA. The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other environmental Impacts (TRACI) has been used to estimate the environmental impacts in terms of acidification, eutrophication, global climate change, ozone depletion, human health criteria, photochemical smog formation, ecotoxicity, human health cancer, and human health noncancer caused by 1 MJ biofuel production. Taking account of all the indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the net GHG emissions (81.8 g CO 2 eq/MJ) of the biofuels are still less than those of petroleum-based fuels (94 g CO 2 eq/MJ). Maize production and pyrolysis and hydroprocessing make major contributions to all impact categories except the human health criteria. All impact categories resulting from indirect emissions except eutrophication and smog air make more than 24% contribution to the total environmental impacts. Therefore, the indirect emissions are important and cannot be ignored. Sensitivity analysis has shown that corn stover yield and bio-oil yield affect the total environmental impacts of the biofuels more significantly than the biomass transportation distance and biofuel transportation distance. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:139-149. © 2017 SETAC. © 2017 SETAC.

The impact of serum incubation time on IgM/IgG binding to porcine aortic endothelial cells.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhongqiang; Gao, Bingsi; Zhao, Chengjiang; Long, Cassandra; Qi, Haizhi; Ezzelarab, Mohamed; Cooper, David Kc; Hara, Hidetaka

2017-07-01

The results of the assay for measuring anti-non-Gal antibodies (which affect pig xenograft survival) in recipients are important. Serum incubation time and concentration may be important factors in the extent of antibody binding to the graft. The aim of this in vitro study was to determine the optimal incubation time and serum concentration for measuring anti-non-Gal antibody binding to porcine aortic endothelial cells (pAECs). Pooled human, naive, and sensitized baboon sera were incubated with wild-type, α1,3-galactosyltransferase gene-knockout (GTKO), and GTKO/human CD55 pAECs. IgM/IgG binding to pAECs after varying serum incubation times (0.5, 1, 2, and 3 hour) and concentrations (5, 10, 20, and 40 μL) was determined by flow cytometry. An increase in incubation time from 30 minutes to 2 hour was associated with increases in anti-non-Gal IgM/IgG binding to GTKO and GTKO/hCD55 pAECs of pooled human, naive and sensitized baboon sera (P<.05). Pooled human serum showed a significant increase in anti-non-Gal IgM (1.5 times) and a minimal increase in anti-non-Gal IgG antibody binding. IgM/IgG binding of sensitized baboon serum to GTKO pAECs after 2-hour incubation was 1.5 times and 2 times greater than after 30-minutes incubation, respectively, whereas naïve baboon sera showed minimal (non-significant) increase in anti-non-Gal IgM/IgG antibody binding. With 2-hour incubation, increasing the serum concentration from 5 μL to 20 μL significantly increased antibody binding to non-Gal antigens in pooled human and sensitized baboon serum. With naïve baboon serum, only IgG was significantly increased. Increasing the serum incubation time contributed to improve the sensitivity of detecting anti-non-Gal antibodies, without affecting cell viability in vitro. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Human Health Impacts of and Public Health Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebi, K. L.

2007-12-01

Weather and climate are among the factors that determine the geographic range and incidence of several major causes of ill health, including undernutrition, diarrheal diseases and other conditions due to unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation, and malaria. The Human Health chapter in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that climate change has begun to negatively affect human health, and that projected climate change will increase the risks of climate-sensitive health outcomes, particularly in lower-income populations, predominantly within tropical/subtropical countries. Those at greatest risk include the urban poor, older adults, children, traditional societies, subsistence farmers, and coastal populations, particularly in low income countries. The cause-and-effect chain from climate change to changing patterns of health determinants and outcomes is complex and includes socioeconomic, institutional, and other factors. The severity of future impacts will be determined by changes in climate as well as by concurrent changes in nonclimatic factors and by the adaptation measures implemented to reduce negative impacts. Public health has a long history of effectively intervening to reduce risks to the health of individuals and communities. Lessons learned from more than 150 years of research and intervention can provide insights to guide the design and implementation of effective and efficient interventions to reduce the current and projected impacts of climate variability and change.

Craters on Mars: Global Geometric Properties from Gridded MOLA Topography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garvin, J. B.; Sakimoto, S. E. H.; Frawley, J. J.

2003-01-01

Impact craters serve as natural probes of the target properties of planetary crusts and the tremendous diversity of morphological expressions of such features on Mars attests to their importance for deciphering the history of crustal assembly, modification, and erosion. This paper summarizes the key findings associated with a five year long survey of the three-dimensional properties of approx. 6000 martian impact craters using finely gridded MOLA topography. Previous efforts have treated representative subpopulations, but this effort treats global properties from the largest survey of impact features from the perspective of their topography ever assimilated. With the Viking missions of the mid-1970 s, the most intensive and comprehensive robotic expeditions to any Deep Space location in the history of humanity were achieved, with scientifically stunning results associated with the morphology of impact craters. The relationships illustrated and suggest that martian impact features are remarkably sensitive to target properties and to the local depositional processes.

Nonlinear elastic behavior of sub-critically damaged body armor panel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Jason T.; Chimenti, D. E.

2012-05-01

A simple go/no-go test for body armor panels using pressure-sensitive, dye-indicator film (PSF) has been shown to be statistically effective in revealing subcritical damage to body armor panels. Previous measurements have shown that static indicator levels are accurately reproduced in dynamic loading events. Further impact tests on armor worn by a human resuscitation dummy using instrumented masses with an attached accelerometer and embedded force transducer have been performed and analyzed. New impact tests have shown a reliable correlation between PSF indication (as digitized images) and impact force for a wide range of impactor energies and masses. Numerical evaluation of digital PSF images is presented and correlated with impact parameters. Relationships between impactor mass and energy, and corresponding measured force are shown. We will also report on comparisons between ballistic testing performed on panels damaged under various impact conditions and tests performed on undamaged panels.

Mouse Models of Genomic Syndromes as Tools for Understanding the Basis of Complex Traits: An Example with the Smith-Magenis and the Potocki-Lupski Syndromes

PubMed Central

Carmona-Mora, P; Molina, J; Encina, C.A; Walz, K

2009-01-01

Each human's genome is distinguished by extra and missing DNA that can be “benign” or powerfully impact everything from development to disease. In the case of genomic disorders DNA rearrangements, such as deletions or duplications, correlate with a clinical specific phenotype. The clinical presentations of genomic disorders were thought to result from altered gene copy number of physically linked dosage sensitive genes. Genomic disorders are frequent diseases (~1 per 1,000 births). Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) and Potocki-Lupski syndrome (PTLS) are genomic disorders, associated with a deletion and a duplication, of 3.7 Mb respectively, within chromosome 17 band p11.2. This region includes 23 genes. Both syndromes have complex and distinctive phenotypes including multiple congenital and neurobehavioral abnormalities. Human chromosome 17p11.2 is syntenic to the 32-34 cM region of murine chromosome 11. The number and order of the genes are highly conserved. In this review, we will exemplify how genomic disorders can be modeled in mice and the advantages that such models can give in the study of genomic disorders in particular and gene copy number variation (CNV) in general. The contributions of the SMS and PTLS animal models in several aspects ranging from more specific ones, as the definition of the clinical aspects of the human clinical spectrum, the identification of dosage sensitive genes related to the human syndromes, to the more general contributions as the definition of genetic locus impacting obesity and behavior and the elucidation of general mechanisms related to the pathogenesis of gene CNV are discussed. PMID:19949547

Remotely-Sensed Urban Wet-Landscapes AN Indicator of Coupled Effects of Human Impact and Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Wei

2016-06-01

This study proposes the concept of urban wet-landscapes (loosely-defined wetlands) as against dry-landscapes (mainly impervious surfaces). The study is to examine whether the dynamics of urban wet-landscapes is a sensitive indicator of the coupled effects of the two major driving forces of urban landscape change - human built-up impact and climate (precipitation) variation. Using a series of satellite images, the study was conducted in the Kansas City metropolitan area of the United States. A rule-based classification algorithm was developed to identify fine-scale, hidden wetlands that could not be appropriately detected based on their spectral differentiability by a traditional image classification. The spatial analyses of wetland changes were implemented at the scales of metropolitan, watershed, and sub-watershed as well as based on the size of surface water bodies in order to reveal urban wetland change trends in relation to the driving forces. The study identified that wet-landscape dynamics varied in trend and magnitude from the metropolitan, watersheds, to sub-watersheds. The study also found that increased precipitation in the region in the past decades swelled larger wetlands in particular while smaller wetlands decreased mainly due to human development activities. These findings suggest that wet-landscapes, as against the dry-landscapes, can be a more effective indicator of the coupled effects of human impact and climate change.

Finite element study of human pelvis model in side impact for Chinese adult occupants.

PubMed

Ma, Zhengwei; Lan, Fengchong; Chen, Jiqing; Liu, Weiguo

2015-01-01

The occupant's pelvis is very vulnerable to side collision in road accidents. Finite element (FE) studies on pelvic injury help to design occupant protection devices to improve vehicle safety. This study was aimed to develop a highly biofidelic pelvis model of Chinese adults and assess its sensitivity to variations in pelvis cortical bone thickness, bone material properties, and loading conditions. In this study, 4 different FE models of the pelvis were developed from the computed tomography (CT) data of a volunteer representing the 50th percentile Chinese male. Two of them were meshed using entirely hexahedral elements with variable and constant cortical thickness distribution (the V-Hex and C-Hex models), and the others were modeled with hexahedral elements for cancellous bone and variable or constant thickness shell elements for cortical bone (the V-HS and C-HS models). In model developments, the semi-automatic multiblock meshing approach was employed to maintain the pelvis geometric curvature and generate a high-quality hexahedral mesh. Then, several simulations with postmortem human subjects (PMHS) tests were performed to obtain the most accurate model in predicting pelvic injury. Based on the most accurate model, sensitivity studies were conducted to analyze the effects of the cortex thickness, Young's modulus of the cortical and cancellous bone, impactor velocity, and impactor with or without padding on the biomechanical responses and injuries of pelvis. The results indicate that the models with variable cortical bone thickness can give more accurate predictions than those with constant cortical thickness. Both the V-Hex and V-HS models are favorable for simulating pelvic response and injury, but the simulation results of the V-Hex model agree with the tests better. The sensitivity study shows that pelvic response is more sensitive to alterations in the Young's modulus of cortical bone than cancellous bone. Compared to failure displacement, peak force is more sensitive to the cortical bone thickness. However, displacement is more sensitive to the Young's modulus of cancellous bone than peak force. The padding attached on the impactor plays a significant role in absorbing the impact energy and alleviating pelvic injury. The all-hex meshing method with variable cortical bone thickness has the highest accuracy but is time-consuming. The cortical bone plays a determining role in resisting pelvic fracture. Peak impact force appears to be a reasonable injury predictor for pelvic injury assessment. Some appropriate energy absorbers installed in the car door can significantly reduce pelvic injury and will be beneficial for occupant protection.

Fishing degrades size structure of coral reef fish communities.

PubMed

Robinson, James P W; Williams, Ivor D; Edwards, Andrew M; McPherson, Jana; Yeager, Lauren; Vigliola, Laurent; Brainard, Russell E; Baum, Julia K

2017-03-01

Fishing pressure on coral reef ecosystems has been frequently linked to reductions of large fishes and reef fish biomass. Associated impacts on overall community structure are, however, less clear. In size-structured aquatic ecosystems, fishing impacts are commonly quantified using size spectra, which describe the distribution of individual body sizes within a community. We examined the size spectra and biomass of coral reef fish communities at 38 US-affiliated Pacific islands that ranged in human presence from near pristine to human population centers. Size spectra 'steepened' steadily with increasing human population and proximity to market due to a reduction in the relative biomass of large fishes and an increase in the dominance of small fishes. Reef fish biomass was substantially lower on inhabited islands than uninhabited ones, even at inhabited islands with the lowest levels of human presence. We found that on populated islands size spectra exponents decreased (analogous to size spectra steepening) linearly with declining biomass, whereas on uninhabited islands there was no relationship. Size spectra were steeper in regions of low sea surface temperature but were insensitive to variation in other environmental and geomorphic covariates. In contrast, reef fish biomass was highly sensitive to oceanographic conditions, being influenced by both oceanic productivity and sea surface temperature. Our results suggest that community size structure may be a more robust indicator than fish biomass to increasing human presence and that size spectra are reliable indicators of exploitation impacts across regions of different fish community compositions, environmental drivers, and fisheries types. Size-based approaches that link directly to functional properties of fish communities, and are relatively insensitive to abiotic variation across biogeographic regions, offer great potential for developing our understanding of fishing impacts in coral reef ecosystems. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Cockroaches and co. The role of health pests as allergen source].

PubMed

Raulf, M; Sander, I; Gonnissen, D; Zahradnik, E; Brüning, T

2014-05-01

In most of the cases health pests are carriers of pathogens or parasites which have a negative impact on human health or affect the health of other mammals. What is lesser known is that they can also act as allergens. Most of the health pests in this sense belong to the arthropods, such as cockroaches (Blattaria), mosquitos (Culiciformia), lice (Pediculus humanus corporis), fleas (Siphonaptera) and ticks (Argasidae). In the group of vertebrates rats (Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus), house mice (Mus musculus) and pigeons (Columba livia domestica) are also classified as health pests. Also storage pests which are not carriers of pathogens can induce secondary infestation with hygiene pests or molds and have an underestimated impact on human health. In this article selected examples of health pests and also storage pests as an allergen source are described, taking into account the sensitization prevalence and identified single allergens.

The impact of vehicle on the relative potency of skin-sensitizing chemicals in the local lymph node assay.

PubMed

Jowsey, Ian R; Clapp, Catherine J; Safford, Bob; Gibbons, Ben T; Basketter, David A

2008-01-01

The identification and characterization of chemicals that possess skin-sensitizing potential are typically performed using predictive tests. However, human exposure to skin-sensitizing chemicals often occurs via a matrix (vehicle) that differs from that used in these tests. It is thus important to account for the potential impact of vehicle differences when undertaking quantitative risk assessment for skin sensitization. This is achieved through the application of a specific sensitization assessment factor (SAF), scaled between 1 and 10, when identifying an acceptable exposure level. The objective of the analysis described herein is to determine the impact of vehicle differences on local lymph node assay (LLNA) EC3 values (concentrations of test chemical required to provoke a 3-fold increase in lymph node cell proliferation). Initially, the inherent variability of the LLNA was investigated by examining the reproducibility of EC3 values for 14 chemicals that have been tested more than once in the same vehicle (4:1 acetone:olive oil, AOO). This analysis reveals that the variability in EC3 value for these chemicals following multiple assessments is <5-fold. Next, data from the literature and previously unpublished studies were compiled for 18 chemicals that had been assessed in the LLNA using at least 2 of 15 different vehicles. These data demonstrate that often the variability in EC3 values observed for a given chemical in different vehicles is no greater than the 5-fold inherent variability observed when assessing a chemical in the same vehicle on multiple occasions. However, there are examples where EC3 values for a chemical differ by a factor of more than 10 between different vehicles. These observations were often associated with an apparent underestimation of potency (higher EC3 values) with predominantly aqueous vehicles or propylene glycol. These data underscore the need to consider vehicle effects in the context of skin-sensitization risk assessments.

Resilience in polar ecosystems: From drivers to impacts and changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bölter, Manfred; Müller, Felix

2016-03-01

The theory of resilience is increasing in applied ecosystem research and has become a valuable concept for analyzing relationships between natural environments and various stressors, e.g., global warming or direct human impacts. This concept offers opportunities to apply management strategies to different system levels and can provide insights into future ecosystem change. Polar systems are known to be ecologically sensitive to global and local impacts. Records of changes in polar environments, used as alarm signals by governmental and non-governmental institutions, are well documented in various reports. However, it remains difficult to define specific disturbance thresholds, only few methods allow an evaluation of the actual natural state of polar systems, its degree of modification they can accommodate before trophic systems change with severe damages. Some of the main drivers of system changes have been analyzed with respect to possible effects on system changes over different time scales. This paper reviews studies of polar ecosystems and their ability to cope with changes by assessing their resilience in response to human disturbances. Furthermore, we suggest that a customized framework (drivers, pressures, states, impacts, and responses (DPSIR)) should be applied to obtain an improved understanding of the interactions between the state of, and changes in, natural systems.

Validation of Shoulder Response of Human Body Finite-Element Model (GHBMC) Under Whole Body Lateral Impact Condition.

PubMed

Park, Gwansik; Kim, Taewung; Panzer, Matthew B; Crandall, Jeff R

2016-08-01

In previous shoulder impact studies, the 50th-percentile male GHBMC human body finite-element model was shown to have good biofidelity regarding impact force, but under-predicted shoulder deflection by 80% compared to those observed in the experiment. The goal of this study was to validate the response of the GHBMC M50 model by focusing on three-dimensional shoulder kinematics under a whole-body lateral impact condition. Five modifications, focused on material properties and modeling techniques, were introduced into the model and a supplementary sensitivity analysis was done to determine the influence of each modification to the biomechanical response of the body. The modified model predicted substantially improved shoulder response and peak shoulder deflection within 10% of the observed experimental data, and showed good correlation in the scapula kinematics on sagittal and transverse planes. The improvement in the biofidelity of the shoulder region was mainly due to the modifications of material properties of muscle, the acromioclavicular joint, and the attachment region between the pectoralis major and ribs. Predictions of rib fracture and chest deflection were also improved because of these modifications.

Tipping points in Anthropocene fluvial dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Notebaert, Bastiaan; Broothaerts, Nils; Verstraeten, Gert; Berger, Jean-François; Houbrechts, Geoffrey

2016-04-01

Many rivers have undergone dramatic changes over the last millennia due to anthropogenic on- and offsite impacts. These changes have important implications for the geomorphic and hydrological functioning of the river. In this study we compare the influence of large-scaled off-site anthropogenic impact on three European river systems. We do this using traditional geomorphological methods, combined with palynological and archaeological data; for each catchment a Holocene sediment budget was constructed. The Dijle catchment is located in the central Belgian loess belt, and has undergone intense agriculture for at least the last 2000 year. Pre-Anthropocene floodplain are big marshes lacking a well-established river channel. Anthropogenic deforestation in the headwaters resulted in a sediment pulse from the Bronze Age on. In the main floodplain sediments gradually covered the peat layer, starting near a newly formed river channel and expanding over time towards the floodplain edges. In contrast, this transition is abrupt in the smaller tributary floodplains. Comparison with palynological data shows that this abrupt transition occurs when human impact reaches a certain threshold. The Valdaine region is located in the French Pre-Alps. Floodplain deposition increased over time since the Neolithic time period due to human induced and fire related soil erosion. This general aggradation trend is however interrupted by three major river incision phases which are caused by human land abandonment and dry periods. A second major change in floodplain geomorphology occurs during the High Roman Period and the last 800 year: the fine-grained meandering river changes to a gravel loaded braided river. During this period the upstream mountain reaches became a major sediment source due to deforestation, possibly combined with climate change. During the last century reforestation and land abandonment has led to a new incision phases, and floodplain are now a major source of gravel while the river partially maintains its braided pattern. The Amblève River in the Belgian Ardennes uplands underwent less dramatic changes. Large parts of the catchment are deforested during the last 700 years, leading to an increase in floodplain sedimentation. Despite this major sediment pulse, change in floodplain morphology remained limited to an increase in bank height. We argue that a combination of floodplain and channel morphology, the fine texture of supplied sediment and the high stream power of channel forming events result is a system that is less sensitive to change. Also the relative short time of impact may play a role. These three examples demonstrate the varying impact of human deforestation on floodplain geomorphology. For the Dijle and Valdaine region this lead to dramatic changes once a certain tipping point is reached. In contrast the Amblève river is more resilient to human impact due to its specific morphological setting. The morphology of the catchments and the nature of supplied sediments plays a major role in the sensitivity of fluvial systems to environmental impact. Once the tipping points are reached, it is difficult for the river to revert to its original state and floodplains remain highly impacted.

Perception of Urban Environmental Risks and the Effects of Urban Green Infrastructures (UGIs) on Human Well-being in Four Public Green Spaces of Guangzhou, China.

PubMed

Duan, Junya; Wang, Yafei; Fan, Chen; Xia, Beicheng; de Groot, Rudolf

2018-05-28

Cities face many challenging environmental problems that affect human well-being. Environmental risks can be reduced by Urban Green Infrastructures (UGIs). The effects of UGIs on the urban environment have been widely studied, but less attention has been given to the public perception of these effects. This paper presents the results of a study in Guangzhou, China, on UGI users' perceptions of these effects and their relationship with sociodemographic variables. A questionnaire survey was conducted in four public green spaces. Descriptive statistics, a binary logistic regression model and cross-tabulation analysis were applied on the data from 396 valid questionnaires. The results show that UGI users were more concerned about poor air quality and high temperature than about flooding events. Their awareness of environmental risks was partly in accordance with official records. Regarding the perception of the impacts of environmental risks on human well-being, elderly and female respondents with higher education levels were the most sensitive to these impacts. The respondents' perceptions of these impacts differed among the different green spaces. The effects of UGIs were well perceived and directly observed by the UGI users, but were not significantly influenced by most sociodemographic variables. Moreover, tourists had a lower perception of the impacts of environmental risks and the effects of UGI than residents did. This study provides strong support for UGIs as an effective tool to mitigate environmental risks. Local governments should consider the role of UGIs in environmental risk mitigation and human well-being with regard to urban planning and policy making.

Impact of managed care on the development of new medical technology: ethical concerns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saha, Pamela; Saha, Subrata

1995-10-01

During the last three decades, development of new medical technology has been largely responsible for the spectacular advances in the diagnosis and treatment of many human diseases. This has contributed to improved medical care of our population. However, concerns have been raised that in today's managed care environment of health care, introduction of new medical technology will be difficult. Cost-sensitive health care providers should consider various ethical issues involved before demanding that only those technologies that save money and show highly positive cost benefit ratio will be reimbursed. The impact of such considerations on the innovations of new medical devices and their developments is discussed.

A model for the release, dispersion and environmental impact of a postulated reactor accident from a submerged commercial nuclear power plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertch, Timothy Creston

1998-12-01

Nuclear power plants are inherently suitable for submerged applications and could provide power to the shore power grid or support future underwater applications. The technology exists today and the construction of a submerged commercial nuclear power plant may become desirable. A submerged reactor is safer to humans because the infinite supply of water for heat removal, particulate retention in the water column, sedimentation to the ocean floor and inherent shielding of the aquatic environment would significantly mitigate the effects of a reactor accident. A better understanding of reactor operation in this new environment is required to quantify the radioecological impact and to determine the suitability of this concept. The impact of release to the environment from a severe reactor accident is a new aspect of the field of marine radioecology. Current efforts have been centered on radioecological impacts of nuclear waste disposal, nuclear weapons testing fallout and shore nuclear plant discharges. This dissertation examines the environmental impact of a severe reactor accident in a submerged commercial nuclear power plant, modeling a postulated site on the Atlantic continental shelf adjacent to the United States. This effort models the effects of geography, decay, particle transport/dispersion, bioaccumulation and elimination with associated dose commitment. The use of a source term equivalent to the release from Chernobyl allows comparison between the impacts of that accident and the postulated submerged commercial reactor plant accident. All input parameters are evaluated using sensitivity analysis. The effect of the release on marine biota is determined. Study of the pathways to humans from gaseous radionuclides, consumption of contaminated marine biota and direct exposure as contaminated water reaches the shoreline is conducted. The model developed by this effort predicts a significant mitigation of the radioecological impact of the reactor accident release with a submerged commercial nuclear power plant. The two box models predict the most of the radio-ecological impact occurs during the first eight days after release. The most significant risk to humans is from consumption of biota. The reduction in impact to humans from a large radioactive release makes the concept worthy of further study.

A Novel High-Throughput Method for Molecular Detection of Human Pathogenic Viruses Using a Nanofluidic Real-Time PCR System

PubMed Central

Coudray-Meunier, Coralie; Fraisse, Audrey; Martin-Latil, Sandra; Delannoy, Sabine; Fach, Patrick; Perelle, Sylvie

2016-01-01

Human enteric viruses are recognized as the main causes of food- and waterborne diseases worldwide. Sensitive and quantitative detection of human enteric viruses is typically achieved through quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR). A nanofluidic real-time PCR system was used to develop novel high-throughput methods for qualitative molecular detection (RT-qPCR array) and quantification of human pathogenic viruses by digital RT-PCR (RT-dPCR). The performance of high-throughput PCR methods was investigated for detecting 19 human pathogenic viruses and two main process controls used in food virology. The conventional real-time PCR system was compared to the RT-dPCR and RT-qPCR array. Based on the number of genome copies calculated by spectrophotometry, sensitivity was found to be slightly better with RT-qPCR than with RT-dPCR for 14 viruses by a factor range of from 0.3 to 1.6 log10. Conversely, sensitivity was better with RT-dPCR than with RT-qPCR for seven viruses by a factor range of from 0.10 to 1.40 log10. Interestingly, the number of genome copies determined by RT-dPCR was always from 1 to 2 log10 lower than the expected copy number calculated by RT-qPCR standard curve. The sensitivity of the RT-qPCR and RT-qPCR array assays was found to be similar for two viruses, and better with RT-qPCR than with RT-qPCR array for eighteen viruses by a factor range of from 0.7 to 3.0 log10. Conversely, sensitivity was only 0.30 log10 better with the RT-qPCR array than with conventional RT-qPCR assays for norovirus GIV detection. Finally, the RT-qPCR array and RT-dPCR assays were successfully used together to screen clinical samples and quantify pathogenic viruses. Additionally, this method made it possible to identify co-infection in clinical samples. In conclusion, given the rapidity and potential for large numbers of viral targets, this nanofluidic RT-qPCR assay should have a major impact on human pathogenic virus surveillance and outbreak investigations and is likely to be of benefit to public health. PMID:26824897

Climate Change and Health on the U.S. Gulf Coast: Public Health Adaptation is Needed to Address Future Risks.

PubMed

Petkova, Elisaveta P; Ebi, Kristie L; Culp, Derrin; Redlener, Irwin

2015-08-11

The impacts of climate change on human health have been documented globally and in the United States. Numerous studies project greater morbidity and mortality as a result of extreme weather events and other climate-sensitive hazards. Public health impacts on the U.S. Gulf Coast may be severe as the region is expected to experience increases in extreme temperatures, sea level rise, and possibly fewer but more intense hurricanes. Through myriad pathways, climate change is likely to make the Gulf Coast less hospitable and more dangerous for its residents, and may prompt substantial migration from and into the region. Public health impacts may be further exacerbated by the concentration of people and infrastructure, as well as the region's coastal geography. Vulnerable populations, including the very young, elderly, and socioeconomically disadvantaged may face particularly high threats to their health and well-being. This paper provides an overview of potential public health impacts of climate variability and change on the Gulf Coast, with a focus on the region's unique vulnerabilities, and outlines recommendations for improving the region's ability to minimize the impacts of climate-sensitive hazards. Public health adaptation aimed at improving individual, public health system, and infrastructure resilience is urgently needed to meet the challenges climate change may pose to the Gulf Coast in the coming decades.

Lymphocyte roles in metabolic dysfunction: of men and mice

PubMed Central

Ip, Blanche C.; Hogan, Andrew E.; Nikolajczyk, Barbara S.

2015-01-01

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a metabolic disease associated with obesity-related insulin resistance (IR) and chronic inflammation. Animal studies indicate IR can be caused and/or exacerbated by systemic/tissue-specific alterations in lymphocyte differentiation and function. Human studies also indicate obesity and/or inflammation promotes IR. Nevertheless, clinical trials with anti-inflammatory therapies have yielded modest impacts on established T2D. Unlike mouse models where obesity is predominantly associated with IR, 20–25% of obese people are metabolically healthy with high insulin sensitivity. The uncoupling of obesity from IR in humans but not in animal models advocates for a more comprehensive understanding of mediators/mechanisms in human obesity-promoted IR, and better integration of knowledge from human studies into animal experiments to efficiently pursue T2D prevention and treatment. PMID:25573740

Climate and health impacts of clean cookstove implementation programs in Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lacey, F.; Marais, E. A.; Wiedinmyer, C.; Coffey, E.; Muvandimwe, D.; Hannigan, M.; Henze, D. K.

2016-12-01

In Africa, 77% of the population (646 million people in 2010) use solid fuels as the main cooking source. These cooking methods are often inefficient and result in significant burdens to both climate and human health, particularly for women and children. In order to fully understand the impacts of clean cookstove implementation programs, a better understanding of the background concentrations of aerosols, aerosol precursors, and ozone precursors are needed, along with improved information on the changes in emissions from transitions to newer technologies. Through the use of the GEOS-Chem adjoint model, we have calculated species-specific climate and health sensitivities using a range of African emissions estimates including EDGAR-HTAP and a more recent improved emissions inventory, DICE-Africa. These sensitivities account for the spatial heterogeneity of emissions with respect to their impacts and allow for efficient estimation of the impacts of various clean cookstove implementation emissions scenarios that are based on laboratory and field measurements of emissions factors, along with realistic adoption and usage rates from field surveys. The resulting estimates of premature deaths and global surface temperature change are then aggregated to the national scale in order to provide policy makers with improved information regarding the implementation of clean cookstoves throughout continental Africa.

Musculoskeletal sensitization and sleep: chronic muscle pain fragments sleep of mice without altering its duration.

PubMed

Sutton, Blair C; Opp, Mark R

2014-03-01

Musculoskeletal pain in humans is often associated with poor sleep quality. We used a model in which mechanical hypersensitivity was induced by injection of acidified saline into muscle to study the impact of musculoskeletal sensitization on sleep of mice. A one month pre-clinical study was designed to determine the impact of musculoskeletal sensitization on sleep of C57BL/6J mice. We instrumented mice with telemeters to record the electroencephalogram (EEG) and body temperature. We used an established model of musculoskeletal sensitization in which mechanical hypersensitivity was induced using two unilateral injections of acidified saline (pH 4.0). The injections were given into the gastrocnemius muscle and spaced five days apart. EEG and body temperature recordings started prior to injections (baseline) and continued for three weeks after musculoskeletal sensitization was induced by the second injection. Mechanical hypersensitivity was assessed using von Frey filaments at baseline (before any injections) and on days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 after the second injection. Mice injected with acidified saline developed bilateral mechanical hypersensitivity at the hind paws as measured by von Frey testing and as compared to control mice and baseline data. Sleep during the light period was fragmented in experimental mice injected with acidified saline, and EEG spectra altered. Musculoskeletal sensitization did not alter the duration of time spent in wakefulness, non-rapid eye movement sleep, or rapid eye movement sleep. Musculoskeletal sensitization in this model results in a distinct sleep phenotype in which sleep is fragmented during the light period, but the overall duration of sleep is not changed. This study suggests the consequences of musculoskeletal pain include sleep disruption, an observation that has been made in the clinical literature but has yet to be studied using preclinical models.

Testing the role of reward and punishment sensitivity in avoidance behavior: a computational modeling approach

PubMed Central

Sheynin, Jony; Moustafa, Ahmed A.; Beck, Kevin D.; Servatius, Richard J.; Myers, Catherine E.

2015-01-01

Exaggerated avoidance behavior is a predominant symptom in all anxiety disorders and its degree often parallels the development and persistence of these conditions. Both human and non-human animal studies suggest that individual differences as well as various contextual cues may impact avoidance behavior. Specifically, we have recently shown that female sex and inhibited temperament, two anxiety vulnerability factors, are associated with greater duration and rate of the avoidance behavior, as demonstrated on a computer-based task closely related to common rodent avoidance paradigms. We have also demonstrated that avoidance is attenuated by the administration of explicit visual signals during “non-threat” periods (i.e., safety signals). Here, we use a reinforcement-learning network model to investigate the underlying mechanisms of these empirical findings, with a special focus on distinct reward and punishment sensitivities. Model simulations suggest that sex and inhibited temperament are associated with specific aspects of these sensitivities. Specifically, differences in relative sensitivity to reward and punishment might underlie the longer avoidance duration demonstrated by females, whereas higher sensitivity to punishment might underlie the higher avoidance rate demonstrated by inhibited individuals. Simulations also suggest that safety signals attenuate avoidance behavior by strengthening the competing approach response. Lastly, several predictions generated by the model suggest that extinction-based cognitive-behavioral therapies might benefit from the use of safety signals, especially if given to individuals with high reward sensitivity and during longer safe periods. Overall, this study is the first to suggest cognitive mechanisms underlying the greater avoidance behavior observed in healthy individuals with different anxiety vulnerabilities. PMID:25639540

A Quantitative Chemotherapy Genetic Interaction Map Reveals Factors Associated with PARP Inhibitor Resistance. | Office of Cancer Genomics

Cancer.gov

Chemotherapy is used to treat most cancer patients, yet our understanding of factors that dictate response and resistance to such drugs remains limited. We report the generation of a quantitative chemical-genetic interaction map in human mammary epithelial cells charting the impact of the knockdown of 625 genes related to cancer and DNA repair on sensitivity to 29 drugs, covering all classes of chemotherapy.

DOT/FAA Human Factors Workshop on Aviation. Transcript. Volume II.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-11-25

impact of accelerated time perception produced by the emanations of any modern jetport s one such phenomenon which raises traveler’s anxieties...enough. Social responsi- bility, commitment to the education of school children , providing on-site experiences for university students, sensitive...for a long, long time. The original automated chart displays were developed in the 󈧶’ s , 󈨀’ s . They have been flown in Europe and in the

A quantitative chemotherapy genetic interaction map reveals new factors associated with PARP inhibitor resistance | Office of Cancer Genomics

Cancer.gov

Nearly every cancer patient is treated with chemotherapy yet our understanding of factors that dictate response and resistance to such agents remains limited. We report the generation of a quantitative chemical-genetic interaction map in human mammary epithelial cells that charts the impact of knockdown of 625 cancer and DNA repair related genes on sensitivity to 29 drugs, covering all classes of cancer chemotherapeutics.

Thermal comfort of people in the hot and humid area of China-impacts of season, climate, and thermal history.

PubMed

Zhang, Y; Chen, H; Wang, J; Meng, Q

2016-10-01

We conducted a climate chamber study on the thermal comfort of people in the hot and humid area of China. Sixty subjects from naturally ventilated buildings and buildings with split air conditioners participated in the study, and identical experiments were conducted in a climate chamber in both summer and winter. Psychological and physiological responses were observed over a wide range of conditions, and the impacts of season, climate, and thermal history on human thermal comfort were analyzed. Seasonal and climatic heat acclimatization was confirmed, but they were found to have no significant impacts on human thermal sensation and comfort. The outdoor thermal history was much less important than the indoor thermal history in regard to human thermal sensation, and the indoor thermal history in all seasons of a year played a key role in shaping the subjects' sensations in a wide range of thermal conditions. A warmer indoor thermal history in warm seasons produced a higher neutral temperature, a lower thermal sensitivity, and lower thermal sensations in warm conditions. The comfort and acceptable conditions were identified for people in the hot and humid area of China. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Sensitive periods in human development: evidence from musical training.

PubMed

Penhune, Virginia B

2011-10-01

One of the primary goals of cognitive neuroscience is to understand the interaction between genes, development and specific experience. A particularly fascinating example of this interaction is a sensitive period - a time during development when experience has a differential effect on behavior and the brain. Behavioral and brain imaging studies in musicians have provided suggestive evidence for a possible sensitive period for musical training; showing that musicians who began training early show better task performance and greater changes in auditory and motor regions of the brain. However, these studies have not controlled for likely differences between early- (ET) and late-trained (LT) musicians in the number of years of musical experience. This review presents behavioral work from our laboratory comparing the performance of ET (before age seven) and LT musicians who were matched for years of experience on the ability to tap in synchrony with auditory and visual rhythms. The results demonstrate the existence of a possible sensitive period for musical training that has its greatest impact on measures of sensorimotor integration. Work on motor learning in children and how this might relate to the observed sensitive period effect is also reviewed. These studies are described in the context of what is currently known about sensitive periods in animals and humans; drawing on evidence from anatomy and physiology, studies of deafness, as well as structural and functional neuroimaging studies in trained musicians. The possible mechanisms underlying sensitive periods for musical training are discussed based on current theories describing the influence of both low-level features of sensory experience and higher-level cognitive processing. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

Themes of culture and ancestry among children of concentration camp survivors.

PubMed

Heller, D

1982-08-01

Response to the most stressful of circumstances provides insight into the human capacity for adaptability. Survivors of catastrophic historical events, such as the Nazi Holocaust and the Atomic Holocaust of Hiroshima, provide evidence of individual and cultural resilience. Of particular interest is the impact of concentration camp atrocities. As Israeli statesman Abba Eban recounts: "Never in all of recorded history has any family of the human race been overwhelmed by such a wave of grief and havoc" (Eban 1961). Existing research repeatedly demonstrates that the massive trauma of concentration camp internment profoundly affects survivors for the rest of their lives (Eitinger and Strom 1973; Chodoff 1970; Eitinger 1957). In order to comprehend the long-term cultural implications of the experiences of survivors, investigation of the succeeding generation is essential. The effect on sensitivity to culture and ancestry among children of concentration camp survivors is likely to be substantial, but the full scope of this impact has yet to be determined. The purpose of the present study is to begin to examine this impact and describe the intergenerational response of a culture to extreme stress.

Impact of Open Data Policies on Consent to Participate in Human Subjects Research: Discrepancies between Participant Action and Reported Concerns

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Research outlets are increasingly adopting open data policies as a requisite for publication, including studies with human subjects data. We investigated whether open data policies influence participants’ rate of consent by randomly assigning participants to view consent forms with and without discussion of open data policies. No participants declined to participate, regardless of condition, nor did rates of drop-out vs. completion vary between conditions. Furthermore, no significant change in potential consent rates was reported when participants were openly asked about the influence of open data policies on their likelihood of consent. However, follow-up analyses indicated possible poor attention to consent forms, consistent with previous research. Moreover, thematic analysis of participants’ considerations of open data policy indicated multiple considerations such as concerns regarding confidentiality, anonymity, data security, and study sensitivity. The impact of open data policies on participation raises complex issues at the intersection of ethics and scientific innovation. We conclude by encouraging researchers to consider participants as stakeholders in open data policy and by providing recommendations for open data policies in human subjects research. PMID:25993308

Impact of Open Data Policies on Consent to Participate in Human Subjects Research: Discrepancies between Participant Action and Reported Concerns.

PubMed

Cummings, Jorden A; Zagrodney, Jessica M; Day, T Eugene

2015-01-01

Research outlets are increasingly adopting open data policies as a requisite for publication, including studies with human subjects data. We investigated whether open data policies influence participants' rate of consent by randomly assigning participants to view consent forms with and without discussion of open data policies. No participants declined to participate, regardless of condition, nor did rates of drop-out vs. completion vary between conditions. Furthermore, no significant change in potential consent rates was reported when participants were openly asked about the influence of open data policies on their likelihood of consent. However, follow-up analyses indicated possible poor attention to consent forms, consistent with previous research. Moreover, thematic analysis of participants' considerations of open data policy indicated multiple considerations such as concerns regarding confidentiality, anonymity, data security, and study sensitivity. The impact of open data policies on participation raises complex issues at the intersection of ethics and scientific innovation. We conclude by encouraging researchers to consider participants as stakeholders in open data policy and by providing recommendations for open data policies in human subjects research.

Change in medical plant use in Estonian ethnomedicine: a historical comparison between 1888 and 1994.

PubMed

Sõukand, Renata; Kalle, Raivo

2011-05-17

The aim of this paper is to compare the changes in the utilization of species from various hemeroby categories (indicating the degree of sensitivity of the plant to human impact) using historical data concerning the years 1888-1994. The authors digitised 8808 handwritten reports, reflecting local ethnopharmacological knowledge from 8 selected collections from the Estonian Folklore Archives of the Estonian Literary Museum. They were semi-quantitatively analyzed according to the sensitivity to human impact of 540 taxa that could possibly be related to the plant vernacular names given in the reports. Although in different periods of time the number of ethnopharmacologically used plants has changed, the proportion of plants utilized from each group has remained relatively same, consisting on average of: 23% anthropophytes, 42% apophytes, 32% hemeradiaphores and 3% hemerophobes. Comparison of the application of the most used plants revealed considerable changes of plant utilization, in which the varied use of the most popular anthropophytes increased and the applied scope of the most popular hemeradiaphores and hemerophobes decreased almost by twofold in one century. Case studies on seven taxa are presented, of them, use of Allium sativum L., Aesculus hippocastanum L. and Mentha xpiperita L. increased, whereas the use of Hordeum L., Orchidaceae, Paris quadrifolia L. and Briza media L. decreased greatly. This research contributes to the better understanding of the cognitive and human ecological concepts underlying the use of medicinal plants in Estonia. Strong increase in the ethnomedical utilization of plants depending on human influence, and a decrease in the use of taxa that do not prefer human activities indicates that, despite some of the population still have access to natural resources and diverse knowledge of the medical use of plants, the majority relies on a very narrow selection and a rather restricted herbal landscape. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling human-flood interactions: Collective action and community resilience.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, D. J.; Sangwan, N.; Sung, K.

2016-12-01

Stylized models of socio-hydrology have mainly used social memory aspects such as community awareness or sensitivity to connect hydrologic change and social response. However, social memory alone does not satisfactorily capture the details of how human behavior is translated into collective action for water resources governance. Nor is it the only mechanism by which the two-way feedbacks of socio-hydrology can be operationalized. This study contributes towards bridging of this gap by developing a stylized model of a human-flood system that includes two additional drivers of change: (1) institutions for collective action, and (2) connections to an external economic system. Motivated by the case of community-managed flood protection systems (polders) in coastal Bangladesh, we use the model to understand critical general features that affect long-term resilience of human-flood systems. Our findings suggest that occasional adversity can enhance long-term resilience. Allowing some hydrological variability to enter into the polder can increase its adaptive capacity and resilience through the preservation of social memory and institutions for collective action. Further, there are potential tradeoffs associated with optimization of flood resilience through structural measures. By reducing sensitivity to flooding, the system may become more fragile under the double impact of flooding and economic change

On methods for the detection of reactive oxygen species generation by human spermatozoa: analysis of the cellular responses to catechol oestrogen, lipid aldehyde, menadione and arachidonic acid.

PubMed

Aitken, R J; Smith, T B; Lord, T; Kuczera, L; Koppers, A J; Naumovski, N; Connaughton, H; Baker, M A; De Iuliis, G N

2013-03-01

Oxidative stress is known to have a major impact on human sperm function and, as a result, there is a need to develop sensitive methods for measuring reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by these cells. A variety of techniques have been developed for this purpose including chemiluminescence (luminol and lucigenin), flow cytometry (MitoSOX Red, dihydroethidium, 4,5-diaminofluorescein diacetate and 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate) and spectrophotometry (nitroblue tetrazolium). The relative sensitivity of these assays and their comparative ability to detect ROS generated in different subcellular compartments of human spermatozoa, have not previously been investigated. To address this issue, we have compared the performance of these assays when ROS generation was triggered with a variety of reagents including 2-hydroxyestradiol, menadione, 4-hydroxynonenal and arachidonic acid. The results revealed that menadione predominantly induced release of ROS into the extracellular space where these metabolites could be readily detected by luminol-peroxidase and, to a lesser extent, 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein. However, such sensitivity to extracellular ROS meant that these assays were particularly vulnerable to interference by leucocytes. The remaining reagents predominantly elicited ROS generation by the sperm mitochondria and could be optimally detected by MitoSOX Red and DHE. Examination of spontaneous ROS generation by defective human spermatozoa revealed that MitoSOX Red was the most effective indicator of oxidative stress, thereby emphasizing the general importance of mitochondrial dysregulation in the aetiology of defective sperm function. © 2013 American Society of Andrology and European Academy of Andrology.

Impact of patient weight on tumor visibility based on human-shaped phantom simulation study in PET imaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musarudin, M.; Saripan, M. I.; Mashohor, S.; Saad, W. H. M.; Nordin, A. J.; Hashim, S.

2015-10-01

Energy window technique has been implemented in all positron emission tomography (PET) imaging protocol, with the aim to remove the unwanted low energy photons. Current practices in our institution however are performed by using default energy threshold level regardless of the weight of the patient. Phantom size, which represents the size of the patient's body, is the factor that determined the level of scatter fraction during PET imaging. Thus, the motivation of this study is to determine the optimum energy threshold level for different sizes of human-shaped phantom, to represent underweight, normal, overweight and obese patients. In this study, the scanner was modeled by using Monte Carlo code, version MCNP5. Five different sizes of elliptical-cylinder shaped of human-sized phantoms with diameter ranged from 15 to 30 cm were modeled. The tumor was modeled by a cylindrical line source filled with 1.02 MeV positron emitters at the center of the phantom. Various energy window widths, in the ranged of 10-50% were implemented to the data. In conclusion, the phantom mass volume did influence the scatter fraction within the volume. Bigger phantom caused more scattering events and thus led to coincidence counts lost. We evaluated the impact of phantom sizes on the sensitivity and visibility of the simulated models. Implementation of wider energy window improved the sensitivity of the system and retained the coincidence photons lost. Visibility of the tumor improved as an appropriate energy window implemented for the different sizes of phantom.

Impact sensitivity of materials in contact with liquid and gaseous oxygen at high pressure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwinghamer, R. J.

1972-01-01

As a result of the Apollo 13 incident, increased emphasis is being placed on materials compatibility in a high pressure GOX environment. It is known that in addition to impact sensitivity of materials, approximately adiabatic compression conditions can contrive to induce materials reactivity. Test runs at high pressure using the ABMA tester indicate the following: (1) The materials used in the tests showed an inverse relationship between thickness and impact sensitivity. (2) Several materials tested exhibited greater impact sensitivity in GOX than in LOX. (3) The impact sensitivity of the materials tested in GOX, at the pressures tested, showed enhanced impact sensitivity with higher pressure. (4) The rank ordering of the materials tested in LOX up to 1000 psia is the same as the rank ordering resulting from tests in LOX at 14.7 psia.

Assessing environmental conditions of Antarctic footpaths to support management decisions.

PubMed

Tejedo, Pablo; Benayas, Javier; Cajiao, Daniela; Albertos, Belén; Lara, Francisco; Pertierra, Luis R; Andrés-Abellán, Manuela; Wic, Consuelo; Luciáñez, Maria José; Enríquez, Natalia; Justel, Ana; Reck, Günther K

2016-07-15

Thousands of tourists visit certain Antarctic sites each year, generating a wide variety of environmental impacts. Scientific knowledge of human activities and their impacts can help in the effective design of management measures and impact mitigation. We present a case study from Barrientos Island in which a management measure was originally put in place with the goal of minimizing environmental impacts but resulted in new undesired impacts. Two alternative footpaths used by tourist groups were compared. Both affected extensive moss carpets that cover the middle part of the island and that are very vulnerable to trampling. The first path has been used by tourists and scientists since over a decade and is a marked route that is clearly visible. The second one was created more recently. Several physical and biological indicators were measured in order to assess the environmental conditions for both paths. Some physical variables related to human impact were lower for the first path (e.g. soil penetration resistance and secondary treads), while other biochemical and microbiological variables were higher for the second path (e.g. β-glucosidase and phosphatase activities, soil respiration). Moss communities located along the new path were also more diverse and sensitive to trampling. Soil biota (Collembola) was also more abundant and richer. These data indicate that the decision to adopt the second path did not lead to the reduction of environmental impacts as this path runs over a more vulnerable area with more outstanding biological features (e.g. microbiota activity, flora and soil fauna diversity). In addition, the adoption of a new route effectively doubles the human footprint on the island. We propose using only the original path that is less vulnerable to the impacts of trampling. Finally from this process, we identify several key issues that may be taken into account when carrying out impact assessment and environmental management decision-making in the Antarctic area. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Orbit selection and its impact on radiation warning architecture for a human mission to Mars.

PubMed

Turner, R E; Levine, J M

1998-01-01

With the recent announcement of the discovery of the possibility of life on Mars, there is renewed interest in Mars missions, perhaps eventually in human missions. Astronauts on such missions are at risk to occasional periods of enhanced high energy particle flux from the sun known as Solar Particle Events. These events can pose a substantial risk to the health of the astronauts and to the on-board electronics. Effective forecast and warning of these events could provide time to take steps to minimize the risk (retreating to a safe haven, shutting down sensitive equipment, etc.) Providing that forecast capability, will require additional monitoring capability. The extent of this architecture is sensitive to the orbit selected for the transfer to and from Mars. This paper looks at the major classes of Mars missions (Conjunction and Opposition) and sub-categories of these classes and draws conclusions on the number of monitoring satellites needed for each, with a goal to reducing total system cost through optimum orbit selection.

Effective time closures: quantifying the conservation benefits of input control for the Pacific chub mackerel fishery.

PubMed

Ichinokawa, Momoko; Okamura, Hiroshi; Watanabe, Chikako; Kawabata, Atsushi; Oozeki, Yoshioki

2015-09-01

Restricting human access to a specific wildlife species, community, or ecosystem, i.e., input control, is one of the most popular tools to control human impacts for natural resource management and wildlife conservation. However, quantitative evaluations of input control are generally difficult, because it is unclear how much human impacts can actually be reduced by the control. We present a model framework to quantify the effectiveness of input control using day closures to reduce actual fishing impact by considering the observed fishery dynamics. The model framework was applied to the management of the Pacific stock of the chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) fishery, in which fishing was suspended for one day following any day when the total mackerel catch exceeded a threshold level. We evaluated the management measure according to the following steps: (1) we fitted the daily observed catch and fishing effort data to a generalized linear model (GLM) or generalized autoregressive state-space model (GASSM), (2) we conducted population dynamics simulations based on annual catches randomly generated from the parameters estimated in the first step, (3) we quantified the effectiveness of day closures by comparing the results of two simulation scenarios with and without day closures, and (4) we conducted additional simulations based on different sets of explanatory variables and statistical models (sensitivity analysis). In the first step, we found that the GASSM explained the observed data far better than the simple GLM. The model parameterized with the estimates from the GASSM demonstrated that the day closures implemented from 2004 to 2009 would have decreased exploitation fractions by ~10% every year and increased the 2009 stock biomass by 37-46% (median), relative to the values without day closures. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the effectiveness of day closures was particularly influenced by autoregressive processes in the fishery data and by positive relationships between fishing effort and total biomass. Those results indicated the importance of human behavioral dynamics under input control in quantifying the conservation benefit of natural resource management and the applicability of our model framework to the evaluation of the input controls that are actually implemented.

Quantifying the impact of decay in bed-net efficacy on malaria transmission

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ngonghala, Calistus N.; Del Valle, Sara Y.; Zhao, Ruijun

Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are at the forefront of malaria control programs and even though the percentage of households in sub-Saharan Africa that owned nets increased from 3% in 2000 to 53% in 2012, many children continue to die from malaria. The potential impact of ITNs on reducing malaria transmission is limited due to inconsistent or improper use, as well as physical decay in effectiveness. Most mathematical models for malaria transmission have assumed a fixed effectiveness rate for bed-nets, which can overestimate the impact of nets on malaria control. We develop a model for malaria spread that captures the decrease inmore » ITN effectiveness due to physical and chemical decay, as well as human behavior as a function of time. We perform uncertainty and sensitivity analyses to identify and rank parameters that play a critical role in malaria transmission. These analyses show that the basic reproduction number R 0, and the infectious human population are most sensitive to bed-net coverage and the biting rate of mosquitoes. Our results show the existence of a backward bifurcation for the case in which ITN efficacy is constant over time, which occurs for some range of parameters and is characterized by high malaria mortality in humans. This result implies that bringing R 0 to less than one is not enough for malaria elimination but rather additional efforts will be necessary to control the disease. For the case in which ITN efficacy decays over time, we determine coverage levels required to control malaria for different ITN efficacies and demonstrate that ITNs with longer useful lifespans perform better in malaria control. We conclude that malaria control programs should focus on increasing bed-net coverage, which can be achieved by enhancing malaria education and increasing bed-net distribution in malaria endemic regions.« less

Quantifying the impact of decay in bed-net efficacy on malaria transmission

DOE PAGES

Ngonghala, Calistus N.; Del Valle, Sara Y.; Zhao, Ruijun; ...

2014-08-23

Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are at the forefront of malaria control programs and even though the percentage of households in sub-Saharan Africa that owned nets increased from 3% in 2000 to 53% in 2012, many children continue to die from malaria. The potential impact of ITNs on reducing malaria transmission is limited due to inconsistent or improper use, as well as physical decay in effectiveness. Most mathematical models for malaria transmission have assumed a fixed effectiveness rate for bed-nets, which can overestimate the impact of nets on malaria control. We develop a model for malaria spread that captures the decrease inmore » ITN effectiveness due to physical and chemical decay, as well as human behavior as a function of time. We perform uncertainty and sensitivity analyses to identify and rank parameters that play a critical role in malaria transmission. These analyses show that the basic reproduction number R 0, and the infectious human population are most sensitive to bed-net coverage and the biting rate of mosquitoes. Our results show the existence of a backward bifurcation for the case in which ITN efficacy is constant over time, which occurs for some range of parameters and is characterized by high malaria mortality in humans. This result implies that bringing R 0 to less than one is not enough for malaria elimination but rather additional efforts will be necessary to control the disease. For the case in which ITN efficacy decays over time, we determine coverage levels required to control malaria for different ITN efficacies and demonstrate that ITNs with longer useful lifespans perform better in malaria control. We conclude that malaria control programs should focus on increasing bed-net coverage, which can be achieved by enhancing malaria education and increasing bed-net distribution in malaria endemic regions.« less

The common occurrence of epistasis in the determination of human pigmentation and its impact on DNA-based pigmentation phenotype prediction.

PubMed

Pośpiech, Ewelina; Wojas-Pelc, Anna; Walsh, Susan; Liu, Fan; Maeda, Hitoshi; Ishikawa, Takaki; Skowron, Małgorzata; Kayser, Manfred; Branicki, Wojciech

2014-07-01

The role of epistatic effects in the determination of complex traits is often underlined but its significance in the prediction of pigmentation phenotypes has not been evaluated so far. The prediction of pigmentation from genetic data can be useful in forensic science to describe the physical appearance of an unknown offender, victim, or missing person who cannot be identified via conventional DNA profiling. Available forensic DNA prediction systems enable the reliable prediction of several eye and hair colour categories. However, there is still space for improvement. Here we verified the association of 38 candidate DNA polymorphisms from 13 genes and explored the extent to which interactions between them may be involved in human pigmentation and their impact on forensic DNA prediction in particular. The model-building set included 718 Polish samples and the model-verification set included 307 independent Polish samples and additional 72 samples from Japan. In total, 29 significant SNP-SNP interactions were found with 5 of them showing an effect on phenotype prediction. For predicting green eye colour, interactions between HERC2 rs12913832 and OCA2 rs1800407 as well as TYRP1 rs1408799 raised the prediction accuracy expressed by AUC from 0.667 to 0.697 and increased the prediction sensitivity by >3%. Interaction between MC1R 'R' variants and VDR rs731236 increased the sensitivity for light skin by >1% and by almost 3% for dark skin colour prediction. Interactions between VDR rs1544410 and TYR rs1042602 as well as between MC1R 'R' variants and HERC2 rs12913832 provided an increase in red/non-red hair prediction accuracy from an AUC of 0.902-0.930. Our results thus underline epistasis as a common phenomenon in human pigmentation genetics and demonstrate that considering SNP-SNP interactions in forensic DNA phenotyping has little impact on eye, hair and skin colour prediction. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temporal trends in human vulnerability to excessive heat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheridan, Scott C.; Allen, Michael J.

2018-04-01

Over recent decades, studies have examined various morbidity and mortality outcomes associated with heat exposure. This review explores the collective knowledge of the temporal trends of heat on human health, with regard to the hypothesis that humans are less vulnerable to heat events presently than in the past. Using Web of Science and Scopus, the authors identified all peer-reviewed articles that contained keywords on human impact (e.g. mortality, morbidity) and meteorological component (e.g. heat, heatwave). After sorting, a total of 71 articles, both case studies and epidemiological studies, contained explicit assessments of temporal trends in human vulnerability, and thus were used in this review. Most of the studies utilized mortality data, focused on the developed world, and showed a general decrease in heat sensitivity. Factors such as the implementation of a heat warning system, increased awareness, and improved quality of life were cited as contributing factors that led to the decreased impact of heat. Despite the overall recent decreases in heat vulnerability, spatial variability was shown, and differences with respect to health outcomes were also discussed. Several papers noted increases in heat’s impact on human health, particularly when unprecedented conditions occurred. Further, many populations, from outdoor workers to rural residents, in addition to the populations in much of the developing world, have been significantly underrepresented in research to date, and temporal changes in their vulnerability should be assessed in future studies. Moreover, continued monitoring and improvement of heat intervention is needed; with projected changes in the frequency, duration, and intensity of heat events combined with shifts in demographics, heat will remain a major public health issue moving forward.

Humans and seasonal climate variability threaten large-bodied coral reef fish with small ranges

PubMed Central

Mellin, C.; Mouillot, D.; Kulbicki, M.; McClanahan, T. R.; Vigliola, L.; Bradshaw, C. J. A.; Brainard, R. E.; Chabanet, P.; Edgar, G. J.; Fordham, D. A.; Friedlander, A. M.; Parravicini, V.; Sequeira, A. M. M.; Stuart-Smith, R. D.; Wantiez, L.; Caley, M. J.

2016-01-01

Coral reefs are among the most species-rich and threatened ecosystems on Earth, yet the extent to which human stressors determine species occurrences, compared with biogeography or environmental conditions, remains largely unknown. With ever-increasing human-mediated disturbances on these ecosystems, an important question is not only how many species can inhabit local communities, but also which biological traits determine species that can persist (or not) above particular disturbance thresholds. Here we show that human pressure and seasonal climate variability are disproportionately and negatively associated with the occurrence of large-bodied and geographically small-ranging fishes within local coral reef communities. These species are 67% less likely to occur where human impact and temperature seasonality exceed critical thresholds, such as in the marine biodiversity hotspot: the Coral Triangle. Our results identify the most sensitive species and critical thresholds of human and climatic stressors, providing opportunity for targeted conservation intervention to prevent local extinctions. PMID:26839155

Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acids Differentially Impact Acute Ethanol-Responsive Behaviors and Ethanol Consumption in DBA/2J Versus C57BL/6J Mice.

PubMed

Wolstenholme, Jennifer T; Bowers, M Scott; Pais, Alexander B; Pais, A Christian; Poland, Ryan S; Poklis, Justin L; Davies, Andrew G; Bettinger, Jill C

2018-05-22

Complex interactions between environmental and genetic factors influence the risk of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD) in humans. To date, studies of the impact of environment on AUD risk have primarily focused on psychological characteristics or on the effects of developmental exposure to ethanol (EtOH). We recently observed that modifying levels of the long-chain ω-3 (LC ω-3) fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), alters acute physiological responses to EtOH in Caenorhabditis elegans. Because mammals derive ω-3 fatty acids from their diet, here we asked if manipulating dietary levels of LC ω-3 fatty acids can affect EtOH-responsive behaviors in mice. We used 2 well-characterized inbred mouse strains, C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2), which differ in their responses to EtOH. Age-matched young adult male mice were maintained on isocaloric diets that differed only by being enriched or depleted in LC ω-3 fatty acids. Animals were subsequently tested for acute EtOH sensitivity (locomotor activation and sedation), voluntary consumption, and metabolism. Fat deposition was also determined. We found that dietary levels of LC ω-3s altered EtOH sensitivity and consumption in a genotype-specific manner. Both B6 and D2 animals fed high LC ω-3 diets demonstrated lower EtOH-induced locomotor stimulation than those fed low LC ω-3 diets. EtOH sedation and EtOH metabolism were greater in D2, but not B6 mice on the high LC ω-3 diet. Conversely, LC ω-3 dietary manipulation altered EtOH consumption in B6, but not in D2 mice. B6 mice on a high LC ω-3 diet consumed more EtOH in a 2-bottle choice intermittent access model than B6 mice on a low LC ω-3 diet. Because EtOH sensitivity is predictive of risk of developing AUD in humans, our data indicate that dietary LC ω-3 levels should be evaluated for their impact on AUD risk in humans. Further, these studies indicate that genetic background can interact with fatty acids in the diet to significantly alter EtOH-responsive behaviors. Copyright © 2018 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Limiting similarity and niche theory for structured populations.

PubMed

Szilágyi, András; Meszéna, Géza

2009-05-07

We develop the theory of limiting similarity and niche for structured populations with finite number of individual states (i-state). In line with a previously published theory for unstructured populations, the niche of a species is specified by the impact and sensitivity niche vectors. They describe the population's impact on and sensitivity towards the variables involved in the population regulation. Robust coexistence requires sufficient segregation of the impact, as well as of the sensitivity niche vectors. Connection between the population-level impact and sensitivity and the impact/sensitivity of the specific i-states is developed. Each i-state contributes to the impact of the population proportional to its frequency in the population. Sensitivity of the population is composed of the sensitivity of the rates of demographic transitions, weighted by the frequency and by the reproductive value of the initial and final i-states of the transition, respectively. Coexistence in a multi-patch environment is studied. This analysis is interpreted as spatial niche segregation.

An assessment of the regional and national socio-economic impacts of the 2007 Rift Valley fever outbreak in Kenya.

PubMed

Rich, Karl M; Wanyoike, Francis

2010-08-01

Although Rift Valley fever (RVF) has significant impacts on human health and livestock production, it can also induce significant (and often overlooked) economic losses among various stakeholders in the marketing chain. This work assesses and quantifies the multi-dimensional socio-economic impacts of the 2007 RVF outbreak in Kenya based on a rapid assessment of livestock value chains in the northeast part of the country and a national macroeconomic analysis. Although study results show negative impacts among producers in terms of food insecurity and reductions in income, we also found significant losses among other downstream actors in the value chain, including livestock traders, slaughterhouses, casual laborers, and butchers, as well as other, non-agricultural sectors. The study highlights the need for greater sensitivity and analyses that address the multitude of economic losses resulting from an animal disease to better inform policy and decision making during animal health emergencies.

Temporal Impact of Substrate Mechanics on Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells to Cardiomyocytes

PubMed Central

Hazeltine, Laurie B.; Badur, Mehmet G.; Lian, Xiaojun; Das, Amritava; Han, Wenqing; Palecek, Sean P.

2014-01-01

A significant clinical need exists to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into cardiomyocytes, enabling tissue modeling for in vitro discovery of new drugs or cell-based therapies for heart repair in vivo. Chemical and mechanical microenvironmental factors are known to impact efficiency of stem cell differentiation, but cardiac differentiation protocols in hPSCs are typically performed on rigid tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) surfaces which do not present a physiological mechanical setting. To investigate the temporal effects of mechanics on cardiac differentiation, we cultured human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and their derivatives on polyacrylamide hydrogel substrates with a physiologically relevant range of stiffnesses. In directed differentiation and embryoid body culture systems, differentiation of hESCs to cardiac Troponin T-expressing (cTnT+) cardiomyocytes peaked on hydrogels of intermediate stiffness. Brachyury expression also peaked on intermediate stiffness hydrogels at day 1 of directed differentiation, suggesting that stiffness impacted the initial differentiation trajectory of hESCs to mesendoderm. To investigate the impact of substrate mechanics during cardiac specification of mesodermal progenitors, we initiated directed cardiomyocyte differentiation on TCPS and transferred cells to hydrogels at the Nkx2.5/Isl1+ cardiac progenitor cell stage. No differences in cardiomyocyte purity with stiffness were observed on day 15. These experiments indicate that differentiation of hESCs is sensitive to substrate mechanics at early stages of mesodermal induction, and proper application of substrate mechanics can increase the propensity of hESCs to differentiate to cardiomyocytes. PMID:24200714

Toward Advanced Human Reliability Programs. Structural Development Considerations and Options for Extreme Risk Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-05-01

programs has not been effectively accomplished. We can ascertain to a meaningful degree the impact of various types of stress (e.g. heat and work ...that this would produce an effective cross-pollination effect , as panel and panel member work inspired others not directly associated with the effort...include: 1. It has the least flexibility to political sensitivities. 2. There is structural inflexibility in format arrangements . 3. It is easiest to

Blood Transcriptomics and Metabolomics for Personalized Medicine

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-10-31

the network by taking addi- tional information as priors. For example, genes with cis-eQTLs (cis means locally acting on a genomic sequence ) could be...Lander ES. Initial impact of the sequencing of the human genome . Nature 2011; 470(7333):187–97. [9] Manolio TA, et al. Finding the missing heritability of...2010;6(2). [80] Hoffman JM, et al. Effects of age, sex, and genotype on high-sensitivity metabolomic profiles in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster

Evaluation of sewage source and fate on southeast Florida coastal reefs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carrie, Futch J.; Griffin, Dale W.; Banks, K.; Lipp, E.K.

2011-01-01

Water, sponge and coral samples were collected from stations impacted by a variety of pollution sources and screened for human enteric viruses as conservative markers for human sewage. While human enteroviruses and adenoviruses were not detected, noroviruses (NoV; human genogroups I and II) were detected in 31% of samples (especially in sponge tissue). Stations near inlets were the only ones to show multiple sample types positive for NoV. Fecal indicator bacteria and enteric viruses were further evaluated at multiple inlet stations on an outgoing tide. Greatest indicator concentrations and highest prevalence of viruses were found at the mouth of the inlet and offshore in the inlet plume. Results suggest that inlets moving large volumes of water into the coastal zone with tides may be an important source of fecal contaminants. Efforts to reduce run-off or unintended release of water into the Intracoastal Waterway may lower contaminants entering sensitive coastal areas. ?? 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Evaluation of the performance of Human Papillomavirus testing in paired urine and clinician-collected cervical samples among women aged over 30 years in Bhutan.

PubMed

Tshomo, Ugyen; Franceschi, Silvia; Tshokey, Tshokey; Tobgay, Tashi; Baussano, Iacopo; Tenet, Vanessa; Snijders, Peter J F; Gheit, Tarik; Tommasino, Massimo; Vorsters, Alex; Clifford, Gary M

2017-04-08

Urine sampling may offer a less invasive solution than cervical sampling to test for human papillomavirus (HPV) for HPV vaccine impact monitoring. Paired samples of urine and exfoliated cervical cells were obtained for 89 women with history of high-risk (HR) HPV-positive normal cytology in Bhutan. Urine sampling protocol included self-collection of first-void urine immediately into a conservation medium and procedures to optimize DNA yield. Colposcopical abnormalities were biopsied. Two HPV assays were used: a multiplex type-specific PCR (E7-MPG) and a less analytically sensitive GP5+/6+ PCR followed by reverse line blot. HPV positivity for 21 types common to both assays was similar in urine and cells by E7-MPG (62.9% and 57.3%, respectively, p = 0.32) but lower in urine by GP5+/6+ (30.3% and 40.4%, p = 0.05). HPV6/11/16/18 positivity did not significantly differ between urine and cells by either assay. Sensitivity of urine (using cells as gold standard) to detect 21 HPV types was 80% and 58% for E7-MPG and GP5+/6+, respectively, with specificity 61% and 89%. HPV type distribution in urine and cells was similar, regardless of assay. The 5 detected CIN3+ were HR-HPV positive in cells by both assays, compared to 4 and 3 by E7-MPG and GP5+/6+, respectively, in urine samples. For the monitoring of vaccine impact, we demonstrate validity of a urine sampling protocol to obtain HPV prevalence data that are broadly comparable to that from cervical cells. However, detection of HPV in urine varies according to assay sensitivity, presumably because low level infections are frequent.

Quantitative relationship between the local lymph node assay and human skin sensitization assays.

PubMed

Schneider, K; Akkan, Z

2004-06-01

The local lymph node assay (LLNA) is a new test method which allows for the quantitative assessment of sensitizing potency in the mouse. Here, we investigate the quantitative correlation between results from the LLNA and two human sensitization tests--specifically, human repeat insult patch tests (HRIPTs) and human maximization tests (HMTs). Data for 57 substances were evaluated, of which 46 showed skin sensitizing properties in human tests, whereas 11 yielded negative results in humans. For better comparability data from mouse and human tests were transformed to applied doses per skin area, which ranged over four orders of magnitude for the substances considered. Regression analysis for the 46 human sensitizing substances revealed a significant positive correlation between the LLNA and human tests. The correlation was better between LLNA and HRIPT data (n=23; r=0.77) than between LLNA and HMT data (n=38; r=0.65). The observed scattering of data points is related to various uncertainties, in part associated with insufficiencies of data from older HMT studies. Predominantly negative results in the LLNA for another 11 substances which showed no skin sensitizing activity in human maximization tests further corroborate the correspondence between LLNA and human tests. Based on this analysis, the LLNA can be considered a reliable basis for relative potency assessments for skin sensitizers. Proposals are made for the regulatory exploitation of the LLNA: four potency groups can be established, and assignment of substances to these groups according to the outcome of the LLNA can be used to characterize skin sensitizing potency in substance-specific assessments. Moreover, based on these potency groups, a more adequate consideration of sensitizing substances in preparations becomes possible. It is proposed to replace the current single concentration limit for skin sensitizers in preparations, which leads to an all or nothing classification of a preparation as sensitizing to skin ("R43") in the European Union, by differentiated concentration limits derived from the limits for the four potency groups.

Budget impact analysis of everolimus for the treatment of hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer in the United States.

PubMed

Xie, Jipan; Diener, Melissa; De, Gourab; Yang, Hongbo; Wu, Eric Q; Namjoshi, Madhav

2013-01-01

To estimate the budget impact of everolimus as the first and second treatment option after letrozole or anastrozole (L/A) failure for post-menopausal women with hormone receptor positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer (ABC). Pharmacy and medical budget impacts (2011 USD) were estimated over the first year of everolimus use in HR+, HER2- ABC from a US payer perspective. Epidemiology data were used to estimate target population size. Pre-everolimus entry treatment options included exemestane, fulvestrant, and tamoxifen. Pre- and post-everolimus entry market shares were estimated based on market research and assumptions. Drug costs were based on wholesale acquisition cost. Patients were assumed to be on treatment until progression or death. Annual medical costs were calculated as the average of pre- and post-progression medical costs weighted by the time in each period, adjusted for survival. One-way and two-way sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the model robustness. In a hypothetical 1,000,000 member plan, 72 and 159 patients were expected to be candidates for everolimus treatment as first and second treatment option, respectively, after L/A failure. The total budget impact for the first year post-everolimus entry was $0.044 per member per month [PMPM] (pharmacy budget: $0.058 PMPM; medical budget: -$0.014 PMPM), assuming 10% of the target population would receive everolimus. The total budget impacts for the first and second treatment options after L/A failure were $0.014 PMPM (pharmacy budget: $0.018; medical budget: -$0.004) and $0.030 PMPM (pharmacy budget: $0.040; medical budget: -$0.010), respectively. Results remained robust in sensitivity analyses. Assumptions about some model input parameters were necessary and may impact results. Increased pharmacy costs for HR+, HER2- ABC following everolimus entry are expected to be partially offset by reduced medical service costs. Pharmacy and total budget increases were modest.

Transcriptional differences between smokers and non-smokers and variance by obesity as a risk factor for human sensitivity to environmental exposures.

PubMed

Nikodemova, Maria; Yee, Jeremiah; Carney, Patrick R; Bradfield, Christopher A; Malecki, Kristen Mc

2018-04-01

Obesity has been shown to alter response to air pollution and smoking but underlying biological mechanisms are largely unknown and few studies have explored mechanisms by which obesity increases human sensitivity to environmental exposures. Overall study goals were to investigate whole blood gene expression in smokers and non-smokers to examine associations between cigarette smoke and changes in gene expression by obesity status and test for effect modification. Relative fold-change in mRNA expression levels of 84 genes were analyzed using a Toxicity and Stress PCR array among 50 21-54 year old adults. Data on smoking status was confirmed using urinary cotinine levels. Adjusted models included age, gender, white blood cell count and body-mass index. Models comparing gene expression of smokers vs. non-smokers identified six differentially expressed genes associated with smoking after adjustments for covariates. Obesity was associated with 29 genes differentially expressed compared to non-obese. We also identified 9 genes with significant smoking/obesity interactions influencing mRNA levels in adjusted models comparing expression between smokers vs non-smokers for four DNA damage related genes (GADD45A, DDB2, RAD51 and P53), two oxidative stress genes (FTH1, TXN), two hypoxia response genes (BN1P3lL, ARNT), and one gene associated with unfolded protein response (ATF6B). Findings suggest that obesity alters human sensitivity to smoke exposures through several biological pathways by modifying gene expression. Additional studies are needed to fully understand the clinical impact of these effects, but risk assessments should consider underlying phenotypes, such as obesity, that may modulate sensitivity of vulnerable populations to environmental exposures. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Planetary Defense is More Than Science and Technology: Policy, People, and Disaster Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrison, A. A.

2009-12-01

Physical scientists and engineers who work to identify and then deflect or destroy threatening Near Earth Objects deserve the support of colleagues who have a thorough understanding of human psychology, society and culture. Behavioral and social scientists can help build governmental and public support for vigorous and comprehensive programs of planetary defense as well as apply their work to minimize the human cost of NEO threats and impacts. Tasks include preparing the public for a succession of possible threats of differing levels; developing effective warning and evacuation strategies; and supporting residents of affected areas during the impact and recovery phases. Although much can be learned from the pre-existing disaster literature, it is important to remain mindful of differences between asteroid or comet impacts and other natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. After identifying widespread but erroneous stereotypes that exaggerate human weakness and interfere with effective disaster planning, we turn to models whereby international, national, and regional organizations help local communities and citizens develop the skills, attitudes and resources that they need to help protect their own welfare. These models view residents of disaster areas as part of the solution as well as part of the problem, acknowledge dangers and disruptions outside of the immediate impact area, and demand high sensitivity to political and cultural issues. We conclude with a brief discussion of strategies for preserving the human legacy under worst-case scenarios including the construction and administration of survival communities and sending time capsules into space. Anthropology, political science, psychology and sociology are already contributing to astrobiology and SETI, and it is time for researchers and practitioners in these areas to become conspicuous partners in the pursuit of planetary defense.

Human-induced geomorphic change across environmental gradients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanacker, V.; Molina, A.; Bellin, N.; Christl, M.

2016-12-01

Human-induced land cover changes are causing important adverse effects on the ecological services rendered by mountain ecosystems, and the number of case-studies of the impact of humans on soil erosion and sediment yield has mounted rapidly. Anthropogenic disturbance of natural vegetation can profoundly alter the physical, chemical and biological processes within soils. Rapid removal of topsoil during intense farming can result in an imbalance between soil production through chemical weathering and physical soil erosion, with direct implications on nutrient cycling, soil fertility and agricultural production. In this study, we present a conceptual model for assessing human-induced erosion for a wide variety of environmental settings and pose that human-induced geomorphic change cannot be assessed solely based on modern erosion rates as natural or baseline erosion rates can be important in e.g. mountainous terrain. As such, we assess the vulnerability of a given ecosystem to human-induced land cover change by quantifying the change in catchment-wide erosion rates resulting from anthropogenic changes in vegetation cover. Human-induced erosion is here approximated by the ratio of the total specific sediment yield to the natural erosional mass flux, and is dimensionless. The conceptual model is applied to three contrasting environmental settings where data on soil production, physical soil erosion and long-term denudation are available: the tropical Andes, subtropical southern Brazil, and semi-arid Spanish Cordillera. The magnitude of human-induced geomorphic change strongly differs between the three regions. The data suggest that the sensitivity to human-induced erosion is ecosystem dependent, and related to soil erosivity and potential vegetation cover disturbances as a result of human impact. It may therefore be expected that the potential for erosion regulation is larger in well-vegetated ecosystem where strong differences may exist in vegetation cover between human disturbed and undisturbed or restored sites.

Spectral binning for mitigation of polarization mode dispersion artifacts in catheter-based optical frequency domain imaging

PubMed Central

Villiger, Martin; Zhang, Ellen Ziyi; Nadkarni, Seemantini K.; Oh, Wang-Yuhl; Vakoc, Benjamin J.; Bouma, Brett E.

2013-01-01

Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) has been recognized as a significant barrier to sensitive and reproducible birefringence measurements with fiber-based, polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography systems. Here, we present a signal processing strategy that reconstructs the local retardation robustly in the presence of system PMD. The algorithm uses a spectral binning approach to limit the detrimental impact of system PMD and benefits from the final averaging of the PMD-corrected retardation vectors of the spectral bins. The algorithm was validated with numerical simulations and experimental measurements of a rubber phantom. When applied to the imaging of human cadaveric coronary arteries, the algorithm was found to yield a substantial improvement in the reconstructed birefringence maps. PMID:23938487

Drosophila Bitter Taste(s)

PubMed Central

French, Alice; Ali Agha, Moutaz; Mitra, Aniruddha; Yanagawa, Aya; Sellier, Marie-Jeanne; Marion-Poll, Frédéric

2015-01-01

Most animals possess taste receptors neurons detecting potentially noxious compounds. In humans, the ligands which activate these neurons define a sensory space called “bitter”. By extension, this term has been used in animals and insects to define molecules which induce aversive responses. In this review, based on our observations carried out in Drosophila, we examine how bitter compounds are detected and if bitter-sensitive neurons respond only to molecules bitter to humans. Like most animals, flies detect bitter chemicals through a specific population of taste neurons, distinct from those responding to sugars or to other modalities. Activating bitter-sensitive taste neurons induces aversive reactions and inhibits feeding. Bitter molecules also contribute to the suppression of sugar-neuron responses and can lead to a complete inhibition of the responses to sugar at the periphery. Since some bitter molecules activate bitter-sensitive neurons and some inhibit sugar detection, bitter molecules are represented by two sensory spaces which are only partially congruent. In addition to molecules which impact feeding, we recently discovered that the activation of bitter-sensitive neurons also induces grooming. Bitter-sensitive neurons of the wings and of the legs can sense chemicals from the gram negative bacteria, Escherichia coli, thus adding another biological function to these receptors. Bitter-sensitive neurons of the proboscis also respond to the inhibitory pheromone, 7-tricosene. Activating these neurons by bitter molecules in the context of sexual encounter inhibits courting and sexual reproduction, while activating these neurons with 7-tricosene in a feeding context will inhibit feeding. The picture that emerges from these observations is that the taste system is composed of detectors which monitor different “categories” of ligands, which facilitate or inhibit behaviors depending on the context (feeding, sexual reproduction, hygienic behavior), thus considerably extending the initial definition of “bitter” tasting. PMID:26635553

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin Shoufu, E-mail: linshf2003@126.co; Zhao Dingtao, E-mail: box@ustc.edu.c; Marinova, Dora, E-mail: D.Marinova@curtin.edu.a

Assuming that energy consumption is the main source of GHG emissions in China, this paper analyses the effect of population, urbanisation level, GDP per capita, industrialisation level and energy intensity on the country's environmental impact using the STIRPAT model with data for 1978-2006. The analysis shows that population has the largest potential effect on environmental impact, followed by urbanisation level, industrialisation level, GDP per capita and energy intensity. Hence, China's One Child Policy, which restrains rapid population growth, has been an effective way of reducing the country's environmental impact. However, due to the difference in growth rates, GDP per capitamore » had a higher effect on the environmental impact, contributing to 38% of its increase (while population's contribution was at 32%). The rapid decrease in energy intensity was the main factor restraining the increase in China's environmental impact but recently it has also been rising. Against this background, the future of the country looks bleak unless a change in human behaviour towards more ecologically sensitive economic choices occurs.« less

Use of piezoelectric dampers for improving the feel of golf clubs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bianchini, Emanuele; Spangler, Ronald L., Jr.; Pandell, Tracy

1999-06-01

Several sports are based upon a tool (club, bat, stick) striking an object (ball, puck) across a field of play. Anytime two structures collide, vibration is created by the impact of the two. The impact of the objects excites the structural modes of the tool, creating a vibration that can be felt by the player, especially if the hit is not at a `sweet spot'. Vibration adversely affects both feel and performance. This paper explains how piezoelectric dampers were developed to reduce vibration and improve the feel of ball-impact sporting goods such as golf clubs. The paper describes how the dynamic characteristics of a golf club were calculated, at first in the free-free condition, and then during its operation conditions (the swing of the club, and the impact with the ball). The dynamic characteristics were used to develop a damper that addressed a specific, or multiple, modes of interest. The damper development and testing are detailed in this paper. Both objective laboratory tests and subjective player tests were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the piezoelectric dampers. The results of the tests, along with published medical data on the sensitivity of the human body, were used to draw a correlation between human feel and vibration reduction.

Exploring the Radiative Effect and Climate Impact of Contaminated Contrails

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, B.; Yang, P.; Minnis, P.; Duda, D. P.

2015-12-01

As an impact of human aviation activities, contrails have drawn a great deal of attention. There have been numerous investigations into the contrail properties, radiative effects, and climate impact. However, very little effort has been focused on the impact of contaminated contrails. Generated by the combustion process within the aircraft engine, the aerosols and exhaust gases frequently influence contrail formation. Contrail ice crystals contaminated by soot particles have been found to exhibit dramatically different light scattering properties from those of pristine crystals. In this study, we employ state-of-the-art light scattering computational capabilities to calculate the single-scattering properties of soot-contaminated contrails. The contaminated contrail particle is assumed to be a hexagonal ice column containing several soot particles. The invariant imbedding T-matrix method and the Ray-by-Ray geometry optics method are combined to construct a simplified yet novel set of contaminated contrail optical properties. The bulk optical properties are calculated based on the data set and are parameterized for use in the Community Atmospheric Model. Using global contrail retrievals from satellite remote sensing observations in 2006 and 2012, simulations are conducted using the general circulation model to analyze contaminated contrail radiative effects as well as their climatic sensitivities. Our results show that the contaminated contrail is significantly more absorbing than pristine contrail in the shortwave spectrum. As a result, much stronger contrail radiative impact and climate feedback are found. Several sensitivity studies are also implemented to quantify the effect of contrail contamination.

An in vitro human skin test for assessing sensitization potential.

PubMed

Ahmed, S S; Wang, X N; Fielding, M; Kerry, A; Dickinson, I; Munuswamy, R; Kimber, I; Dickinson, A M

2016-05-01

Sensitization to chemicals resulting in an allergy is an important health issue. The current gold-standard method for identification and characterization of skin-sensitizing chemicals was the mouse local lymph node assay (LLNA). However, for a number of reasons there has been an increasing imperative to develop alternative approaches to hazard identification that do not require the use of animals. Here we describe a human in-vitro skin explant test for identification of sensitization hazards and the assessment of relative skin sensitizing potency. This method measures histological damage in human skin as a readout of the immune response induced by the test material. Using this approach we have measured responses to 44 chemicals including skin sensitizers, pre/pro-haptens, respiratory sensitizers, non-sensitizing chemicals (including skin-irritants) and previously misclassified compounds. Based on comparisons with the LLNA, the skin explant test gave 95% specificity, 95% sensitivity, 95% concordance with a correlation coefficient of 0.9. The same specificity and sensitivity were achieved for comparison of results with published human sensitization data with a correlation coefficient of 0.91. The test also successfully identified nickel sulphate as a human skin sensitizer, which was misclassified as negative in the LLNA. In addition, sensitizers and non-sensitizers identified as positive or negative by the skin explant test have induced high/low T cell proliferation and IFNγ production, respectively. Collectively, the data suggests the human in-vitro skin explant test could provide the basis for a novel approach for characterization of the sensitizing activity as a first step in the risk assessment process. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 and Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Pathways Contribute to DNA Synthesis, Cell Cycle Progression, and Proliferation in Human Islets

PubMed Central

Liu, Hui; Remedi, Maria S.; Pappan, Kirk L.; Kwon, Guim; Rohatgi, Nidhi; Marshall, Connie A.; McDaniel, Michael L.

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE—Our previous studies demonstrated that nutrient regulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling promotes regenerative processes in rodent islets but rarely in human islets. Our objective was to extend these findings by using therapeutic agents to determine whether the regulation of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3)/β-catenin and mTOR signaling represent key components necessary for effecting a positive impact on human β-cell mass relevant to type 1 and 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Primary adult human and rat islets were treated with the GSK-3 inhibitors, LiCl and the highly potent 1-azakenpaullone (1-Akp), and with nutrients. DNA synthesis, cell cycle progression, and proliferation of β-cells were assessed. Measurement of insulin secretion and content and Western blot analysis of GSK-3 and mTOR signaling components were performed. RESULTS—Human islets treated for 4 days with LiCl or 1-Akp exhibited significant increases in DNA synthesis, cell cycle progression, and proliferation of β-cells that displayed varying degrees of sensitivity to rapamycin. Intermediate glucose (8 mmol/l) produced a striking degree of synergism in combination with GSK-3 inhibition to enhance bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation and Ki-67 expression in human β-cells. Nuclear translocation of β-catenin responsible for cell proliferation was found to be particularly sensitive to rapamycin. CONCLUSIONS—A combination of GSK-3 inhibition and nutrient activation of mTOR contributes to enhanced DNA synthesis, cell cycle progression, and proliferation of human β-cells. Identification of therapeutic agents that appropriately regulate GSK-3 and mTOR signaling may provide a feasible and available approach to enhance human islet growth and proliferation. PMID:19073772

How social impact assessment can contribute to conflict management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prenzel, Paula V., E-mail: p.v.prenzel@student.rug.nl; Vanclay, Frank, E-mail: frank.vanclay@rug.nl

2014-02-15

The potential for conflict is omnipresent in all projects, and even in all human interactions, and conflict itself leads to many second-order social impacts. This article examines the contribution of the methodological approach used in social impact assessment (SIA) to conflict management. We view conflict as a process that has its own dynamic, and is to be expected in all situations. By using game theory (prisoner's dilemma), we describe and conceptualize this process and highlight the importance of communication in managing conflict. We demonstrate the potential use of SIA in preventing, managing and resolving conflict. Emphasis is placed on themore » participatory character of SIA and the role of public media. In contrast to existing literature, our focus is not restricted to the typical fields of study of SIA (e.g. environmental conflicts), but understands conflict itself as a field of application. In this sense, conflict-sensitive SIA can be understood both as an extension to the SIA tool kit and a broadening of the scope of SIA application. -- Highlights: • Conflict is omnipresent and creates both positive and negative social impacts. • Conflict itself represents a possible field of application for SIA. • Conflict escalation is a process that can be modeled in a game-theoretic framework. • There needs to be concerted effort to prevent escalation to avoid harmful outcomes. • Conflict-sensitive SIA can support conflict management and sustainable resolution.« less

The assessment of human health impact caused by industrial and civil activities in the Pace Valley of Messina.

PubMed

Morra, P; Lisi, R; Spadoni, G; Maschio, G

2009-06-01

The impact of industrial and civil activities on an agricultural and residential area is presented in a detailed and global analysis. The examined area is the Pace river valley situated in the northern zone of Messina (Italy). The sources of pollution present in the area are: a Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator operating since 1979, a disused urban solid waste landfill which was used for 30 years, an urban solid waste treatment facility with heavy vehicles traffic, and two open pits for the production of bitumen. Large quantities of toxic, carcinogenic substances and criteria pollutants are released into the environment and represent potential hazards to human health. The analysis is performed using the EHHRA-GIS tool which employs an integrated, multimedia, multi-exposure pathways and multi-receptor risk assessment model that is able to manage all the steps which constitute the human health risk analysis in a georeferenced structure. The transport of pollutants in different environmental media is assessed applying models (AERMOD, GMS, CALINE) that take into account the particular three-dimensional morphology of the terrain. The results obtained, combined with a probabilistic risk assessment and a sensitivity analysis of calculation parameters, are a comprehensive assessment of the total human health risk in the area. Finally human health risks caused by toxic and carcinogenic substances are compared with acceptable legal limits in order to support environmental managers' decisions.

Role of Plastics on Human Health.

PubMed

Kumar, Pramod

2018-05-01

Plastics, currently the universal workhorse materials of modern economy, because of their low cost and varied functional properties are posing serious threat to environment and consumer's health in many direct and indirect ways. Rising concern about the impact of plastics on environment and human health, has forced the industry to look for alternatives. This review studies current understanding of benefits and concerns surrounding use of plastics, reviews literature about health effects in humans and discusses the current state of evidence, as well as future research trends. There is increasing concern regarding additives in plastics to which most people are exposed, such as phthalates, bisphenol A or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), and their detection in humans, leading to harmful impact on health. The studies are divided, among many other issues on the fact of considering these additives as carcinogens or toxicants, but there is a consensus that these chemicals have the ability to alter the endocrine system. Human data are limited compared to large body of experimental evidence documenting reproductive or developmental toxicity in relation to these compounds in animals. The concentrations of these additives in young children, a segment particularly sensitive to exogenous insults, are typically higher, indicating the need to decrease exposure to these compounds. The rapid increase in usage of plastics and increased awareness about its health hazard has lent urgency to the whole issue.

Quantitative Risk Assessment of Human Trichinellosis Caused by Consumption of Pork Meat Sausages in Argentina.

PubMed

Sequeira, G J; Zbrun, M V; Soto, L P; Astesana, D M; Blajman, J E; Rosmini, M R; Frizzo, L S; Signorini, M L

2016-03-01

In Argentina, there are three known species of genus Trichinella; however, Trichinella spiralis is most commonly associated with domestic pigs and it is recognized as the main cause of human trichinellosis by the consumption of products made with raw or insufficiently cooked pork meat. In some areas of Argentina, this disease is endemic and it is thus necessary to develop a more effective programme of prevention and control. Here, we developed a quantitative risk assessment of human trichinellosis following pork meat sausage consumption, which may be used to identify the stages with greater impact on the probability of acquiring the disease. The quantitative model was designed to describe the conditions in which the meat is produced, processed, transported, stored, sold and consumed in Argentina. The model predicted a risk of human trichinellosis of 4.88 × 10(-6) and an estimated annual number of trichinellosis cases of 109. The risk of human trichinellosis was sensitive to the number of Trichinella larvae that effectively survived the storage period (r = 0.89), the average probability of infection (PPinf ) (r = 0.44) and the storage time (Storage) (r = 0.08). This model allowed assessing the impact of different factors influencing the risk of acquiring trichinellosis. The model may thus help to select possible strategies to reduce the risk in the chain of by-products of pork production. © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Galactic Cosmic Radiation Induces Persistent Epigenome Alterations Relevant to Human Lung Cancer.

PubMed

Kennedy, E M; Powell, D R; Li, Z; Bell, J S K; Barwick, B G; Feng, H; McCrary, M R; Dwivedi, B; Kowalski, J; Dynan, W S; Conneely, K N; Vertino, P M

2018-04-30

Human deep space and planetary travel is limited by uncertainties regarding the health risks associated with exposure to galactic cosmic radiation (GCR), and in particular the high linear energy transfer (LET), heavy ion component. Here we assessed the impact of two high-LET ions 56 Fe and 28 Si, and low-LET X rays on genome-wide methylation patterns in human bronchial epithelial cells. We found that all three radiation types induced rapid and stable changes in DNA methylation but at distinct subsets of CpG sites affecting different chromatin compartments. The 56 Fe ions induced mostly hypermethylation, and primarily affected sites in open chromatin regions including enhancers, promoters and the edges ("shores") of CpG islands. The 28 Si ion-exposure had mixed effects, inducing both hyper and hypomethylation and affecting sites in more repressed heterochromatic environments, whereas X rays induced mostly hypomethylation, primarily at sites in gene bodies and intergenic regions. Significantly, the methylation status of 56 Fe ion sensitive sites, but not those affected by X ray or 28 Si ions, discriminated tumor from normal tissue for human lung adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. Thus, high-LET radiation exposure leaves a lasting imprint on the epigenome, and affects sites relevant to human lung cancer. These methylation signatures may prove useful in monitoring the cumulative biological impact and associated cancer risks encountered by astronauts in deep space.

Climate Change and Human Health Impacts in the United States: An Update on the Results of the U.S. National Assessment

PubMed Central

Ebi, Kristie L.; Mills, David M.; Smith, Joel B.; Grambsch, Anne

2006-01-01

The health sector component of the first U.S. National Assessment, published in 2000, synthesized the anticipated health impacts of climate variability and change for five categories of health outcomes: impacts attributable to temperature, extreme weather events (e.g., storms and floods), air pollution, water- and food-borne diseases, and vector- and rodent-borne diseases. The Health Sector Assessment (HSA) concluded that climate variability and change are likely to increase morbidity and mortality risks for several climate-sensitive health outcomes, with the net impact uncertain. The objective of this study was to update the first HSA based on recent publications that address the potential impacts of climate variability and change in the United States for the five health outcome categories. The literature published since the first HSA supports the initial conclusions, with new data refining quantitative exposure–response relationships for several health end points, particularly for extreme heat events and air pollution. The United States continues to have a very high capacity to plan for and respond to climate change, although relatively little progress has been noted in the literature on implementing adaptive strategies and measures. Large knowledge gaps remain, resulting in a substantial need for additional research to improve our understanding of how weather and climate, both directly and indirectly, can influence human health. Filling these knowledge gaps will help better define the potential health impacts of climate change and identify specific public health adaptations to increase resilience. PMID:16966082

Impacts of Climate Policy on Regional Air Quality, Health, and Air Quality Regulatory Procedures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, T. M.; Selin, N. E.

2011-12-01

Both the changing climate, and the policy implemented to address climate change can impact regional air quality. We evaluate the impacts of potential selected climate policies on modeled regional air quality with respect to national pollution standards, human health and the sensitivity of health uncertainty ranges. To assess changes in air quality due to climate policy, we couple output from a regional computable general equilibrium economic model (the US Regional Energy Policy [USREP] model), with a regional air quality model (the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions [CAMx]). USREP uses economic variables to determine how potential future U.S. climate policy would change emissions of regional pollutants (CO, VOC, NOx, SO2, NH3, black carbon, and organic carbon) from ten emissions-heavy sectors of the economy (electricity, coal, gas, crude oil, refined oil, energy intensive industry, other industry, service, agriculture, and transportation [light duty and heavy duty]). Changes in emissions are then modeled using CAMx to determine the impact on air quality in several cities in the Northeast US. We first calculate the impact of climate policy by using regulatory procedures used to show attainment with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter. Building on previous work, we compare those results with the calculated results and uncertainties associated with human health impacts due to climate policy. This work addresses a potential disconnect between NAAQS regulatory procedures and the cost/benefit analysis required for and by the Clean Air Act.

News on Climate Change, Air Pollution, and Allergic Triggers of Asthma.

PubMed

D Amato, M; Cecchi, L; Annesi-Maesano, I; D Amato, G

2018-01-01

The rising frequency of obstructive respiratory diseases during recent years, in particular allergic asthma, can be partially explained by changes in the environment, with the increasing presence in the atmosphere of chemical triggers (particulate matter and gaseous components such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone) and biologic triggers (aeroallergens). In allergic individuals, aeroallergens stimulate airway sensitization and thus induce symptoms of bronchial asthma. Over the last 50 years, the earth's temperature has risen markedly, likely because of growing concentrations of anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Major atmospheric and climatic changes, including global warming induced by human activity, have a considerable impact on the biosphere and on the human environment. Urbanization and high levels of vehicle emissions induce symptoms of bronchial obstruction (in particular bronchial asthma), more so in people living in urban areas compared than in those who live in rural areas. Measures need to be taken to mitigate the future impact of climate change and global warming. However, while global emissions continue to rise, we must learn to adapt to climate variability.

Pollutant impacts to Cape Hatteras National Seashore from urban runoff and septic leachate.

PubMed

Mallin, Michael A; McIver, Matthew R

2012-07-01

The sandy barrier islands of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, USA, attract large seasonal influxes of tourists, and are host to numerous motels, rentals and second homes. To investigate the impacts of nearby urbanization on public trust waters, sampling was conducted in nine brackish water bodies within this coastal national park. A large tidal urban ditch delivered runoff-driven fecal-contaminated water directly into public beach waters. At all sites except the control, ammonium, phosphorus and fecal bacteria concentrations were high, strongly seasonal and significantly correlated with community water usage, indicating that increased septic tank usage led to increased pollutant concentrations in area waterways. Nutrients from septic systems caused ecosystem-level problems from algal blooms, BOD, and hypoxia while fecal microbes created potential human health problems. Septic system usage is widespread in sensitive coastal areas with high water tables and sandy soils and alternatives to standard septic systems must be required to protect human health and the environment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

SAME-GENDER SEX IN THE UNITED STATES IMPACT OF T-ACASI ON PREVALENCE ESTIMATES

PubMed Central

VILLARROEL, MARIA A.; TURNER, CHARLES F.; EGGLESTON, ELIZABETH; AL-TAYYIB, ALIA; ROGERS, SUSAN M.; ROMAN, ANTHONY M.; COOLEY, PHILIP C.; GORDEK, HARPER

2011-01-01

Well-conducted telephone surveys provide an economical means of estimating the prevalence of sexual and reproductive behaviors in a population. There is, however, a nontrivial potential for bias since respondents must report sensitive information to a human interviewer. The National STD and Behavior Measurement Experiment (NSBME) evaluates a new survey technology—telephone audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (T-ACASI)—that eliminates this requirement. The NSBME embedded a randomized experiment in a survey of probability samples of 1,543 U.S. and 744 Baltimore adults ages 18 to 45. Compared with NSBME respondents interviewed by human interviewers, respondents interviewed by T-ACASI were 1.5 to 1.6 times more likely to report same-gender sexual attraction, experience, and genital contact. The impact of T-ACASI was more pronounced (odds ratio = 2.5) for residents of locales that have historically been less tolerant of same-gender sexual behaviors and for respondents in households with children (odds ratio = 3.0). PMID:21998488

Genotoxic potential of selected cytostatic drugs in human and zebrafish cells.

PubMed

Gajski, Goran; Gerić, Marko; Žegura, Bojana; Novak, Matjaž; Nunić, Jana; Bajrektarević, Džejla; Garaj-Vrhovac, Vera; Filipič, Metka

2016-08-01

Due to their increasing use, the residues of anti-neoplastic drugs have become emerging pollutants in aquatic environments. Most of them directly or indirectly interfere with the cell's genome, which classifies them into a group of particularly dangerous compounds. The aim of the present study was to conduct a comparative in vitro toxicological characterisation of three commonly used cytostatics with different mechanisms of action (5-fluorouracil [5-FU], cisplatin [CDDP] and etoposide [ET]) towards zebrafish liver (ZFL) cell line, human hepatoma (HepG2) cells and human peripheral blood lymphocytes (HPBLs). Cytotoxicity was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining. All three drugs induced time- and dose-dependent decreases in cell viability. The sensitivity of ZFL and HepG2 cells towards the cytotoxicity of 5-FU was comparable (half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) 5.3 to 10.4 μg/mL). ZFL cells were more sensitive towards ET- (IC50 0.4 μg/mL) and HepG2 towards CDDP- (IC50 1.4 μg/mL) induced cytotoxicity. Genotoxicity was determined by comet assay and cytokinesis block micronucleus (CBMN) assay. ZFL cells were the most sensitive, and HPBLs were the least sensitive. In ZFL cells, induction of DNA strand breaks was a more sensitive genotoxicity endpoint than micronuclei (MNi) induction; the lowest effective concentration (LOEC) for DNA strand break induction was 0.001 μg/mL for ET, 0.01 μg/mL for 5-FU and 0.1 μg/mL for CDDP. In HepG2 cells, MNi induction was a more sensitive genotoxicity endpoint. The LOEC values were 0.01 μg/mL for ET, 0.1 μg/mL for 5-FU and 1 μg/mL for CDDP. The higher sensitivity of ZFL cells to cytostatic drugs raises the question of the impact of such compounds in aquatic ecosystem. Since little is known on the effect of such drugs on aquatic organisms, our results demonstrate that ZFL cells provide a relevant and sensitive tool to screen genotoxic potential of environmental pollutant in the frame of hazard assessment.

Kidney Transplantation: The Challenge of Human Leukocyte Antigen and Its Therapeutic Strategies.

PubMed

Alelign, Tilahun; Ahmed, Momina M; Bobosha, Kidist; Tadesse, Yewondwossen; Howe, Rawleigh; Petros, Beyene

2018-01-01

Kidney transplantation remains the treatment of choice for end-stage renal failure. When the immune system of the recipient recognizes the transplanted kidney as a foreign object, graft rejection occurs. As part of the host immune defense mechanism, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is a major challenge for graft rejection in transplantation therapy. The impact of HLA mismatches between the donor and the potential recipient prolongs the time for renal transplantation therapy, tethered to dialysis, latter reduces graft survival, and increases mortality. The formation of pretransplant alloantibodies against HLA class I and II molecules can be sensitized through exposures to blood transfusions, prior transplants, and pregnancy. These preformed HLA antibodies are associated with rejection in kidney transplantation. On the other hand, the development of de novo antibodies may increase the risk for acute and chronic rejections. Allograft rejection results from a complex interplay involving both the innate and the adaptive immune systems. Thus, further insights into the mechanisms of tissue rejection and the risk of HLA sensitization is crucial in developing new therapies that may blunt the immune system against transplanted organs. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to highlight facts about HLA and its sensitization, various mechanisms of allograft rejection, the current immunosuppressive approaches, and the directions for future therapy.

Kidney Transplantation: The Challenge of Human Leukocyte Antigen and Its Therapeutic Strategies

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Momina M.; Bobosha, Kidist; Tadesse, Yewondwossen; Howe, Rawleigh; Petros, Beyene

2018-01-01

Kidney transplantation remains the treatment of choice for end-stage renal failure. When the immune system of the recipient recognizes the transplanted kidney as a foreign object, graft rejection occurs. As part of the host immune defense mechanism, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is a major challenge for graft rejection in transplantation therapy. The impact of HLA mismatches between the donor and the potential recipient prolongs the time for renal transplantation therapy, tethered to dialysis, latter reduces graft survival, and increases mortality. The formation of pretransplant alloantibodies against HLA class I and II molecules can be sensitized through exposures to blood transfusions, prior transplants, and pregnancy. These preformed HLA antibodies are associated with rejection in kidney transplantation. On the other hand, the development of de novo antibodies may increase the risk for acute and chronic rejections. Allograft rejection results from a complex interplay involving both the innate and the adaptive immune systems. Thus, further insights into the mechanisms of tissue rejection and the risk of HLA sensitization is crucial in developing new therapies that may blunt the immune system against transplanted organs. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to highlight facts about HLA and its sensitization, various mechanisms of allograft rejection, the current immunosuppressive approaches, and the directions for future therapy. PMID:29693023

Correlation of crAssphage-based qPCR markers with culturable and molecular indicators of human fecal pollution in an impacted urban watershed.

PubMed

Stachler, Elyse; Akyon, Benay; Aquino de Carvalho, Nathalia; Ference, Christian; Bibby, Kyle

2018-06-06

Environmental waters are monitored for fecal pollution to protect public health. Many previously developed human-specific fecal pollution indicators lack adequate sensitivity to be reliably detected in environmental waters or do not correlate well with viral pathogens. Recently, two novel human sewage-associated source tracking qPCR markers were developed based on the bacteriophage crAssphage, CPQ_056 and CPQ_064. These assays are highly human specific, abundant in sewage, and are viral-based, suggesting great promise for environmental application as human fecal pollution indicators. A 30-day sampling study was conducted in an urban stream impacted by combined sewer overflows to evaluate the crAssphage markers' performance in an environmental system. The crAssphage markers were present at concentrations of 4.02-6.04 log10 copies/100 mL throughout the study period, indicating their high abundance and ease of detection in polluted environmental waters. In addition, the crAssphage assays were correlated with rain events, molecular markers for human polyomavirus and HF183, as well as culturable E. coli, enterococci, and somatic coliphage. The CPQ_064 assay correlated strongly to a greater number of biological indicators than the CPQ_056 assay. This study is the first to evaluate both crAssphage qPCR assays in an extended environmental application of crAssphage markers for monitoring of environmental waters. It is also the first study to compare crAssphage marker concentration with other viral-based indicators.

Influence of a Non-formal Environmental Education Programme on Junior High-School Students' Environmental Literacy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldman, Daphne; Ben Zvi Assaraf, Orit; Shaharabani, Dina

2013-02-01

One of the solutions implemented by schools for conducting value-based environmental education (EE) is outsourcing: allocating external environmental organizations that develop and conduct EE programmes. This study addressed such a programme-the Green Council Programme (GCP)-developed and implemented in schools by the Israeli Society for Protection of Nature. A pre-test/post-test design was used to investigate the influence of participation in the GCP on components of junior high-school students' environmental literacy. Conceptualizations of 'environment', environmental attitudes and sense of ability to act on environmental issues were studied employing quantitative and qualitative tools. Contribution of the programme to the cognitive domain, in developing a systemic understanding of the environment, was limited. On the other hand, participating in this programme heightened students' sensitivity to human-environment interrelationships and developed a more ecological worldview. After the programme, students demonstrated greater perception of humans as part of the environment, an increased sensitivity to human impact on the environment and their value for non-human nature moved from an anthropocentric to a more ecocentric orientation. While students' internal locus-of-control increased, when environmental protection entailed personal economic trade-offs, their support was limited and remained unchanged. The article concludes with recommendations, based on the findings, regarding supplementing the school (science) curriculum with external EE enrichment programmes.

DNA Damage Response and Radiosensitivity of Immune Cells from Subjects Undergoing Confinement in the NASA Human Exploration Research Analog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moreno-Villanueva, Maria

2017-01-01

The Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) represents an analog for simulation of isolation, confinement and remote conditions of mission exploration scenarios. HERA aims at investigating team performance and cooperation, reaction to stress, signs of early depression, anxiety and anger and their impact on human health. HERA is a collaborative project involving experts in different fields. Not only psychological but also clinical biomarkers of stress, e.g. adrenaline has been measured. It is known that stress hormones induce DNA strand breaks thus, within this project, my tasks was to determine the level of DNA strand breaks as well as expression of genes involved in DNA damage response in immune cells obtained from HERA subjects. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the cells to ex vivo radiation was also assessed.

Characterisation factors for life cycle impact assessment of sound emissions.

PubMed

Cucurachi, S; Heijungs, R

2014-01-15

Noise is a serious stressor affecting the health of millions of citizens. It has been suggested that disturbance by noise is responsible for a substantial part of the damage to human health. However, no recommended approach to address noise impacts was proposed by the handbook for life cycle assessment (LCA) of the European Commission, nor are characterisation factors (CFs) and appropriate inventory data available in commonly used databases. This contribution provides CFs to allow for the quantification of noise impacts on human health in the LCA framework. Noise propagation standards and international reports on acoustics and noise impacts were used to define the model parameters. Spatial data was used to calculate spatially-defined CFs in the form of 10-by-10-km maps. The results of this analysis were combined with data from the literature to select input data for representative archetypal situations of emission (e.g. urban day with a frequency of 63 Hz, rural night at 8000 Hz, etc.). A total of 32 spatial and 216 archetypal CFs were produced to evaluate noise impacts at a European level (i.e. EU27). The possibility of a user-defined characterisation factor was added to support the possibility of portraying the situation of full availability of information, as well as a highly-localised impact analysis. A Monte Carlo-based quantitative global sensitivity analysis method was applied to evaluate the importance of the input factors in determining the variance of the output. The factors produced are ready to be implemented in the available LCA databases and software. The spatial approach and archetypal approach may be combined and selected according to the amount of information available and the life cycle under study. The framework proposed and used for calculations is flexible enough to be expanded to account for impacts on target subjects other than humans and to continents other than Europe. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Climate change, air pollution, and allergic respiratory diseases: an update.

PubMed

D'Amato, Gennaro; Vitale, Carolina; Lanza, Maurizia; Molino, Antonio; D'Amato, Maria

2016-10-01

The rising trend in prevalence of allergic respiratory disease and bronchial asthma, observed over the last decades, can be explained by changes occurring in the environment, with increasing presence of biologic, such as allergens, and chemical atmospheric trigger factors able to stimulate the sensitization and symptoms of these diseases. Many studies have shown changes in production, dispersion, and allergen content of pollen and spores because of climate change with an increasing effect of aeroallergens on allergic patients. Over the last 50 years, global earth's temperature has markedly risen likely because of growing emission of anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations. Major changes involving the atmosphere and the climate, including global warming induced by human activity, have a major impact on the biosphere and human environment.Urbanization and high levels of vehicle emissions are correlated to an increase in the frequency of pollen-induced respiratory allergy prevalent in people who live in urban areas compared with those who live in rural areas. Measures of mitigation need to be applied for reducing future impacts of climate change on our planet, but until global emissions continue to rise, adaptation to the impacts of future climate variability will also be required.

Human semen as an early, sensitive biomarker of highly polluted living environment in healthy men: A pilot biomonitoring study on trace elements in blood and semen and their relationship with sperm quality and RedOx status.

PubMed

Bergamo, Paolo; Volpe, Maria Grazia; Lorenzetti, Stefano; Mantovani, Alberto; Notari, Tiziana; Cocca, Ennio; Cerullo, Stefano; Di Stasio, Michele; Cerino, Pellegrino; Montano, Luigi

2016-12-01

The Campania region in Italy is facing an environmental crisis due to the illegal disposal of toxic waste. Herein, a pilot study (EcoFoodFertility initiative) was conducted to investigate the use of human semen as an early biomarker of pollution on 110 healthy males living in various areas of Campania with either high or low environmental impact. The semen from the "high impact" group showed higher zinc, copper, chromium and reduced iron levels, as well as reduced sperm motility and higher sperm DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI). Redox biomarkers (total antioxidant capacity, TAC, and glutathione, GSH) and the activity of antioxidant enzymes in semen were lower in the "high impact" group. The percentage of immotile spermatozoa showed a significant inverse correlation with TAC and GSH. Overall, several semen parameters (reduced sperm quality and antioxidant defenses, altered chemical element pattern), which were associated with residence in a high polluted environment, could be used in a further larger scale study, as early biomarkers of environmental pollution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Response Sensitivity of Typical Aircraft Jet Engine Fan Blade-Like Structures to Bird Impacts.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-05-01

AIRCRAFT ENGINE BU--ETC F/G 21/5 RESPONSE SENSITIVITY OF TYPICAL AIRCRAFT JET ENGINE FAN BLADE -L...SENSITIVITY OF TYPICAL AIRCRAFT JET ENGINE FAN BLADE -LIKE STRUCTURES TO BIRD IMPACTS David P. Bauer Robert S. Bertke University of Dayton Research...COVERED RESPONSE SENSITIVITY OF TYPICAL AIRCRAFT FINAL REPORT JET ENGINE FAN BLADE -LIKE STRUCTURES Oct. 1977 to Jan. 1979 TO BIRD IMPACTS s.

LS-SNP: large-scale annotation of coding non-synonymous SNPs based on multiple information sources.

PubMed

Karchin, Rachel; Diekhans, Mark; Kelly, Libusha; Thomas, Daryl J; Pieper, Ursula; Eswar, Narayanan; Haussler, David; Sali, Andrej

2005-06-15

The NCBI dbSNP database lists over 9 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human genome, but currently contains limited annotation information. SNPs that result in amino acid residue changes (nsSNPs) are of critical importance in variation between individuals, including disease and drug sensitivity. We have developed LS-SNP, a genomic scale software pipeline to annotate nsSNPs. LS-SNP comprehensively maps nsSNPs onto protein sequences, functional pathways and comparative protein structure models, and predicts positions where nsSNPs destabilize proteins, interfere with the formation of domain-domain interfaces, have an effect on protein-ligand binding or severely impact human health. It currently annotates 28,043 validated SNPs that produce amino acid residue substitutions in human proteins from the SwissProt/TrEMBL database. Annotations can be viewed via a web interface either in the context of a genomic region or by selecting sets of SNPs, genes, proteins or pathways. These results are useful for identifying candidate functional SNPs within a gene, haplotype or pathway and in probing molecular mechanisms responsible for functional impacts of nsSNPs. http://www.salilab.org/LS-SNP CONTACT: rachelk@salilab.org http://salilab.org/LS-SNP/supp-info.pdf.

Aluminum-induced entropy in biological systems: implications for neurological disease.

PubMed

Shaw, Christopher A; Seneff, Stephanie; Kette, Stephen D; Tomljenovic, Lucija; Oller, John W; Davidson, Robert M

2014-01-01

Over the last 200 years, mining, smelting, and refining of aluminum (Al) in various forms have increasingly exposed living species to this naturally abundant metal. Because of its prevalence in the earth's crust, prior to its recent uses it was regarded as inert and therefore harmless. However, Al is invariably toxic to living systems and has no known beneficial role in any biological systems. Humans are increasingly exposed to Al from food, water, medicinals, vaccines, and cosmetics, as well as from industrial occupational exposure. Al disrupts biological self-ordering, energy transduction, and signaling systems, thus increasing biosemiotic entropy. Beginning with the biophysics of water, disruption progresses through the macromolecules that are crucial to living processes (DNAs, RNAs, proteoglycans, and proteins). It injures cells, circuits, and subsystems and can cause catastrophic failures ending in death. Al forms toxic complexes with other elements, such as fluorine, and interacts negatively with mercury, lead, and glyphosate. Al negatively impacts the central nervous system in all species that have been studied, including humans. Because of the global impacts of Al on water dynamics and biosemiotic systems, CNS disorders in humans are sensitive indicators of the Al toxicants to which we are being exposed.

Aluminum-Induced Entropy in Biological Systems: Implications for Neurological Disease

PubMed Central

Shaw, Christopher A.; Seneff, Stephanie; Kette, Stephen D.; Tomljenovic, Lucija; Oller, John W.; Davidson, Robert M.

2014-01-01

Over the last 200 years, mining, smelting, and refining of aluminum (Al) in various forms have increasingly exposed living species to this naturally abundant metal. Because of its prevalence in the earth's crust, prior to its recent uses it was regarded as inert and therefore harmless. However, Al is invariably toxic to living systems and has no known beneficial role in any biological systems. Humans are increasingly exposed to Al from food, water, medicinals, vaccines, and cosmetics, as well as from industrial occupational exposure. Al disrupts biological self-ordering, energy transduction, and signaling systems, thus increasing biosemiotic entropy. Beginning with the biophysics of water, disruption progresses through the macromolecules that are crucial to living processes (DNAs, RNAs, proteoglycans, and proteins). It injures cells, circuits, and subsystems and can cause catastrophic failures ending in death. Al forms toxic complexes with other elements, such as fluorine, and interacts negatively with mercury, lead, and glyphosate. Al negatively impacts the central nervous system in all species that have been studied, including humans. Because of the global impacts of Al on water dynamics and biosemiotic systems, CNS disorders in humans are sensitive indicators of the Al toxicants to which we are being exposed. PMID:25349607

Impact of the F508del mutation on ovine CFTR, a Cl− channel with enhanced conductance and ATP-dependent gating

PubMed Central

Cai, Zhiwei; Palmai-Pallag, Timea; Khuituan, Pissared; Mutolo, Michael J; Boinot, Clément; Liu, Beihui; Scott-Ward, Toby S; Callebaut, Isabelle; Harris, Ann; Sheppard, David N

2015-01-01

Cross-species comparative studies are a powerful approach to understanding the epithelial Cl− channel cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), which is defective in the genetic disease cystic fibrosis (CF). Here, we investigate the single-channel behaviour of ovine CFTR and the impact of the most common CF mutation, F508del-CFTR, using excised inside-out membrane patches from transiently transfected CHO cells. Like human CFTR, ovine CFTR formed a weakly inwardly rectifying Cl− channel regulated by PKA-dependent phosphorylation, inhibited by the open-channel blocker glibenclamide. However, for three reasons, ovine CFTR was noticeably more active than human CFTR. First, single-channel conductance was increased. Second, open probability was augmented because the frequency and duration of channel openings were increased. Third, with enhanced affinity and efficacy, ATP more strongly stimulated ovine CFTR channel gating. Consistent with these data, the CFTR modulator phloxine B failed to potentiate ovine CFTR Cl− currents. Similar to its impact on human CFTR, the F508del mutation caused a temperature-sensitive folding defect, which disrupted ovine CFTR protein processing and reduced membrane stability. However, the F508del mutation had reduced impact on ovine CFTR channel gating in contrast to its marked effects on human CFTR. We conclude that ovine CFTR forms a regulated Cl− channel with enhanced conductance and ATP-dependent channel gating. This phylogenetic analysis of CFTR structure and function demonstrates that subtle changes in structure have pronounced effects on channel function and the consequences of the CF mutation F508del. Key points Malfunction of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a gated pathway for chloride movement, causes the common life-shortening genetic disease cystic fibrosis (CF). Towards the development of a sheep model of CF, we have investigated the function of sheep CFTR. We found that sheep CFTR was noticeably more active than human CFTR, while the most common CF mutation, F508del, had reduced impact on sheep CFTR function. Our results demonstrate that subtle changes in protein structure have marked effects on CFTR function and the consequences of the CF mutation F508del. PMID:25763566

What did domestication do to dogs? A new account of dogs' sensitivity to human actions.

PubMed

Udell, Monique A R; Dorey, Nicole R; Wynne, Clive D L

2010-05-01

Over the last two decades increasing evidence for an acute sensitivity to human gestures and attentional states in domestic dogs has led to a burgeoning of research into the social cognition of this highly familiar yet previously under-studied animal. Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) have been shown to be more successful than their closest relative (and wild progenitor) the wolf, and than man's closest relative, the chimpanzee, on tests of sensitivity to human social cues, such as following points to a container holding hidden food. The "Domestication Hypothesis" asserts that during domestication dogs evolved an inherent sensitivity to human gestures that their non-domesticated counterparts do not share. According to this view, sensitivity to human cues is present in dogs at an early age and shows little evidence of acquisition during ontogeny. A closer look at the findings of research on canine domestication, socialization, and conditioning, brings the assumptions of this hypothesis into question. We propose the Two Stage Hypothesis, according to which the sensitivity of an individual animal to human actions depends on acceptance of humans as social companions, and conditioning to follow human limbs. This offers a more parsimonious explanation for the domestic dog's sensitivity to human gestures, without requiring the use of additional mechanisms. We outline how tests of this new hypothesis open directions for future study that offer promise of a deeper understanding of mankind's oldest companion.

Temporal impact of substrate mechanics on differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to cardiomyocytes.

PubMed

Hazeltine, Laurie B; Badur, Mehmet G; Lian, Xiaojun; Das, Amritava; Han, Wenqing; Palecek, Sean P

2014-02-01

A significant clinical need exists to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into cardiomyocytes, enabling tissue modeling for in vitro discovery of new drugs or cell-based therapies for heart repair in vivo. Chemical and mechanical microenvironmental factors are known to impact the efficiency of stem cell differentiation, but cardiac differentiation protocols in hPSCs are typically performed on rigid tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) surfaces, which do not present a physiological mechanical setting. To investigate the temporal effects of mechanics on cardiac differentiation, we cultured human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and their derivatives on polyacrylamide hydrogel substrates with a physiologically relevant range of stiffnesses. In directed differentiation and embryoid body culture systems, differentiation of hESCs to cardiac troponin T-expressing (cTnT+) cardiomyocytes peaked on hydrogels of intermediate stiffness. Brachyury expression also peaked on intermediate stiffness hydrogels at day 1 of directed differentiation, suggesting that stiffness impacted the initial differentiation trajectory of hESCs to mesendoderm. To investigate the impact of substrate mechanics during cardiac specification of mesodermal progenitors, we initiated directed cardiomyocyte differentiation on TCPS and transferred cells to hydrogels at the Nkx2.5/Isl1+ cardiac progenitor cell stage. No differences in cardiomyocyte purity with stiffness were observed on day 15. These experiments indicate that differentiation of hESCs is sensitive to substrate mechanics at early stages of mesodermal induction, and proper application of substrate mechanics can increase the propensity of hESCs to differentiate to cardiomyocytes. Copyright © 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Responses of molluscan communities to centuries of human impact in the northern Adriatic Sea

PubMed Central

Haselmair, Alexandra; Tomašových, Adam; Stachowitsch, Michael; Zuschin, Martin

2017-01-01

In sediment cores spanning ~500 years of history in the Gulf of Trieste, down-core changes in molluscan community structure are characterized by marked shifts in species and functional composition. Between the 16th and 19th century, a strong heavy metal contamination of the sediments, most notably by Hg, together with the effects of natural climatic oscillations (increased sedimentation and organic enrichment) drive community changes. Since the early 20th century up to 2013, the combined impacts of cultural eutrophication, frequent hypoxic events and intensifying bottom trawling replace heavy metal contamination and climatic factors as the main drivers. The pollution-tolerant and opportunistic bivalve Corbula gibba and the scavenging gastropod Nassarius pygmaeus significantly increase in abundance during the 20th century, while species more sensitive to disturbances and hypoxia such as Turritella communis and Kurtiella bidentata become rare or absent. An infaunal life habit and scavenging emerge as the dominant life strategies during the late 20th century. Down-core shifts in the proportional abundances of molluscan species and functional groups represent a sensitive proxy for past ecological changes and reveal a century-long anthropogenic impact as the main driver behind these processes in the northern Adriatic Sea, offering also a unique perspective for other shallow marine ecosystems worldwide. PMID:28723935

Evaluation of environmental impacts from municipal solid waste management in the municipality of Aarhus, Denmark (EASEWASTE).

PubMed

Kirkeby, Janus T; Birgisdottir, Harpa; Hansen, Trine Lund; Christensen, Thomas H; Bhander, Gurbakhash Singh; Hauschild, Michael

2006-02-01

A new computer based life cycle assessment model (EASEWASTE) was used to evaluate a municipal solid waste system with the purpose of identifying environmental benefits and disadvantages by anaerobic digestion of source-separated household waste and incineration. The most important processes that were included in the study are optical sorting and pre-treatment, anaerobic digestion with heat and power recovery, incineration with heat and power recovery, use of digested biomass on arable soils and finally, an estimated surplus consumption of plastic in order to achieve a higher quality and quantity of organic waste to the biogas plant. Results showed that there were no significant differences in most of the assessed environmental impacts for the two scenarios. However, the use of digested biomass may cause a potential toxicity impact on human health due to the heavy metal content of the organic waste. A sensitivity analysis showed that the results are sensitive to the energy recovery efficiencies, to the extra plastic consumption for waste bags and to the content of heavy metals in the waste. A model such as EASEWASTE is very suitable for evaluating the overall environmental consequences of different waste management strategies and technologies, and can be used for most waste material fractions existing in household waste.

Longitudinal Effects of Embryonic Exposure to Cocaine on Morphology, Cardiovascular Physiology, and Behavior in Zebrafish.

PubMed

Mersereau, Eric J; Boyle, Cody A; Poitra, Shelby; Espinoza, Ana; Seiler, Joclyn; Longie, Robert; Delvo, Lisa; Szarkowski, Megan; Maliske, Joshua; Chalmers, Sarah; Darland, Diane C; Darland, Tristan

2016-05-31

A sizeable portion of the societal drain from cocaine abuse results from the complications of in utero drug exposure. Because of challenges in using humans and mammalian model organisms as test subjects, much debate remains about the impact of in utero cocaine exposure. Zebrafish offer a number of advantages as a model in longitudinal toxicology studies and are quite sensitive physiologically and behaviorally to cocaine. In this study, we have used zebrafish to model the effects of embryonic pre-exposure to cocaine on development and on subsequent cardiovascular physiology and cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in longitudinal adults. Larval fish showed a progressive decrease in telencephalic size with increased doses of cocaine. These treated larvae also showed a dose dependent response in heart rate that persisted 24 h after drug cessation. Embryonic cocaine exposure had little effect on overall health of longitudinal adults, but subtle changes in cardiovascular physiology were seen including decreased sensitivity to isoproterenol and increased sensitivity to cocaine. These longitudinal adult fish also showed an embryonic dose-dependent change in CPP behavior, suggesting an increased sensitivity. These studies clearly show that pre-exposure during embryonic development affects subsequent cocaine sensitivity in longitudinal adults.

The effects of negative emotions on sensory perception: fear but not anger decreases tactile sensitivity.

PubMed

Kelley, Nicholas J; Schmeichel, Brandon J

2014-01-01

Emotions and sensory perceptions are closely intertwined. Of the five senses, sight has been by far the most extensively studied sense in emotion research. Relatively less is known about how emotions influence the other four senses. Touch is essential for nonverbal communication in both humans and other animals. The current investigation tested competing hypotheses about the effect of fear on tactile perception. One hypothesis based on evolutionary considerations predicts that fear enhances sensory perception, including tactile sensitivity. A competing hypothesis based on research on peripheral psychophysiology predicts that fear should decrease tactile sensitivity. Two experiments that induced negative emotional states and measured two-point discrimination ability at the fingertip found that fear reduces tactile sensitivity relative to anger or a neutral control condition (Studies 1 and 2). These findings did not appear to be driven by participants' naïve beliefs about the influence of emotions on touch (Study 3). The results represent the first evidence of the causal impact of emotional states on tactile sensitivity, are consistent with prior evidence for the peripheral physiological effects of fear, and offer novel empirical grounds for developing and advancing theories of emotional influences on sensory perception.

The effects of negative emotions on sensory perception: fear but not anger decreases tactile sensitivity

PubMed Central

Kelley, Nicholas J.; Schmeichel, Brandon J.

2014-01-01

Emotions and sensory perceptions are closely intertwined. Of the five senses, sight has been by far the most extensively studied sense in emotion research. Relatively less is known about how emotions influence the other four senses. Touch is essential for nonverbal communication in both humans and other animals. The current investigation tested competing hypotheses about the effect of fear on tactile perception. One hypothesis based on evolutionary considerations predicts that fear enhances sensory perception, including tactile sensitivity. A competing hypothesis based on research on peripheral psychophysiology predicts that fear should decrease tactile sensitivity. Two experiments that induced negative emotional states and measured two-point discrimination ability at the fingertip found that fear reduces tactile sensitivity relative to anger or a neutral control condition (Studies 1 and 2). These findings did not appear to be driven by participants’ naïve beliefs about the influence of emotions on touch (Study 3). The results represent the first evidence of the causal impact of emotional states on tactile sensitivity, are consistent with prior evidence for the peripheral physiological effects of fear, and offer novel empirical grounds for developing and advancing theories of emotional influences on sensory perception. PMID:25202299

Crop productivity changes in 1.5 °C and 2 °C worlds under climate sensitivity uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schleussner, Carl-Friedrich; Deryng, Delphine; Müller, Christoph; Elliott, Joshua; Saeed, Fahad; Folberth, Christian; Liu, Wenfeng; Wang, Xuhui; Pugh, Thomas A. M.; Thiery, Wim; Seneviratne, Sonia I.; Rogelj, Joeri

2018-06-01

Following the adoption of the Paris Agreement, there has been an increasing interest in quantifying impacts at discrete levels of global mean temperature (GMT) increase such as 1.5 °C and 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. Consequences of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions on agricultural productivity have direct and immediate relevance for human societies. Future crop yields will be affected by anthropogenic climate change as well as direct effects of emissions such as CO2 fertilization. At the same time, the climate sensitivity to future emissions is uncertain. Here we investigate the sensitivity of future crop yield projections with a set of global gridded crop models for four major staple crops at 1.5 °C and 2 °C warming above pre-industrial levels, as well as at different CO2 levels determined by similar probabilities to lead to 1.5 °C and 2 °C, using climate forcing data from the Half a degree Additional warming, Prognosis and Projected Impacts project. For the same CO2 forcing, we find consistent negative effects of half a degree warming on productivity in most world regions. Increasing CO2 concentrations consistent with these warming levels have potentially stronger but highly uncertain effects than 0.5 °C warming increments. Half a degree warming will also lead to more extreme low yields, in particular over tropical regions. Our results indicate that GMT change alone is insufficient to determine future impacts on crop productivity.

Regional analysis of drought and heat impacts on forests: current and future science directions.

PubMed

Law, Beverly E

2014-12-01

Accurate assessments of forest response to current and future climate and human actions are needed at regional scales. Predicting future impacts on forests will require improved analysis of species-level adaptation, resilience, and vulnerability to mortality. Land system models can be enhanced by creating trait-based groupings of species that better represent climate sensitivity, such as risk of hydraulic failure from drought. This emphasizes the need for more coordinated in situ and remote sensing observations to track changes in ecosystem function, and to improve model inputs, spatio-temporal diagnosis, and predictions of future conditions, including implications of actions to mitigate climate change. © 2014 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Viral Infection Sensitizes Human Fetal Membranes to Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide by MERTK Inhibition and Inflammasome Activation.

PubMed

Cross, Sarah N; Potter, Julie A; Aldo, Paulomi; Kwon, Ja Young; Pitruzzello, Mary; Tong, Mancy; Guller, Seth; Rothlin, Carla V; Mor, Gil; Abrahams, Vikki M

2017-10-15

Chorioamnionitis, premature rupture of fetal membranes (FMs), and subsequent preterm birth are associated with local infection and inflammation, particularly IL-1β production. Although bacterial infections are commonly identified, other microorganisms may play a role in the pathogenesis. Because viral pandemics, such as influenza, Ebola, and Zika, are becoming more common, and pregnant women are at increased risk for associated complications, this study evaluated the impact that viral infection had on human FM innate immune responses. This study shows that a herpes viral infection of FMs sensitizes the tissue to low levels of bacterial LPS, giving rise to an exaggerated IL-1β response. Using an ex vivo human FM explant system and an in vivo mouse model of pregnancy, we report that the mechanism by which this aggravated inflammation arises is through the inhibition of the TAM receptor, MERTK, and activation of the inflammasome. The TAM receptor ligand, growth arrest specific 6, re-establishes the normal FM response to LPS by restoring and augmenting TAM receptor and ligand expression, as well as by preventing the exacerbated IL-1β processing and secretion. These findings indicate a novel mechanism by which viruses alter normal FM immune responses to bacteria, potentially giving rise to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Copyright © 2017 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

Single-molecule protein sequencing through fingerprinting: computational assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Yao; Docter, Margreet; van Ginkel, Jetty; de Ridder, Dick; Joo, Chirlmin

2015-10-01

Proteins are vital in all biological systems as they constitute the main structural and functional components of cells. Recent advances in mass spectrometry have brought the promise of complete proteomics by helping draft the human proteome. Yet, this commonly used protein sequencing technique has fundamental limitations in sensitivity. Here we propose a method for single-molecule (SM) protein sequencing. A major challenge lies in the fact that proteins are composed of 20 different amino acids, which demands 20 molecular reporters. We computationally demonstrate that it suffices to measure only two types of amino acids to identify proteins and suggest an experimental scheme using SM fluorescence. When achieved, this highly sensitive approach will result in a paradigm shift in proteomics, with major impact in the biological and medical sciences.

Life cycle environmental impacts of domestic solar water heaters in Turkey: The effect of different climatic regions.

PubMed

Uctug, Fehmi Gorkem; Azapagic, Adisa

2018-05-01

Solar water heating (SWH) systems could help reduce environmental impacts from energy use but their performance and impacts depend on the climate. This paper considers how these vary for residential SWH across four different climatic regions in Turkey, ranging from hot to cold climates. Life cycle assessment was used for these purposes. The results suggest that in the hotter regions, the impacts of SWH are 1.5-2 times lower than those of natural gas boilers. A similar trend was observed in the two colder regions except for acidification, which was four times higher than that of the boiler. The raw materials and electricity required for the manufacturing of the systems were found to be the most important contributors to the impacts. Recycling the major components instead of landfilling reduced human toxicity potential by 50% but had only a small effect (5%) on the other impacts. The impacts were highly sensitive to the type of material used for the construction of the hot storage tank, but were not affected by transport and end-of life recycling. The only exception to the latter is human toxicity potential which decreased significantly with greater recycling. Extrapolating the results at the national level showed that SWH systems could reduce the annual greenhouse gas emissions in Turkey by 790kt CO 2 -eq. and would save the economy $162.5millionperyear through the avoided imports of natural gas. All other impacts would also be reduced significantly (3-32 times), except for acidification which would double. Therefore, SWH systems should be deployed more extensively in Turkey but government incentives may be needed to stimulate the uptake. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pressure-specific and multiple pressure response of fish assemblages in European running waters☆

PubMed Central

Schinegger, Rafaela; Trautwein, Clemens; Schmutz, Stefan

2013-01-01

We classified homogenous river types across Europe and searched for fish metrics qualified to show responses to specific pressures (hydromorphological pressures or water quality pressures) vs. multiple pressures in these river types. We analysed fish taxa lists from 3105 sites in 16 ecoregions and 14 countries. Sites were pre-classified for 15 selected pressures to separate unimpacted from impacted sites. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to split unimpacted sites into four homogenous river types based on species composition and geographical location. Classification trees were employed to predict associated river types for impacted sites with four environmental variables. We defined a set of 129 candidate fish metrics to select the best reacting metrics for each river type. The candidate metrics represented tolerances/intolerances of species associated with six metric types: habitat, migration, water quality sensitivity, reproduction, trophic level and biodiversity. The results showed that 17 uncorrelated metrics reacted to pressures in the four river types. Metrics responded specifically to water quality pressures and hydromorphological pressures in three river types and to multiple pressures in all river types. Four metrics associated with water quality sensitivity showed a significant reaction in up to three river types, whereas 13 metrics were specific to individual river types. Our results contribute to the better understanding of fish assemblage response to human pressures at a pan-European scale. The results are especially important for European river management and restoration, as it is necessary to uncover underlying processes and effects of human pressures on aquatic communities. PMID:24003262

Systemic modulation of serotonergic synapses via reuptake blockade or 5HT1A receptor antagonism does not alter perithreshold taste sensitivity in rats.

PubMed

Mathes, Clare M; Spector, Alan C

2014-09-01

Systemic blockade of serotonin (5HT) reuptake with paroxetine has been shown to increase sensitivity to sucrose and quinine in humans. Here, using a 2-response operant taste detection task, we measured the effect of paroxetine and the 5HT1A receptor antagonist WAY100635 on the ability of rats to discriminate sucrose, NaCl, and citric acid from water. After establishing individual psychometric functions, 5 concentrations of each taste stimulus were chosen to represent the dynamic portion of the concentration-response curve, and the performance of the rats to these stimuli was assessed after vehicle, paroxetine (7mg/kg intraperitoneally), and WAY100635 (0.3mg/kg subcutaneously; 1mg/kg intravenously) administration. Although, at times, overall performance across concentrations dropped, at most, 5% from vehicle to drug conditions, no differences relative to vehicle were seen on the parameters of the psychometric function (asymptote, slope, or EC50) after drug administration. In contrast to findings in humans, our results suggest that modulation of 5HT activity has little impact on sucrose detectability at perithreshold concentrations in rats, at least at the doses used in this task. In the rat model, the purported paracrine/neurocrine action of serotonin in the taste bud may work in a manner that does not impact overt taste detection behavior. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

QSAR models of human data can enrich or replace LLNA testing for human skin sensitization

PubMed Central

Alves, Vinicius M.; Capuzzi, Stephen J.; Muratov, Eugene; Braga, Rodolpho C.; Thornton, Thomas; Fourches, Denis; Strickland, Judy; Kleinstreuer, Nicole; Andrade, Carolina H.; Tropsha, Alexander

2016-01-01

Skin sensitization is a major environmental and occupational health hazard. Although many chemicals have been evaluated in humans, there have been no efforts to model these data to date. We have compiled, curated, analyzed, and compared the available human and LLNA data. Using these data, we have developed reliable computational models and applied them for virtual screening of chemical libraries to identify putative skin sensitizers. The overall concordance between murine LLNA and human skin sensitization responses for a set of 135 unique chemicals was low (R = 28-43%), although several chemical classes had high concordance. We have succeeded to develop predictive QSAR models of all available human data with the external correct classification rate of 71%. A consensus model integrating concordant QSAR predictions and LLNA results afforded a higher CCR of 82% but at the expense of the reduced external dataset coverage (52%). We used the developed QSAR models for virtual screening of CosIng database and identified 1061 putative skin sensitizers; for seventeen of these compounds, we found published evidence of their skin sensitization effects. Models reported herein provide more accurate alternative to LLNA testing for human skin sensitization assessment across diverse chemical data. In addition, they can also be used to guide the structural optimization of toxic compounds to reduce their skin sensitization potential. PMID:28630595

Categorical discrimination of human body parts by magnetoencephalography

PubMed Central

Nakamura, Misaki; Yanagisawa, Takufumi; Okamura, Yumiko; Fukuma, Ryohei; Hirata, Masayuki; Araki, Toshihiko; Kamitani, Yukiyasu; Yorifuji, Shiro

2015-01-01

Humans recognize body parts in categories. Previous studies have shown that responses in the fusiform body area (FBA) and extrastriate body area (EBA) are evoked by the perception of the human body, when presented either as whole or as isolated parts. These responses occur approximately 190 ms after body images are visualized. The extent to which body-sensitive responses show specificity for different body part categories remains to be largely clarified. We used a decoding method to quantify neural responses associated with the perception of different categories of body parts. Nine subjects underwent measurements of their brain activities by magnetoencephalography (MEG) while viewing 14 images of feet, hands, mouths, and objects. We decoded categories of the presented images from the MEG signals using a support vector machine (SVM) and calculated their accuracy by 10-fold cross-validation. For each subject, a response that appeared to be a body-sensitive response was observed and the MEG signals corresponding to the three types of body categories were classified based on the signals in the occipitotemporal cortex. The accuracy in decoding body-part categories (with a peak at approximately 48%) was above chance (33.3%) and significantly higher than that for random categories. According to the time course and location, the responses are suggested to be body-sensitive and to include information regarding the body-part category. Finally, this non-invasive method can decode category information of a visual object with high temporal and spatial resolution and this result may have a significant impact in the field of brain–machine interface research. PMID:26582986

Categorical discrimination of human body parts by magnetoencephalography.

PubMed

Nakamura, Misaki; Yanagisawa, Takufumi; Okamura, Yumiko; Fukuma, Ryohei; Hirata, Masayuki; Araki, Toshihiko; Kamitani, Yukiyasu; Yorifuji, Shiro

2015-01-01

Humans recognize body parts in categories. Previous studies have shown that responses in the fusiform body area (FBA) and extrastriate body area (EBA) are evoked by the perception of the human body, when presented either as whole or as isolated parts. These responses occur approximately 190 ms after body images are visualized. The extent to which body-sensitive responses show specificity for different body part categories remains to be largely clarified. We used a decoding method to quantify neural responses associated with the perception of different categories of body parts. Nine subjects underwent measurements of their brain activities by magnetoencephalography (MEG) while viewing 14 images of feet, hands, mouths, and objects. We decoded categories of the presented images from the MEG signals using a support vector machine (SVM) and calculated their accuracy by 10-fold cross-validation. For each subject, a response that appeared to be a body-sensitive response was observed and the MEG signals corresponding to the three types of body categories were classified based on the signals in the occipitotemporal cortex. The accuracy in decoding body-part categories (with a peak at approximately 48%) was above chance (33.3%) and significantly higher than that for random categories. According to the time course and location, the responses are suggested to be body-sensitive and to include information regarding the body-part category. Finally, this non-invasive method can decode category information of a visual object with high temporal and spatial resolution and this result may have a significant impact in the field of brain-machine interface research.

An Assessment of the Regional and National Socio-Economic Impacts of the 2007 Rift Valley Fever Outbreak in Kenya

PubMed Central

Rich, Karl M.; Wanyoike, Francis

2010-01-01

Although Rift Valley fever (RVF) has significant impacts on human health and livestock production, it can also induce significant (and often overlooked) economic losses among various stakeholders in the marketing chain. This work assesses and quantifies the multi-dimensional socio-economic impacts of the 2007 RVF outbreak in Kenya based on a rapid assessment of livestock value chains in the northeast part of the country and a national macroeconomic analysis. Although study results show negative impacts among producers in terms of food insecurity and reductions in income, we also found significant losses among other downstream actors in the value chain, including livestock traders, slaughterhouses, casual laborers, and butchers, as well as other, non-agricultural sectors. The study highlights the need for greater sensitivity and analyses that address the multitude of economic losses resulting from an animal disease to better inform policy and decision making during animal health emergencies. PMID:20682906

The effects of prior light history on the suppression of melatonin by light in humans

PubMed Central

Hébert, Marc; Martin, Stacia K.; Lee, Clara; Eastman, Charmane I.

2014-01-01

We investigated the impact of light exposure history on light sensitivity in humans, as assessed by the magnitude of the suppression of melatonin secretion by nocturnal light. The hypothesis was that following a week of increased daytime bright-light exposure, subjects would become less sensitive to light, and that after a week of restriction to dimmer light they would become more sensitive. During the bright week, subjects (n = 12) obtained 4.3 ± 0.4 hr of bright light per day (by going outside and using light boxes indoors). During the dim week, they wore dark goggles (about 2% light transmission) when outside during daylight and spent 1.4 ± 0.9 hr per day outside. Saliva samples were obtained every 30 min for 7 hr in dim light (<15 lux) on two consecutive nights (baseline and test night) at the end of each week. On the test night, 500 lux was presented for 3 hr in the middle of the collection period to suppress melatonin. There was significantly more suppression after the dim week compared with after the bright week (to 53 versus 41% of the baseline night values, P < 0.05). However, there were large individual differences, and the difference between the bright and dim weeks was most pronounced in seven of the 12 subjects. Possible reasons for these individual differences are discussed, including the possibility that 1 wk was not long enough to change light sensitivity in some subjects. In conclusion, this study suggests that the circadian system’s sensitivity to light can be affected by a recent change in light history. PMID:12390501

Increased detection of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis by GeneXpert MTB/RIF® assay after bleach concentration.

PubMed

Tadesse, Mulualem; Aragaw, Dossegnaw; Rigouts, Leen; Abebe, Gemeda

2016-06-01

The GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay (Xpert) was endorsed as the initial diagnostic tool in people suspected of human immunodeficiency virus-associated or drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). However, information regarding the performance of Xpert for diagnosing smear-negative TB in high burden settings remains limited. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of Xpert and the impact of bleach concentration on the performance of Xpert using smear-negative sputum samples from human immunodeficiency virus-negative patients. One spot and one morning smear-negative sputum samples per patient were examined using Xpert and culture at the Mycobacteriology Research Center of Jimma University, Ethiopia. The sputum culture on both Löwenstein-Jensen and/or Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube was the gold-standard. Of 185 smear-negative presumptive pulmonary TB cases, 19 (10.3%) had culture-proven TB. The sensitivity of Xpert on spot and morning sputum was similar (63.2%). Testing two specimens per patient insignificantly increased the sensitivity of Xpert. Bleach concentration and pelleting improved the sensitivity of Xpert over unprocessed sputum in paired samples (73.8% vs. 63.2%) without affecting the specificity (95%). Bleach concentration and pelleting allowed an additional seven cases of TB (missed on the first and second direct Xperts) to be detected, five of which were from culture-negative cases. Testing of a single sputum sample by Xpert can reach reasonable sensitivity and results would be available on the same day, avoiding loss of patients and treatment delay. The sensitivity of Xpert was improved after bleach concentration and pelleting, although its added value needs further study on a larger scale. Copyright © 2016 Asian-African Society for Mycobacteriology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Racket Inertia Tensor on Elbow Loadings and Racket Behavior for Central and Eccentric Impacts

PubMed Central

Nesbit, Steven M.; Elzinga, Michael; Herchenroder, Catherine; Serrano, Monika

2006-01-01

This paper discusses the inertia tensors of tennis rackets and their influence on the elbow swing torques in a forehand motion, the loadings transmitted to the elbow from central and eccentric impacts, and the racket acceleration responses from central and eccentric impacts. Inertia tensors of various rackets with similar mass and mass center location were determined by an inertia pendulum and were found to vary considerably in all three orthogonal directions. Tennis swing mechanics and impact analyses were performed using a computer model comprised of a full-body model of a human, a parametric model of the racket, and an impact function. The swing mechanics analysis of a forehand motion determined that inertia values had a moderate linear effect on the pronation-supination elbow torques required to twist the racket, and a minor effect on the flexion-extension and valgus-varus torques. The impact analysis found that mass center inertia values had a considerable effect on the transmitted torques for both longitudinal and latitudinal eccentric impacts and significantly affected all elbow torque components. Racket acceleration responses to central and eccentric impacts were measured experimentally and found to be notably sensitive to impact location and mass center inertia values. Key Points Tennis biomechanics. Racket inertia tensor. Impact analysis. Full-body computer model. PMID:24260004

Multivariate sensitivity to voice during auditory categorization.

PubMed

Lee, Yune Sang; Peelle, Jonathan E; Kraemer, David; Lloyd, Samuel; Granger, Richard

2015-09-01

Past neuroimaging studies have documented discrete regions of human temporal cortex that are more strongly activated by conspecific voice sounds than by nonvoice sounds. However, the mechanisms underlying this voice sensitivity remain unclear. In the present functional MRI study, we took a novel approach to examining voice sensitivity, in which we applied a signal detection paradigm to the assessment of multivariate pattern classification among several living and nonliving categories of auditory stimuli. Within this framework, voice sensitivity can be interpreted as a distinct neural representation of brain activity that correctly distinguishes human vocalizations from other auditory object categories. Across a series of auditory categorization tests, we found that bilateral superior and middle temporal cortex consistently exhibited robust sensitivity to human vocal sounds. Although the strongest categorization was in distinguishing human voice from other categories, subsets of these regions were also able to distinguish reliably between nonhuman categories, suggesting a general role in auditory object categorization. Our findings complement the current evidence of cortical sensitivity to human vocal sounds by revealing that the greatest sensitivity during categorization tasks is devoted to distinguishing voice from nonvoice categories within human temporal cortex. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Evolving paradigms for desensitization in managing broadly HLA sensitized transplant candidates.

PubMed

Reinsmoen, Nancy L; Lai, Chi-Hung; Vo, Ashley; Jordan, Stanley C

2012-04-01

The broadly human leukocyte antigen (HLA) sensitized patient awaiting organ transplantation remains a persistent and significant problem for transplant medicine. Sensitization occurs as a consequence of exposure to HLA antigens through pregnancy, blood and platelet transfusions, and previous transplants. Early experience with desensitization protocols coupled with improved diagnostics for donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) and renal pathology have greatly improved transplant rates and outcomes for patients once considered un-transplantable or at high risk for poor outcomes. More recent advances have occurred through implementation of a national allocation system requiring the entering of unacceptable antigens that reduces the rate of crossmatch positivity. Current desensitization therapies include high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), plasma exchange (PLEX) with low-dose IVIG, and IVIG combined with rituximab. Developing therapies include proteasome inhibitors aimed at plasma cells and modifiers of complement-mediated injury. Here we discuss the important advancements in desensitization including defining the risk for antibody-mediated rejection prior to transplantation and the evolution of therapies aimed at reducing the impact of antibody injury on allografts.

[Human coronavirus infections: importance and diagnosis].

PubMed

Vabret, A; Brouard, J; Petitjean, J; Eugene-Ruellan, G; Freymuth, F

1998-11-14

POORLY-KNOWN VIRUS: Coronaviruses, so named because of their sun-ray-like aspect, were discovered in the sixties. The biology of these RNA viruses is complex and poorly understood. KNOWN PATHOGENS: Coronaviruses are known pathogens in veterinary medicine, causing disease states in several domestic species. In human medicine, they can cause benign respiratory infections, but few laboratories include coronaviruses in their routine diagnostic tests. SUSPECTED PATHOGENS: There is some data in the literature suggesting coronaviruses might be implicated in more severe diseases including multiple sclerosis, necrotizing enterocolitis, and lower respiratory tract infections, particularly in infants. IMPROVING DIAGNOSTIC METHODS: Due to the lack of reliable and sensitive diagnostic techniques, it is impossible to date to correctly assess the medical impact of these ubiquitous and endemic viruses. Molecular biology techniques enabling detection of human coronavirus infections should be applied to verifying the suspected implication of these viruses in diverse disease states.

The impact of poverty on the development of brain networks

PubMed Central

Lipina, Sebastián J.; Posner, Michael I.

2012-01-01

Although the study of brain development in non-human animals is an old one, recent imaging methods have allowed non-invasive studies of the gray and white matter of the human brain over the lifespan. Classic animal studies show clearly that impoverished environments reduce cortical gray matter in relation to complex environments and cognitive and imaging studies in humans suggest which networks may be most influenced by poverty. Studies have been clear in showing the plasticity of many brain systems, but whether sensitivity to learning differs over the lifespan and for which networks is still unclear. A major task for current research is a successful integration of these methods to understand how development and learning shape the neural networks underlying achievements in literacy, numeracy, and attention. This paper seeks to foster further integration by reviewing the current state of knowledge relating brain changes to behavior and indicating possible future directions. PMID:22912613

Action and function of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in health and disease.

PubMed

Ferreira-Halder, Carmen Veríssima; Faria, Alessandra Valéria de Sousa; Andrade, Sheila Siqueira

2017-12-01

Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, anaerobic bacteria, is one of the main components of gut microbiota and the most important butyrate-producing bacteria in the human colon. So far, this commensal bacterium has been considered as a bioindicator of human health, once when its population is altered (decreased), inflammatory processes are favored. Several reports in the literature highlighted that the amount of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii negatively correlates to the activity of inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Therefore, counterbalancing dysbiosis using Faecalibacterium prausnitzii as a potential active component of probiotic formulations appears to be a promising therapeutic strategy for inflammatory bowel diseases and colorectal cancer. However, once this microbial is very sensitive to oxygen, the formulation development is a great challenge. In this review, we will focus our attention on Faecalibacterium prausnitzii biology, anti-inflammatory metabolites, modulators of this bacterium population and its impact on human health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact sensitivity test of liquid energetic materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiutiaev, A.; Dolzhikov, A.; Zvereva, I.

2017-10-01

This paper presents new experimental method for sensitivity evaluation at the impact. A large number of researches shown that the probability of explosion initiating of liquid explosives by impact depends on the chemical nature and the various external characteristics. But the sensitivity of liquid explosive in the presence of gas bubbles increases many times as compared with the liquid without gas bubbles. In this case local chemical reaction focus are formed as a result of compression and heating of the gas inside the bubbles. In the liquid as a result of convection, wave motion, shock, etc. gas bubbles are easily generated, it is necessary to develop methods for determining sensitivity of liquid explosives to impact and to research the explosives ignition with bubbles. For the experimental investigation, the well-known impact machine and the so-called appliance 1 were used. Instead of the metal cup in the standard method in this paper polyurethane foam cylindrical container with liquid explosive was used. Polyurethane foam cylindrical container is easily deforms by impact. A large number of tests with different liquid explosives were made. It was found that the test liquid explosive to impact in appliance 1 with polyurethane foam to a large extent reflect the real mechanical sensitivity due to the small loss of impact energy on the deformation of the metal cup, as well as the best differentiation liquid explosive sensitivity due to the higher resolution method.

[Comparative life cycle environmental assessment between electric taxi and gasoline taxi in Beijing].

PubMed

Shi, Xiao-Qing; Sun, Zhao-Xin; Li, Xiao-Nuo; Li, Jin-Xiang; Yang, Jian-Xin

2015-03-01

Tailpipe emission of internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) is one of the main sources leading to atmospheric environmental problems such as haze. Substituting electric vehicles for conventional gasoline vehicles is an important solution for reducing urban air pollution. In 2011, as a pilot city of electric vehicle, Beijing launched a promotion plan of electric vehicle. In order to compare the environmental impacts between Midi electric vehicle (Midi EV) and Hyundai gasoline taxi (ICEV), this study created an inventory with local data and well-reasoned assumptions, and contributed a life cycle assessment (LCA) model with GaBi4.4 software and comparative life cycle environmental assessment by Life cycle impact analysis models of CML2001(Problem oriented) and EI99 (Damage oriented), which included the environmental impacts of full life cycle, manufacture phase, use phase and end of life. The sensitivity analysis of lifetime mileage and power structure was also provided. The results indicated that the full life cycle environmental impact of Midi EV was smaller than Hyundai ICEV, which was mainly due to the lower fossil fuel consumption. On the contrary, Midi EV exhibited the potential of increasing the environmental impacts of ecosystem quality influence and Human health influence. By CML2001 model, the results indicated that Midi EV might decrease the impact of Abiotic Depletion Potential, Global Warming Potential, Ozone Layer Depletion Potential and so on. However, in the production phase, the impact of Abiotic Depletion Potential, Acidification Potential, Eutrophication Potential, Global Warming Potential, Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential, Ozone Layer Depletion Potential, Marine Aquatic Ecotoxicity Potential, Terrestric Ecotoxicity Potential, Human Toxicity Potential of Midi EV were increased relative to Hyundai ICEV because of emissions impacts from its power system especially the battery production. Besides, in the use phase, electricity production was the main process leading to the impact of Abiotic Depletion Potential, Acidification Potential, Eutrophication Potential, Global Warming Potential, Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential, Marine Aquatic Ecotoxicity Potential, Freshwater Aquatic Ecotoxicity Potential, Human Toxicity Potential. While for Hyundai ICEV, gasoline production and tailpipe emission were the primary sources of environmental impact in the use phase. Tailpipe emission was a significant cause for increase in Eutrophication Potential and Global Warming Potential, and so forth. On the basis of inventory data analysis and 2010 Beijing electricity mix, the comparative results of haze-induced pollutants emissions showed that the full life cycle emissions of PM2.5, NO(x), SO(x), VOCs of Midi EV were higher than those of Hyundai ICEV, but the emission of NH3 was lower than that of Hyundai ICEV. Different emissions in use phase were the chief reason leading to this trend. In addition, by sensitivity analysis the results indicated that with the increase of lifetime mileage and proportion of cleaning energy, the rate of GHG( Green House Gas) emission reduction per kilometer of Midi EV became higher with respect to Hyundai ICEV. Haze-induced pollutants emission from EV could be significantly reduced using cleaner power energy. According to the assessment results, some management strategies aiming at electric car promotion were proposed.

A contrast-sensitive channelized-Hotelling observer to predict human performance in a detection task using lumpy backgrounds and Gaussian signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Subok; Badano, Aldo; Gallas, Brandon D.; Myers, Kyle J.

2007-03-01

Previously, a non-prewhitening matched filter (NPWMF) incorporating a model for the contrast sensitivity of the human visual system was introduced for modeling human performance in detection tasks with different viewing angles and white-noise backgrounds by Badano et al. But NPWMF observers do not perform well detection tasks involving complex backgrounds since they do not account for random backgrounds. A channelized-Hotelling observer (CHO) using difference-of-Gaussians (DOG) channels has been shown to track human performance well in detection tasks using lumpy backgrounds. In this work, a CHO with DOG channels, incorporating the model of the human contrast sensitivity, was developed similarly. We call this new observer a contrast-sensitive CHO (CS-CHO). The Barten model was the basis of our human contrast sensitivity model. A scalar was multiplied to the Barten model and varied to control the thresholding effect of the contrast sensitivity on luminance-valued images and hence the performance-prediction ability of the CS-CHO. The performance of the CS-CHO was compared to the average human performance from the psychophysical study by Park et al., where the task was to detect a known Gaussian signal in non-Gaussian distributed lumpy backgrounds. Six different signal-intensity values were used in this study. We chose the free parameter of our model to match the mean human performance in the detection experiment at the strongest signal intensity. Then we compared the model to the human at five different signal-intensity values in order to see if the performance of the CS-CHO matched human performance. Our results indicate that the CS-CHO with the chosen scalar for the contrast sensitivity predicts human performance closely as a function of signal intensity.

Will Culling White-Tailed Deer Prevent Lyme Disease?

PubMed

Kugeler, K J; Jordan, R A; Schulze, T L; Griffith, K S; Mead, P S

2016-08-01

White-tailed deer play an important role in the ecology of Lyme disease. In the United States, where the incidence and geographic range of Lyme disease continue to increase, reduction of white-tailed deer populations has been proposed as a means of preventing human illness. The effectiveness of this politically sensitive prevention method is poorly understood. We summarize and evaluate available evidence regarding the effect of deer reduction on vector tick abundance and human disease incidence. Elimination of deer from islands and other isolated settings can have a substantial impact on the reproduction of blacklegged ticks, while reduction short of complete elimination has yielded mixed results. To date, most studies have been conducted in ecologic situations that are not representative to the vast majority of areas with high human Lyme disease risk. Robust evidence linking deer control to reduced human Lyme disease risk is lacking. Currently, there is insufficient evidence to recommend deer population reduction as a Lyme disease prevention measure, except in specific ecologic circumstances. © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Will Culling White-Tailed Deer Prevent Lyme Disease?

PubMed Central

Kugeler, K. J.; Jordan, R. A.; Schulze, T. L.; Griffith, K. S.; Mead, P. S.

2015-01-01

Summary White-tailed deer play an important role in the ecology of Lyme disease. In the United States, where the incidence and geographic range of Lyme disease continue to increase, reduction of white-tailed deer populations has been proposed as a means of preventing human illness. The effectiveness of this politically sensitive prevention method is poorly understood. We summarize and evaluate available evidence regarding the effect of deer reduction on vector tick abundance and human disease incidence. Elimination of deer from islands and other isolated settings can have a substantial impact on the reproduction of blacklegged ticks, while reduction short of complete elimination has yielded mixed results. To date, most studies have been conducted in ecologic situations that are not representative to the vast majority of areas with high human Lyme disease risk. Robust evidence linking deer control to reduced human Lyme disease risk is lacking. Currently, there is insufficient evidence to recommend deer population reduction as a Lyme disease prevention measure, except in specific ecologic circumstances. PMID:26684932

The concept of comparative information yield curves and its application to risk-based site characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Barros, Felipe P. J.; Rubin, Yoram; Maxwell, Reed M.

2009-06-01

Defining rational and effective hydrogeological data acquisition strategies is of crucial importance as such efforts are always resource limited. Usually, strategies are developed with the goal of reducing uncertainty, but less often they are developed in the context of their impacts on uncertainty. This paper presents an approach for determining site characterization needs on the basis of human health risk. The main challenge is in striking a balance between reduction in uncertainty in hydrogeological, behavioral, and physiological parameters. Striking this balance can provide clear guidance on setting priorities for data acquisition and for better estimating adverse health effects in humans. This paper addresses this challenge through theoretical developments and numerical simulation. A wide range of factors that affect site characterization needs are investigated, including the dimensions of the contaminant plume and additional length scales that characterize the transport problem, as well as the model of human health risk. The concept of comparative information yield curves is used for investigating the relative impact of hydrogeological and physiological parameters in risk. Results show that characterization needs are dependent on the ratios between flow and transport scales within a risk-driven approach. Additionally, the results indicate that human health risk becomes less sensitive to hydrogeological measurements for large plumes. This indicates that under near-ergodic conditions, uncertainty reduction in human health risk may benefit from better understanding of the physiological component as opposed to a more detailed hydrogeological characterization.

Climate change and nutrition: creating a climate for nutrition security.

PubMed

Tirado, M C; Crahay, P; Mahy, L; Zanev, C; Neira, M; Msangi, S; Brown, R; Scaramella, C; Costa Coitinho, D; Müller, A

2013-12-01

Climate change further exacerbates the enormous existing burden of undernutrition. It affects food and nutrition security and undermines current efforts to reduce hunger and promote nutrition. Undernutrition in turn undermines climate resilience and the coping strategies of vulnerable populations. The objectives of this paper are to identify and undertake a cross-sectoral analysis of the impacts of climate change on nutrition security and the existing mechanisms, strategies, and policies to address them. A cross-sectoral analysis of the impacts of climate change on nutrition security and the mechanisms and policies to address them was guided by an analytical framework focused on the three 'underlying causes' of undernutrition: 1) household food access, 2) maternal and child care and feeding practices, 3) environmental health and health access. The analytical framework includes the interactions of the three underlying causes of undernutrition with climate change,vulnerability, adaptation and mitigation. Within broad efforts on climate change mitigation and adaptation and climate-resilient development, a combination of nutrition-sensitive adaptation and mitigation measures, climate-resilient and nutrition-sensitive agricultural development, social protection, improved maternal and child care and health, nutrition-sensitive risk reduction and management, community development measures, nutrition-smart investments, increased policy coherence, and institutional and cross-sectoral collaboration are proposed as a means to address the impacts of climate change to food and nutrition security. This paper proposes policy directions to address nutrition in the climate change agenda and recommendations for consideration by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Nutrition and health stakeholders need to be engaged in key climate change adaptation and mitigation initiatives, including science-based assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and policies and actions formulated by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Improved multi-sectoral coordination and political will is required to integrate nutrition-sensitive actions into climate-resilient sustainable development efforts in the UNFCCC work and in the post 2015 development agenda. Placing human rights at the center of strategies to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change and international solidarity is essential to advance sustainable development and to create a climate for nutrition security.

Ab initio study of energy transfer rates and impact sensitivities of crystalline explosives.

PubMed

Bernstein, Jonathan

2018-02-28

Impact sensitivities of various crystalline explosives were predicted by means of plane wave-density functional theory calculations. Crystal structures and complete vibrational spectra of TATB, PETN, FOX7, TEX, 14DNI, and β-HMX molecular crystals were calculated. A correlation between the phonon-vibron coupling (which is proportionally related to the energy transfer rate between the phonon manifold and the intramolecular vibrational modes) and impact sensitivities of secondary explosives was found. We propose a method, based on ab initio calculations, for the evaluation of impact sensitivities, which consequently can assist in screening candidates for chemical synthesis of high energetic materials.

High pressure liquid and gaseous oxygen impact sensitivity evaluation of materials for use at Kennedy Space Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryan, C. J.

1976-01-01

The sensitivity of materials in contact with gaseous oxygen (GOX) or liquid oxygen (LOX) was examined. Specifically, the reactivity of materials when in contact with GOX or LOX if subjected to such stimuli as mechanical impact, adiabatic compression (pneumatic impact), or an electrical discharge in the form of a spark were examined. Generally, materials are more sensitive in gaseous oxygen than in liquid oxygen and impact sensitivity is known to increase with increasing pressure. Materials presently being used or considered for use in oxygen systems at KSC were evaluated. Results are given in tabular form.

Ab initio study of energy transfer rates and impact sensitivities of crystalline explosives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernstein, Jonathan

2018-02-01

Impact sensitivities of various crystalline explosives were predicted by means of plane wave-density functional theory calculations. Crystal structures and complete vibrational spectra of TATB, PETN, FOX7, TEX, 14DNI, and β-HMX molecular crystals were calculated. A correlation between the phonon-vibron coupling (which is proportionally related to the energy transfer rate between the phonon manifold and the intramolecular vibrational modes) and impact sensitivities of secondary explosives was found. We propose a method, based on ab initio calculations, for the evaluation of impact sensitivities, which consequently can assist in screening candidates for chemical synthesis of high energetic materials.

Spatial, seasonal and climatic predictive models of Rift Valley fever disease across Africa.

PubMed

Redding, David W; Tiedt, Sonia; Lo Iacono, Gianni; Bett, Bernard; Jones, Kate E

2017-07-19

Understanding the emergence and subsequent spread of human infectious diseases is a critical global challenge, especially for high-impact zoonotic and vector-borne diseases. Global climate and land-use change are likely to alter host and vector distributions, but understanding the impact of these changes on the burden of infectious diseases is difficult. Here, we use a Bayesian spatial model to investigate environmental drivers of one of the most important diseases in Africa, Rift Valley fever (RVF). The model uses a hierarchical approach to determine how environmental drivers vary both spatially and seasonally, and incorporates the effects of key climatic oscillations, to produce a continental risk map of RVF in livestock (as a proxy for human RVF risk). We find RVF risk has a distinct seasonal spatial pattern influenced by climatic variation, with the majority of cases occurring in South Africa and Kenya in the first half of an El Niño year. Irrigation, rainfall and human population density were the main drivers of RVF cases, independent of seasonal, climatic or spatial variation. By accounting more subtly for the patterns in RVF data, we better determine the importance of underlying environmental drivers, and also make space- and time-sensitive predictions to better direct future surveillance resources.This article is part of the themed issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being'. © 2017 The Authors.

Spatial, seasonal and climatic predictive models of Rift Valley fever disease across Africa

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Understanding the emergence and subsequent spread of human infectious diseases is a critical global challenge, especially for high-impact zoonotic and vector-borne diseases. Global climate and land-use change are likely to alter host and vector distributions, but understanding the impact of these changes on the burden of infectious diseases is difficult. Here, we use a Bayesian spatial model to investigate environmental drivers of one of the most important diseases in Africa, Rift Valley fever (RVF). The model uses a hierarchical approach to determine how environmental drivers vary both spatially and seasonally, and incorporates the effects of key climatic oscillations, to produce a continental risk map of RVF in livestock (as a proxy for human RVF risk). We find RVF risk has a distinct seasonal spatial pattern influenced by climatic variation, with the majority of cases occurring in South Africa and Kenya in the first half of an El Niño year. Irrigation, rainfall and human population density were the main drivers of RVF cases, independent of seasonal, climatic or spatial variation. By accounting more subtly for the patterns in RVF data, we better determine the importance of underlying environmental drivers, and also make space- and time-sensitive predictions to better direct future surveillance resources. This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’. PMID:28584173

Optical measurement of acidification of human dental plaque in vitro

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, Jasmine Y.; Nelson, Leonard Y.; Seibel, Eric J.

2018-02-01

A pH measurement of oral biofilms is helpful for monitoring the impact of acidogenic bacteria in the caries process. Demineralization of dental enamel is closely related to the time dependent pH of human plaque. Therefore, providing a means to easily measure the local pH of biofilms is a useful clinical diagnostic in the arsenal of caries prevention tools. Optical measurement methods of plaque metabolism can use intrinsic fluorescence or extrinsic fluorescence from added dyes. Autofluorescence spectral features of human oral biofilms at green (500 nm) and red (634 nm) fluorescence wavelengths using 405 nm excitation did not demonstrate a spectral or intensity shift between neutral and acidic conditions. Chlorin e6, an ingredient in chlorophyllin food supplement, exhibited a spectral and intensity shift of fluorescence emission in buffered solutions, but this quantitative pH-dependence was not transferable to a human plaque environment. Finally, a ratiometric quantitative pH measure was achieved by exciting (405 nm laser) a mixture of two dyes, fluorescein and rhodamine B. This two-dye mixture produced two strong fluorescent bands centered at 515 nm (fluorescein) and 580 nm (rhodamine B), where the 515 nm band was pH sensitive and the 580 nm band served as a pH insensitive reference. This dual-dye fluorescence ratio exhibited a linear response over pH 7 to 5 in human oral biofilms during a sugar challenge. We have explored methods to use non-contact, optical measures of local acidity levels in difficult to access dental locations such as occlusal fissures using various pH sensitive fluorescent dye systems.

A network biology-based approach to evaluating the effect of environmental contaminants on human interactome and diseases.

PubMed

Iida, M; Takemoto, K

2018-09-30

Environmental contaminant exposure can pose significant risks to human health. Therefore, evaluating the impact of this exposure is of great importance; however, it is often difficult because both the molecular mechanism of disease and the mode of action of the contaminants are complex. We used network biology techniques to quantitatively assess the impact of environmental contaminants on the human interactome and diseases with a particular focus on seven major contaminant categories: persistent organic pollutants (POPs), dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, perfluorochemicals (PFCs), metals, and pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs). We integrated publicly available data on toxicogenomics, the diseasome, protein-protein interactions (PPIs), and gene essentiality and found that a few contaminants were targeted to many genes, and a few genes were targeted by many contaminants. The contaminant targets were hub proteins in the human PPI network, whereas the target proteins in most categories did not contain abundant essential proteins. Generally, contaminant targets and disease-associated proteins were closely associated with the PPI network, and the closeness of the associations depended on the disease type and chemical category. Network biology techniques were used to identify environmental contaminants with broad effects on the human interactome and contaminant-sensitive biomarkers. Moreover, this method enabled us to quantify the relationship between environmental contaminants and human diseases, which was supported by epidemiological and experimental evidence. These methods and findings have facilitated the elucidation of the complex relationship between environmental exposure and adverse health outcomes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantitative assessment of the impact of partially protective anti-schistosomiasis vaccines

PubMed Central

Ndeffo Mbah, Martial; Galvani, Alison

2017-01-01

Background Mass drug administration (MDA) of praziquantel has been the intervention of choice against schistosomiasis but with limited success in interrupting the transmission. The development of anti-Schistosoma vaccines is underway. Our objective is to quantify the population-level impact of anti-Schistosoma vaccines when administered alone and in combination with mass drug administration (MDA) and determine factors in vaccine design and public health implementation that optimize vaccination role in schistosomiasis control and elimination. Methods and findings We developed a deterministic compartmental model simulation of schistosomiasis transmission in a high-risk Kenyan community, including stratification by age, parasite burden, and vaccination status. The modeled schistosomiasis vaccines differed in terms of vaccine duration of protection (durability) and three biological efficacies. These are vaccine susceptibility effect (SE) of reducing person’s susceptibility to Schistosoma acquisition, vaccine mortality effect (ME) of reducing established worm burden and vaccine fecundity effect (FE) of reducing egg release by mature worms. We quantified the population-level impact of vaccination over two decades under diverse vaccination schemes (childhood vs. mass campaigns), with different age-targeting scenarios, different risk settings, and with combined intervention with MDA. We also assessed the sensitivity of our predictions to uncertainties in model parameters. Over two decades, our base case vaccine with 80% SE, FE, and ME efficacies, 10 years’ durability, provided by mass vaccination every 10 years, reduced host prevalence, mean intensity, incidence, and patent snail prevalence to 31%, 20 eggs/10-ml sample/person, 0.87 worm/person-year, and 0.74%, from endemic-state values of 71%, 152, 3.3, and 0.98%, respectively. Lower impact was found when coverage did not encompass all potential contaminators, and childhood-only vaccination schemes showed delayed and lower impact. In lower prevalence settings, the base case vaccine generated a proportionately smaller impact. A substantially larger vaccine program effect was generated when MDA + mass vaccination was provided every 5 years, which could be achieved by an MDA-only program only if drug was offered annually. Vaccine impact on schistosomiasis transmission was sensitive to a number of parameters including vaccine efficacies, human contact rates with water, human density, patent snails’ rate of patency and lifespan, and force of infection to snails. Conclusions To be successful a vaccine-based control strategy will need a moderately to highly effective formulation combined with early vaccination of potential contaminators and aggressive coverage in repeated rounds of mass vaccination. Compared to MDA-only program, vaccination combined with MDA accelerates and prolongs the impact by reducing the acquisition of new worms and reducing egg release from residual worms. PMID:28410369

Quantitative assessment of the impact of partially protective anti-schistosomiasis vaccines.

PubMed

Alsallaq, Ramzi A; Gurarie, David; Ndeffo Mbah, Martial; Galvani, Alison; King, Charles

2017-04-01

Mass drug administration (MDA) of praziquantel has been the intervention of choice against schistosomiasis but with limited success in interrupting the transmission. The development of anti-Schistosoma vaccines is underway. Our objective is to quantify the population-level impact of anti-Schistosoma vaccines when administered alone and in combination with mass drug administration (MDA) and determine factors in vaccine design and public health implementation that optimize vaccination role in schistosomiasis control and elimination. We developed a deterministic compartmental model simulation of schistosomiasis transmission in a high-risk Kenyan community, including stratification by age, parasite burden, and vaccination status. The modeled schistosomiasis vaccines differed in terms of vaccine duration of protection (durability) and three biological efficacies. These are vaccine susceptibility effect (SE) of reducing person's susceptibility to Schistosoma acquisition, vaccine mortality effect (ME) of reducing established worm burden and vaccine fecundity effect (FE) of reducing egg release by mature worms. We quantified the population-level impact of vaccination over two decades under diverse vaccination schemes (childhood vs. mass campaigns), with different age-targeting scenarios, different risk settings, and with combined intervention with MDA. We also assessed the sensitivity of our predictions to uncertainties in model parameters. Over two decades, our base case vaccine with 80% SE, FE, and ME efficacies, 10 years' durability, provided by mass vaccination every 10 years, reduced host prevalence, mean intensity, incidence, and patent snail prevalence to 31%, 20 eggs/10-ml sample/person, 0.87 worm/person-year, and 0.74%, from endemic-state values of 71%, 152, 3.3, and 0.98%, respectively. Lower impact was found when coverage did not encompass all potential contaminators, and childhood-only vaccination schemes showed delayed and lower impact. In lower prevalence settings, the base case vaccine generated a proportionately smaller impact. A substantially larger vaccine program effect was generated when MDA + mass vaccination was provided every 5 years, which could be achieved by an MDA-only program only if drug was offered annually. Vaccine impact on schistosomiasis transmission was sensitive to a number of parameters including vaccine efficacies, human contact rates with water, human density, patent snails' rate of patency and lifespan, and force of infection to snails. To be successful a vaccine-based control strategy will need a moderately to highly effective formulation combined with early vaccination of potential contaminators and aggressive coverage in repeated rounds of mass vaccination. Compared to MDA-only program, vaccination combined with MDA accelerates and prolongs the impact by reducing the acquisition of new worms and reducing egg release from residual worms.

The VP40 protein of Marburg virus exhibits impaired budding and increased sensitivity to human tetherin following mouse adaptation.

PubMed

Feagins, Alicia R; Basler, Christopher F

2014-12-01

The Marburg virus VP40 protein is a viral matrix protein that spontaneously buds from cells. It also functions as an interferon (IFN) signaling antagonist by targeting Janus kinase 1 (JAK1). A previous study demonstrated that the VP40 protein of the Ravn strain of Marburg virus (Ravn virus [RAVV]) failed to block IFN signaling in mouse cells, whereas the mouse-adapted RAVV (maRAVV) VP40 acquired the ability to inhibit IFN responses in mouse cells. The increased IFN antagonist function of maRAVV VP40 mapped to residues 57 and 165, which were mutated during the mouse adaptation process. In the present study, we demonstrate that maRAVV VP40 lost the capacity to efficiently bud from human cell lines, despite the fact that both parental and maRAVV VP40s bud efficiently from mouse cell lines. The impaired budding in human cells corresponds with the appearance of protrusions on the surface of maRAVV VP40-expressing Huh7 cells and with an increased sensitivity of maRAVV VP40 to restriction by human tetherin but not mouse tetherin. However, transfer of the human tetherin cytoplasmic tail to mouse tetherin restored restriction of maRAVV VP40. Residues 57 and 165 were demonstrated to contribute to the failure of maRAVV VP40 to bud from human cells, and residue 57 was demonstrated to alter VP40 oligomerization, as assessed by coprecipitation assay, and to determine sensitivity to human tetherin. This suggests that RAVV VP40 acquired, during adaptation to mice, changes in its oligomerization potential that enhanced IFN antagonist function. However, this new capacity impaired RAVV VP40 budding from human cells. Filoviruses, which include Marburg viruses and Ebola viruses, are zoonotic pathogens that cause severe disease in humans and nonhuman primates but do not cause similar disease in wild-type laboratory strains of mice unless first adapted to these animals. Although mouse adaptation has been used as a method to develop small animal models of pathogenesis, the molecular determinants associated with filovirus mouse adaptation are poorly understood. Our study demonstrates how genetic changes that accrued during mouse adaptation of the Ravn strain of Marburg virus have impacted the budding function of the viral VP40 matrix protein. Strikingly, we find impairment of mouse-adapted VP40 budding function in human but not mouse cell lines, and we correlate the impairment with an increased sensitivity of VP40 to restriction by human but not mouse tetherin and with changes in VP40 oligomerization. These data suggest that there are functional costs associated with filovirus adaptation to new hosts and implicate tetherin as a filovirus host restriction factor. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A map of human impacts to a ``pristine'' coral reef ecosystem, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selkoe, K. A.; Halpern, B. S.; Ebert, C. M.; Franklin, E. C.; Selig, E. R.; Casey, K. S.; Bruno, J.; Toonen, R. J.

2009-09-01

Effective and comprehensive regional-scale marine conservation requires fine-grained data on the spatial patterns of threats and their overlap. To address this need for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (Monument) in Hawaii, USA, spatial data on 14 recent anthropogenic threats specific to this region were gathered or created, including alien species, bottom fishing, lobster trap fishing, ship-based pollution, ship strike risks, marine debris, research diving, research equipment installation, research wildlife sacrifice, and several anthropogenic climate change threats i.e., increase in ultraviolet (UV) radiation, seawater acidification, the number of warm ocean temperature anomalies relevant to disease outbreaks and coral bleaching, and sea level rise. These data were combined with habitat maps and expert judgment on the vulnerability of different habitat types in the Monument to estimate spatial patterns of current cumulative impact at 1 ha (0.01 km2) resolution. Cumulative impact was greatest for shallow reef areas and peaked at Maro Reef, where 13 of the 14 threats overlapped in places. Ocean temperature variation associated with disease outbreaks was found to have the highest predicted impact overall, followed closely by other climate-related threats, none of which have easily tractable management solutions at the regional scale. High impact threats most tractable to regional management relate to ship traffic. Sensitivity analyses show that the results are robust to both data availability and quality. Managers can use these maps to (1) inform management and surveillance priorities based on the ranking of threats and their distributions, (2) guide permitting decisions based on cumulative impacts, and (3) choose areas to monitor for climate change effects. Furthermore, this regional analysis can serve as a case study for managers elsewhere interested in assessing and mapping region-specific cumulative human impacts.

Socio-Economic Vulnerability to Climate Change in California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heberger, M. G.; Cooley, H.; Moore, E.; Garzon, C.

2011-12-01

The western United States faces a range of impacts from global climate change, including increases in extreme heat, wildfires, and coastal flooding and erosion; changes are also likely to occur in air quality, water availability, and the spread of infectious diseases. To date, a great deal of research has been done to forecast the physical effects of climate change, while less attention has been given to the factors make different populations more or less vulnerable to harm from such changes. For example, mortality rates from Hurricane Audrey, which struck the coast of Louisiana in 1957, were more than eight times higher among blacks than among whites. While disaster events may not discriminate, impacts on human populations are shaped by "intervening conditions" that determine the human impact of the flood and the specific needs for preparedness, response, and recovery. In this study, we analyze the potential impacts of climate change by using recent downscaled climate model outputs, creating a variety of statistics and visualizations to communicate potential impacts to community groups and decision makers, after several meetings with these groups to ask, "What types of information are most useful to you for planning?" We relate climate impacts to social vulnerability - defined as the intersection of the exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of a person or group of people - with a focus on the U.S. state of California. Understanding vulnerability factors and the populations that exhibit these factors are critical for crafting effective climate change policies and response strategies. It is also important to the emerging study of climate justice, which is the concept that no group of people should disproportionately bear the burden of climate impacts or the costs of mitigation and adaptation.

A Multisensory Space to Teach and Learn Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García, B.; Maya, J.; Mancilla, A.; Pérez Älvarez, S.; Videla, M.; Yelós, D.; Cancio, A.; Broin, D.; Ferrada, R.

2013-09-01

The approach to the Astronomy, their concepts, their findings and the development of the sense of wonder before the comprehension of the natural world is a Human right. The education for inclusion appeals to a range of educational and scientific insights that bring the sky to a palpable and sensitive space by generating specific resources. This work presents the development and implementation of new resources and tools for dissemination of science in general and astronomy in particular, for people with disabilities. The impact in general audiences is also studie.

Actively Perceiving and Responsive Soft Robots Enabled by Self-Powered, Highly Extensible, and Highly Sensitive Triboelectric Proximity- and Pressure-Sensing Skins.

PubMed

Lai, Ying-Chih; Deng, Jianan; Liu, Ruiyuan; Hsiao, Yung-Chi; Zhang, Steven L; Peng, Wenbo; Wu, Hsing-Mei; Wang, Xingfu; Wang, Zhong Lin

2018-06-04

Robots that can move, feel, and respond like organisms will bring revolutionary impact to today's technologies. Soft robots with organism-like adaptive bodies have shown great potential in vast robot-human and robot-environment applications. Developing skin-like sensory devices allows them to naturally sense and interact with environment. Also, it would be better if the capabilities to feel can be active, like real skin. However, challenges in the complicated structures, incompatible moduli, poor stretchability and sensitivity, large driving voltage, and power dissipation hinder applicability of conventional technologies. Here, various actively perceivable and responsive soft robots are enabled by self-powered active triboelectric robotic skins (tribo-skins) that simultaneously possess excellent stretchability and excellent sensitivity in the low-pressure regime. The tribo-skins can actively sense proximity, contact, and pressure to external stimuli via self-generating electricity. The driving energy comes from a natural triboelectrification effect involving the cooperation of contact electrification and electrostatic induction. The perfect integration of the tribo-skins and soft actuators enables soft robots to perform various actively sensing and interactive tasks including actively perceiving their muscle motions, working states, textile's dampness, and even subtle human physiological signals. Moreover, the self-generating signals can drive optoelectronic devices for visual communication and be processed for diverse sophisticated uses. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Methylation-Sensitive Amplification Length Polymorphism (MS-AFLP) Microarrays for Epigenetic Analysis of Human Genomes.

PubMed

Alonso, Sergio; Suzuki, Koichi; Yamamoto, Fumiichiro; Perucho, Manuel

2018-01-01

Somatic, and in a minor scale also germ line, epigenetic aberrations are fundamental to carcinogenesis, cancer progression, and tumor phenotype. DNA methylation is the most extensively studied and arguably the best understood epigenetic mechanisms that become altered in cancer. Both somatic loss of methylation (hypomethylation) and gain of methylation (hypermethylation) are found in the genome of malignant cells. In general, the cancer cell epigenome is globally hypomethylated, while some regions-typically gene-associated CpG islands-become hypermethylated. Given the profound impact that DNA methylation exerts on the transcriptional profile and genomic stability of cancer cells, its characterization is essential to fully understand the complexity of cancer biology, improve tumor classification, and ultimately advance cancer patient management and treatment. A plethora of methods have been devised to analyze and quantify DNA methylation alterations. Several of the early-developed methods relied on the use of methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes, whose activity depends on the methylation status of their recognition sequences. Among these techniques, methylation-sensitive amplification length polymorphism (MS-AFLP) was developed in the early 2000s, and successfully adapted from its original gel electrophoresis fingerprinting format to a microarray format that notably increased its throughput and allowed the quantification of the methylation changes. This array-based platform interrogates over 9500 independent loci putatively amplified by the MS-AFLP technique, corresponding to the NotI sites mapped throughout the human genome.

Ocular input for human melatonin regulation: relevance to breast cancer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glickman, Gena; Levin, Robert; Brainard, George C.

2002-01-01

The impact of breast cancer on women across the world has been extensive and severe. As prevalence of breast cancer is greatest in industrialized regions, exposure to light at night has been proposed as a potential risk factor. This theory is supported by the epidemiological observations of decreased breast cancer in blind women and increased breast cancer in women who do shift-work. In addition, human, animal and in vitro studies which have investigated the melatonin-cancer dynamic indicate an apparent relationship between light, melatonin and cancer, albeit complex. Recent developments in understanding melatonin regulation by light in humans are examined, with particular attention to factors that contribute to the sensitivity of the light-induced melatonin suppression response. Specifically, the role of spectral characteristics of light is addressed, and recent relevant action spectrum studies in humans and other mammalian species are discussed. Across five action spectra for circadian and other non-visual responses, a peak sensitivity between 446-484 nm was identified. Under highly controlled exposure circumstances, less than 1 lux of monochromatic light elicited a significant suppression of nocturnal melatonin. In view of the possible link between light exposure, melatonin suppression and cancer risk, it is important to continue to identify the basic related ocular physiology. Visual performance, rather than circadian function, has been the primary focus of architectural lighting systems. It is now necessary to reevaluate lighting strategies, with consideration of circadian influences, in an effort to maximize physiological homeostasis and health.

Ocular input for human melatonin regulation: relevance to breast cancer.

PubMed

Glickman, Gena; Levin, Robert; Brainard, George C

2002-07-01

The impact of breast cancer on women across the world has been extensive and severe. As prevalence of breast cancer is greatest in industrialized regions, exposure to light at night has been proposed as a potential risk factor. This theory is supported by the epidemiological observations of decreased breast cancer in blind women and increased breast cancer in women who do shift-work. In addition, human, animal and in vitro studies which have investigated the melatonin-cancer dynamic indicate an apparent relationship between light, melatonin and cancer, albeit complex. Recent developments in understanding melatonin regulation by light in humans are examined, with particular attention to factors that contribute to the sensitivity of the light-induced melatonin suppression response. Specifically, the role of spectral characteristics of light is addressed, and recent relevant action spectrum studies in humans and other mammalian species are discussed. Across five action spectra for circadian and other non-visual responses, a peak sensitivity between 446-484 nm was identified. Under highly controlled exposure circumstances, less than 1 lux of monochromatic light elicited a significant suppression of nocturnal melatonin. In view of the possible link between light exposure, melatonin suppression and cancer risk, it is important to continue to identify the basic related ocular physiology. Visual performance, rather than circadian function, has been the primary focus of architectural lighting systems. It is now necessary to reevaluate lighting strategies, with consideration of circadian influences, in an effort to maximize physiological homeostasis and health.

Genetic thinking in the study of social relationships: Five points of entry

PubMed Central

Reiss, David

2014-01-01

For nearly a generation, researchers studying human behavioral development have combined genetically informed research designs with careful measures of social relationships: parenting, sibling relationships, peer relationships, marital processes, social class stratifications and patterns of social engagement in the elderly. In what way have these genetically informed studies altered the construction and testing of social theories of human development? We consider five points where genetic thinking is taking hold. First, genetic findings suggest an alternative scenario for explaining social data. Associations between measures of the social environment and human development may be due to genes that influence both. Second, genetic studies add to other prompts to study the early developmental origins of current social phenomena in mid-life and beyond. Third, genetic analyses promise to bring to the surface understudied social systems, such as sibling relationships, that have an impact on human development independent of genotype. Fourth, genetic analyses anchor in neurobiology individual differences in resilience and sensitivity to both adverse and favorable social environments. Finally, genetic analyses increase the utility of laboratory simulations of human social processes and of animal models. PMID:25419225

Sources and functions of extracellular small RNAs in human circulation

PubMed Central

Fritz, Joëlle V.; Heintz-Buschart, Anna; Ghosal, Anubrata; Wampach, Linda; Etheridge, Alton; Galas, David; Wilmes, Paul

2017-01-01

Various biotypes of endogenous small RNAs (sRNAs) have been detected in human circulation including microRNAs, tRNA, rRNA and yRNA fragments. These extracellular sRNAs (ex-sRNAs) are packaged and secreted by many different cell types. Ex-sRNAs exhibit differences in abundance in several disease contexts and have therefore been proposed as well-suited biomarkers. Furthermore, exosome-borne ex-sRNAs have been reported to elicit physiological responses in receiving cells. Albeit controversial, exogenous ex-sRNAs derived from plants and microorganisms have also been described in human blood. Essential questions which remain to be conclusively addressed in the field concern the (i) presence and mechanistic sources of exogenous ex-sRNA in human bodily fluids, (ii) detection and measurement of ex-sRNA in human circulation, (iii) selectivity of ex-sRNA export and import, (iv) sensitivity and specificity of ex-sRNA delivery to cellular targets, and (v) cell-, tissue-, organ- and organism-wide impacts of ex-sRNAs. We will survey the present state of knowledge of most of these questions in this review. PMID:27215587

Late Quaternary dynamics of a South African floodplain wetland and the implications for assessing recent human impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tooth, S.; Rodnight, H.; McCarthy, T. S.; Duller, G. A. T.; Grundling, A. T.

2009-05-01

Knowledge of the long-term geomorphological dynamics of wetlands is limited, so currently there is an inadequate scientific basis for assessing anthropogenically induced changes and for developing conservation, remediation, and/or sustainable management guidelines for these fragile ecosystems. Along the upper Klip River, eastern South Africa, geomorphological and sedimentological investigations, geochronology, and remote sensing have been used to establish the late Quaternary dynamics of some internationally important floodplain wetlands, thus providing a reference condition against which to assess the extent of recent human impacts. Optically stimulated luminescence dating reveals that the wetlands have developed over at least the last 30 ky as a result of slow meander migration (< 0.2 m y - 1 ), irregular cutoff events, and infrequent avulsions (approximately one every 3-6 ky) that have occurred autogenically as a natural part of meander-belt development. Following European settlement in the Klip valley (late nineteenth century), however, modifications to local flora and fauna, as well as the initiation of local wetland drainage schemes, have had major impacts. In particular, proliferation of exotic willows and associated debris jams, and the artificial excavation of a 1.2-km-long channel section across the wetlands have initiated an ongoing avulsion that is characterised by failure (gradual abandonment) of the main channel and rapid incision of a headcutting channel. Compared to the pre-settlement condition, little change in lateral migration activity has occurred, but this avulsion provides a clear example of anthropogenically accelerated change, occurring only ~ 1 ky after the last natural avulsion and in a part of the wetlands where avulsions have not occurred previously. Subsequent human interventions have included installing weirs in an attempt to control the resulting erosion and promote reflooding, but ongoing maintenance has been required. In areas that were not glaciated during the Quaternary, many other floodplain wetlands may be of similar antiquity, but the Klip River illustrates their sensitivity to direct and indirect human impacts.

The impact of systemic cortical alterations on perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zheng

2011-12-01

Perception is the process of transmitting and interpreting sensory information, and the primary somatosensory (SI) area in the human cortex is the main sensory receptive area for the sensation of touch. The elaborate neuroanatomical connectivity that subserves the neuronal communication between adjacent and near-adjacent regions within sensory cortex has been widely recognized to be essential to normal sensory function. As a result, systemic cortical alterations that impact the cortical regional interaction, as associated with many neurological disorders, are expected to have significant impact on sensory perception. Recently, our research group has developed a novel sensory diagnostic system that employs quantitative sensory testing methods and is able to non-invasively assess central nervous system healthy status. The intent of this study is to utilize quantitative sensory testing methods that were designed to generate discriminable perception to objectively and quantitatively assess the impacts of different conditions on human sensory information processing capacity. The correlation between human perceptions with observations from animal research enables a better understanding of the underlying neurophysiology of human perception. Additional findings on different subject populations provide valuable insight of the underlying mechanisms for the development and maintenance of different neurological diseases. During the course of the study, several protocols were designed and utilized. And this set of sensory-based perceptual metrics was employed to study the effects of different conditions (non-noxious thermal stimulation, chronic pain stage, and normal aging) on sensory perception. It was found that these conditions result in significant deviations of the subjects' tactile information processing capacities from normal values. Although the observed shift of sensory detection sensitivity could be a result of enhanced peripheral activity, the changes in the effects of adaptation most likely reflect changes in central nervous system. The findings in this work provide valuable information for better understanding the underlying mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of different neurological conditions.

Human impacts quantification on the coastal landforms of Gran Canaria Island (Canary Islands)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrer-Valero, Nicolás; Hernández-Calvento, Luis; Hernández-Cordero, Antonio I.

2017-06-01

The coastal areas of the Canary Islands are particularly sensitive to changes, both from a natural perspective and for their potential socio-economic implications. In this paper, the state of conservation of an insular coast is approached from a geomorphological point of view, considering recent changes induced by urban and tourism development. The analysis is applied to the coast of Gran Canaria, a small Atlantic island of volcanic origin, subject to a high degree of human pressure on its coastal areas, especially in recent decades. Currently, much of the economic activity of Gran Canaria is linked to mass tourism, associated with climatic and geomorphological features of the coast. This work is addressed through detailed mapping of coastal landforms across the island (256 km perimeter), corresponding to the period before the urban and tourism development (late 19th century for the island's capital, mid-20th century for the rest of the island) and today. The comparison between the coastal geomorphology before and after the urban and tourism development was established through four categories of human impacts, related to their conservation state: unaltered, altered, semi-destroyed and extinct. The results indicate that 43% of coastal landforms have been affected by human impacts, while 57% remain unaltered. The most affected are sedimentary landforms, namely coastal dunes, palaeo-dunes, beaches and wetlands. Geodiversity loss was also evaluated by applying two diversity indices. The coastal geodiversity loss by total or partial destruction of landforms is estimated at - 15.2%, according to Shannon index (H‧), while it increases to - 32.1% according to an index proposed in this paper. We conclude that the transformations of the coast of Gran Canaria induced by urban and tourism development have heavily affected the most singular coastal landforms (dunes, palaeo-dunes and wetlands), reducing significantly its geodiversity.

Impact of and correction for instrument sensitivity drift on nanoparticle size measurements by single-particle ICP-MS

PubMed Central

El Hadri, Hind; Petersen, Elijah J.; Winchester, Michael R.

2016-01-01

The effect of ICP-MS instrument sensitivity drift on the accuracy of NP size measurements using single particle (sp)ICP-MS is investigated. Theoretical modeling and experimental measurements of the impact of instrument sensitivity drift are in agreement and indicate that drift can impact the measured size of spherical NPs by up to 25 %. Given this substantial bias in the measured size, a method was developed using an internal standard to correct for the impact of drift and was shown to accurately correct for a decrease in instrument sensitivity of up to 50 % for 30 nm and 60 nm gold nanoparticles. PMID:26894759

Six Degree-of-Freedom Measurements of Human Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

PubMed

Hernandez, Fidel; Wu, Lyndia C; Yip, Michael C; Laksari, Kaveh; Hoffman, Andrew R; Lopez, Jaime R; Grant, Gerald A; Kleiven, Svein; Camarillo, David B

2015-08-01

This preliminary study investigated whether direct measurement of head rotation improves prediction of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Although many studies have implicated rotation as a primary cause of mTBI, regulatory safety standards use 3 degree-of-freedom (3DOF) translation-only kinematic criteria to predict injury. Direct 6DOF measurements of human head rotation (3DOF) and translation (3DOF) have not been previously available to examine whether additional DOFs improve injury prediction. We measured head impacts in American football, boxing, and mixed martial arts using 6DOF instrumented mouthguards, and predicted clinician-diagnosed injury using 12 existing kinematic criteria and 6 existing brain finite element (FE) criteria. Among 513 measured impacts were the first two 6DOF measurements of clinically diagnosed mTBI. For this dataset, 6DOF criteria were the most predictive of injury, more than 3DOF translation-only and 3DOF rotation-only criteria. Peak principal strain in the corpus callosum, a 6DOF FE criteria, was the strongest predictor, followed by two criteria that included rotation measurements, peak rotational acceleration magnitude and Head Impact Power (HIP). These results suggest head rotation measurements may improve injury prediction. However, more 6DOF data is needed to confirm this evaluation of existing injury criteria, and to develop new criteria that considers directional sensitivity to injury.

Incorporating Human Interindividual Biotransformation ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The protection of sensitive individuals within a population dictates that measures other than central tendencies be employed to estimate risk. The refinement of human health risk assessments for chemicals metabolized by the liver to reflect data on human variability can be accomplished through (1) the characterization of enzyme expression in large banks of human liver samples, (2) the employment of appropriate techniques for the quantification and extrapolation of metabolic rates derived in vitro, and (3) the judicious application of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. While in vitro measurements of specific biochemical reactions from multiple human samples can yield qualitatively valuable data on human variance, such measures must be put into the perspective of the intact human to yield the most valuable predictions of metabolic differences among humans. For quantitative metabolism data to be the most valuable in risk assessment, they must be tied to human anatomy and physiology, and the impact of their variance evaluated under real exposure scenarios. For chemicals metabolized in the liver, the concentration of parent chemical in the liver represents the substrate concentration in the MichaelisMenten description of metabolism. Metabolic constants derived in vitro may be extrapolated to the intact liver, when appropriate conditions are met. Metabolic capacity Vmax; the maximal rate of the reaction) can be scaled directly to the concentration

Assessing influences on social vulnerability to wildfire using surveys, spatial data and wildfire simulations.

PubMed

Paveglio, Travis B; Edgeley, Catrin M; Stasiewicz, Amanda M

2018-05-01

A growing body of research focuses on identifying patterns among human populations most at risk from hazards such as wildfire and the factors that help explain performance of mitigations that can help reduce that risk. Emerging policy surrounding wildfire management emphasizes the need to better understand such social vulnerability-or human populations' potential exposure to and sensitivity from wildfire-related impacts, including their ability to reduce negative impacts from the hazard. Studies of social vulnerability to wildfire often pair secondary demographic data with a variety of vegetation and wildfire simulation models to map potential risk. However, many of the assumptions made by those researchers about the demographic, spatial or perceptual factors that influence social vulnerability to wildfire have not been fully evaluated or tested against objective measures of potential wildfire risk. The research presented here utilizes self-reported surveys, GIS data, and wildfire simulations to test the relationships between select perceptual, demographic, and property characteristics of property owners against empirically simulated metrics for potential wildfire related damages or exposure. We also evaluate how those characteristics relate to property owners' performance of mitigations or support for fire management. Our results suggest that parcel characteristics provide the most significant explanation of variability in wildfire exposure, sensitivity and overall wildfire risk, while the positive relationship between income or property values and components of social vulnerability stands in contrast to typical assumptions from existing literature. Respondents' views about agency or government management helped explain a significant amount of variance in wildfire sensitivity, while the importance of wildfire risk in selecting a residence was an important influence on mitigation action. We use these and other results from our effort to discuss updated considerations for determining social vulnerability to wildfire and articulate alternative means to collect such information. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Zoonotic infections in Alaska: disease prevalence, potential impact of climate change and recommended actions for earlier disease detection, research, prevention and control.

PubMed

Hueffer, Karsten; Parkinson, Alan J; Gerlach, Robert; Berner, James

2013-01-01

Over the last 60 years, Alaska's mean annual temperature has increased by 1.6°C, more than twice the rate of the rest of the United States. As a result, climate change impacts are more pronounced here than in other regions of the United States. Warmer temperatures may allow some infected host animals to survive winters in larger numbers, increase their population and expand their range of habitation thus increasing the opportunity for transmission of infection to humans. Subsistence hunting and gathering activities may place rural residents of Alaska at a greater risk of acquiring zoonotic infections than urban residents. Known zoonotic diseases that occur in Alaska include brucellosis, toxoplasmosis, trichinellosis, giardiasis/cryptosporidiosis, echinococcosis, rabies and tularemia. Actions for early disease detection, research and prevention and control include: (1) determining baseline levels of infection and disease in both humans and host animals; (2) conducting more research to understand the ecology of infection in the Arctic environment; (3) improving active and passive surveillance systems for infection and disease in humans and animals; (4) improving outreach, education and communication on climate-sensitive infectious diseases at the community, health and animal care provider levels; and (5) improving coordination between public health and animal health agencies, universities and tribal health organisations.

Potential Health Impact of Environmentally Released Micro- and Nanoplastics in the Human Food Production Chain: Experiences from Nanotoxicology.

PubMed

Bouwmeester, Hans; Hollman, Peter C H; Peters, Ruud J B

2015-08-04

High concentrations of plastic debris have been observed in the oceans. Much of the recent concern has focused on microplastics in the marine environment. Recent studies of the size distribution of the plastic debris suggested that continued fragmenting of microplastics into nanosized particles may occur. In this review we assess the current literature on the occurrence of environmentally released micro- and nanoplastics in the human food production chain and their potential health impact. The currently used analytical techniques introduce a great bias in the knowledge, since they are only able to detect plastic particles well above the nanorange. We discuss the potential use of the very sensitive analytical techniques that have been developed for the detection and quantification of engineered nanoparticles. We recognize three possible toxic effects of plastic particles: first due to the plastic particles themselves, second to the release of persistent organic pollutant adsorbed to the plastics, and third to the leaching of additives of the plastics. The limited data on microplastics in foods do not predict adverse effect of these pollutants or additives. Potential toxic effects of microplastic particles will be confined to the gut. The potential human toxicity of nanoplastics is poorly studied. Based on our experiences in nanotoxicology we prioritized future research questions.

Systemic Inflammation after Third Molar Removal: A Case-Control Study.

PubMed

Graziani, F; D'Aiuto, F; Gennai, S; Petrini, M; Nisi, M; Cirigliano, N; Landini, L; Bruno, R M; Taddei, S; Ghiadoni, L

2017-12-01

Third molar extraction is one of the most frequent interventions in dentistry. Nevertheless, there is scarce evidence on the host response of individuals with impacted or semi-impacted third molars and the possible effects of surgical removal. A case-control study of 40 patients was designed to evaluate 1) the differences in biomarkers of systemic inflammation, vascular function, and metabolism (high-sensitive C-reactive protein, lipids, fibrinogen, oxidative stress, and endothelial function analysis) and 2) the acute and short-term effects of surgical removal in patients with bilateral impacted or semi-impacted third molars compared to controls with no third molars. Patients undergoing third molar extraction exhibited greater levels of systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and triglycerides than controls. Raised white blood cell counts as well as peaks of serum levels of C-reactive protein and fibrinogen were noticed in the first postoperative week. Three months after the extraction, all markers returned to baseline values. Malondialdehyde, an indicator of oxidative stress indicator, was significantly reduced after third molar removal. Semi-impacted or impacted third molars are associated with higher systemic inflammation, and their removal may represent a useful human model to study acute inflammation and determine beneficial systemic effects ( ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03048175).

In vitro evaluation of BacT/Alert FA blood culture bottles and T2Candida assay for the detection of Candida in the presence of antifungals.

PubMed

Beyda, Nicholas D; Amadio, Jonathan; Rodriguez, Jose R; Malinowski, Karen; Garey, Kevin W; Wanger, Audrey; Ostrosky-Zeichner, Luis

2018-06-13

The T2Candida assay is a novel, non-culture based assay for the diagnosis of candidemia directly from whole blood. The impact of antifungals on the performance of the T2Candida assay and blood culture bottles have not been well described. In this study, the performance of the T2Candida assay was compared to that of blood culture in detecting Candida spp. in spiked blood cultures with or without the presence of antifungals. Clinical bloodstream isolates of Candida spp. were inoculated into human whole blood at low (1 - 5 cells/mL) and high (10-50 cells/mL) concentrations with or without presence of caspofungin and fluconazole. Time to detection (TTD) was assessed for prepared samples using BacTAlert FA aerobic blood culture bottles or the T2Candida assay. In the absence of antifungals, T2Candida assay sensitivity was comparable to that of blood culture at both the low and high inoculum (95% vs. 97.5% and 100% vs. 100%, respectively) and had an average TTD that was significantly faster (5.1 hrs vs 27.2 - 30 hrs, respectively). Neither caspofungin nor fluconazole was observed to impact the sensitivity or TTD of the T2Candida assay, while fluconazole reduced overall blood culture sensitivity by 7.5% - 12.5% (at low and high inoculum, respectively) and significantly prolonged the TTD of C. albicans, C. tropicalis , and C. parapsilosis by 14.8 - 67 hrs. Neither caspofungin nor fluconazole impacted the performance of the T2Candida assay in-vitro and may be useful for the diagnosis of candidemia in patients receiving antifungal therapy. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

Quantum cascade laser-based sensor system for nitric oxide detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tittel, Frank K.; Allred, James J.; Cao, Yingchun; Sanchez, Nancy P.; Ren, Wei; Jiang, Wenzhe; Jiang, Dongfang; Griffin, Robert J.

2015-01-01

Sensitive detection of nitric oxide (NO) at ppbv concentration levels has an important impact in diverse fields of applications including environmental monitoring, industrial process control and medical diagnostics. For example, NO can be used as a biomarker of asthma and inflammatory lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Trace gas sensor systems capable of high sensitivity require the targeting of strong rotational-vibrational bands in the mid-IR spectral range. These bands are accessible using state-of-the-art high heat load (HHL) packaged, continuous wave (CW), distributed feedback (DFB) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs). Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) permits the design of fast, sensitive, selective, and compact sensor systems. A QEPAS sensor was developed employing a room-temperature CW DFB-QCL emitting at 5.26 μm with an optical excitation power of 60 mW. High sensitivity is achieved by targeting a NO absorption line at 1900.08 cm-1 free of interference by H2O and CO2. The minimum detection limit of the sensor is 7.5 and 1 ppbv of NO with 1and 100 second averaging time respectively . The sensitivity of the sensor system is sufficient for detecting NO in exhaled human breath, with typical concentration levels ranging from 24.0 ppbv to 54.0 ppbv.

A flexible piezoelectric force sensor based on PVDF fabrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y. R.; Zheng, J. M.; Ren, G. Y.; Zhang, P. H.; Xu, C.

2011-04-01

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film has been widely investigated as a sensor and transducer material due to its high piezo-, pyro- and ferroelectric properties. To activate these properties, PVDF films require a mechanical treatment, stretching or poling. In this paper, we report on a force sensor based on PVDF fabrics with excellent flexibility and breathability, to be used as a specific human-related sensor. PVDF nanofibrous fabrics were prepared by using an electrospinning unit and characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FTIR spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. Preliminary force sensors have been fabricated and demonstrated excellent sensitivity and response to external mechanical forces. This implies that promising applications can be made for sensing garment pressure, blood pressure, heartbeat rate, respiration rate and accidental impact on the human body.

Glacier mass balance and its potential impacts in the Altai Mountains over the period 1990-2011

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yong; Enomoto, Hiroyuki; Ohata, Tetsuo; Kitabata, Hideyuki; Kadota, Tsutomu; Hirabayashi, Yukiko

2017-10-01

The Altai Mountains contain 1281 glaciers covering an area of 1191 km2. These glaciers have undergone significant changes in glacial length and area over the past decade. However, mass changes of these glaciers and their impacts remain poorly understood. Here we present surface mass balances of all glaciers in the region for the period 1990-2011, using a glacier mass-balance model forced by the outputs of a regional climate model. Our results indicate that the mean specific mass balance for the whole region is about -0.69 m w.e. yr-1 over the entire period, and about 81.3% of these glaciers experience negative net mass balance. We detect an accelerated wastage of these glaciers in recent years, and marked differences in mass change and its sensitivity to climate change for different regions and size classes. In particular, higher mass loss and temperature sensitivity are observed for glaciers smaller than 0.5 km2. In addition to temperature rise, a decrease in precipitation in the western part of the region and an increase in precipitation in the eastern part likely contribute to significant sub-region differences in mass loss. With significant glacier wastage, the contribution of all glaciers to regional water resources and sea-level change becomes larger than before, but may not be a potential threat to human populations through impacts on water availability.

A genomic biomarker signature can predict skin sensitizers using a cell-based in vitro alternative to animal tests

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Allergic contact dermatitis is an inflammatory skin disease that affects a significant proportion of the population. This disease is caused by an adverse immune response towards chemical haptens, and leads to a substantial economic burden for society. Current test of sensitizing chemicals rely on animal experimentation. New legislations on the registration and use of chemicals within pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries have stimulated significant research efforts to develop alternative, human cell-based assays for the prediction of sensitization. The aim is to replace animal experiments with in vitro tests displaying a higher predictive power. Results We have developed a novel cell-based assay for the prediction of sensitizing chemicals. By analyzing the transcriptome of the human cell line MUTZ-3 after 24 h stimulation, using 20 different sensitizing chemicals, 20 non-sensitizing chemicals and vehicle controls, we have identified a biomarker signature of 200 genes with potent discriminatory ability. Using a Support Vector Machine for supervised classification, the prediction performance of the assay revealed an area under the ROC curve of 0.98. In addition, categorizing the chemicals according to the LLNA assay, this gene signature could also predict sensitizing potency. The identified markers are involved in biological pathways with immunological relevant functions, which can shed light on the process of human sensitization. Conclusions A gene signature predicting sensitization, using a human cell line in vitro, has been identified. This simple and robust cell-based assay has the potential to completely replace or drastically reduce the utilization of test systems based on experimental animals. Being based on human biology, the assay is proposed to be more accurate for predicting sensitization in humans, than the traditional animal-based tests. PMID:21824406

Multivariate Models for Prediction of Human Skin Sensitization Hazard

PubMed Central

Strickland, Judy; Zang, Qingda; Paris, Michael; Lehmann, David M.; Allen, David; Choksi, Neepa; Matheson, Joanna; Jacobs, Abigail; Casey, Warren; Kleinstreuer, Nicole

2016-01-01

One of ICCVAM’s top priorities is the development and evaluation of non-animal approaches to identify potential skin sensitizers. The complexity of biological events necessary to produce skin sensitization suggests that no single alternative method will replace the currently accepted animal tests. ICCVAM is evaluating an integrated approach to testing and assessment based on the adverse outcome pathway for skin sensitization that uses machine learning approaches to predict human skin sensitization hazard. We combined data from three in chemico or in vitro assays—the direct peptide reactivity assay (DPRA), human cell line activation test (h-CLAT), and KeratinoSens™ assay—six physicochemical properties, and an in silico read-across prediction of skin sensitization hazard into 12 variable groups. The variable groups were evaluated using two machine learning approaches, logistic regression (LR) and support vector machine (SVM), to predict human skin sensitization hazard. Models were trained on 72 substances and tested on an external set of 24 substances. The six models (three LR and three SVM) with the highest accuracy (92%) used: (1) DPRA, h-CLAT, and read-across; (2) DPRA, h-CLAT, read-across, and KeratinoSens; or (3) DPRA, h-CLAT, read-across, KeratinoSens, and log P. The models performed better at predicting human skin sensitization hazard than the murine local lymph node assay (accuracy = 88%), any of the alternative methods alone (accuracy = 63–79%), or test batteries combining data from the individual methods (accuracy = 75%). These results suggest that computational methods are promising tools to effectively identify potential human skin sensitizers without animal testing. PMID:27480324

The role of human rhinovirus (HRV) species on asthma exacerbation severity in children and adolescents.

PubMed

Lambert, Katrina A; Prendergast, Luke A; Dharmage, Shyamali C; Tang, Mimi; O'Sullivan, Molly; Tran, Thomas; Druce, Julian; Bardin, Philip; Abramson, Michael J; Erbas, Bircan

2017-10-11

It is recognized that human rhinovirus (HRV) infection is an important factor in asthma exacerbations requiring hospitalization in children. However, previous studies have disagreed on the differential impact of various HRV species. We sought to assess the impact of HRV species on the severity of asthma exacerbations in children and adolescents. We also examined whether the effect of HRV species on severity was modified by age and gender. Virus strain was determined for 113 children with HRV detectable at the time of admission for asthma exacerbation. Patient characteristics were collected on admission and exacerbation severity was scored using several validated scales. HRV species by itself was not associated with moderate/severe vs. mild exacerbations. Boys with HRV-C infections were more likely (OR: 3.7, 95% CI: 1.2-13.4) to have a moderate/severe exacerbation than girls with HRV-C (p = 0.04 for interaction term). Higher odds were observed in younger boys (3 years old: OR: 9.1, 95% CI: 1.8-47.1 vs 5 years old: OR: 3.3, 95% CI: 0.9-11.8 vs 7 years old: OR: 1.2, 95% CI: 0.2-6.6). In contrast, children with HRV-C infection and sensitized to pollen during the pollen season were less likely to have moderate/severe exacerbations (p = 0.01 for the interaction term). Acute asthma exacerbations are more likely to be moderate/severe in boys under 5 years of age who had HRV-C infection on admission. The opposite was found in children with sensitization to pollen during pollen season.

Sensitization to human milk.

PubMed

Schulmeister, U; Swoboda, I; Quirce, S; de la Hoz, B; Ollert, M; Pauli, G; Valenta, R; Spitzauer, S

2008-01-01

Allergy to milk is one of the earliest manifestations of IgE-mediated allergies and affects about 2.5% of newborn children. Several reports indicate that milk-allergic patients may be sensitized also to human milk proteins. To analyse the specificity and possible biological relevance of IgE reactivity to human milk antigens in milk-allergic patients. The specificity of IgE reactivity to cow's milk and human milk antigens was analysed with sera from milk-allergic children and adults by IgE immunoblotting. IgE cross-reactivity between milk antigens was studied by immunoblot inhibition experiments. That IgE reactivity to human milk antigens is not due to alloreactivity or due to the transmission of foreign antigens into mother's milk was demonstrated through the analysis of milk samples from genetically unrelated mothers before and after intake of dietary milk products. The biological relevance of IgE reactivity to human milk was confirmed by skin testing. Results IgE antibodies to human milk were found in more than 80% of the tested milk-allergic patients. Cross-reactive IgE-reactive human antigens such as alpha-lactalbumin and non-cross-reactive human milk antigens were identified. Immediate-type skin reactions could be elicited with human milk samples in patients with IgE reactivity to human milk. IgE reactivity to human milk in milk-allergic patients can be due to cross- sensitization and genuine sensitization to human milk and may cause allergic symptoms. IgE-mediated sensitization to human milk is common in milk-allergic patients and may require diagnostic testing and monitoring.

Sensing parasites: Proteomic and advanced bio-detection alternatives.

PubMed

Sánchez-Ovejero, Carlos; Benito-Lopez, Fernando; Díez, Paula; Casulli, Adriano; Siles-Lucas, Mar; Fuentes, Manuel; Manzano-Román, Raúl

2016-03-16

Parasitic diseases have a great impact in human and animal health. The gold standard for the diagnosis of the majority of parasitic infections is still conventional microscopy, which presents important limitations in terms of sensitivity and specificity and commonly requires highly trained technicians. More accurate molecular-based diagnostic tools are needed for the implementation of early detection, effective treatments and massive screenings with high-throughput capacities. In this respect, sensitive and affordable devices could greatly impact on sustainable control programmes which exist against parasitic diseases, especially in low income settings. Proteomics and nanotechnology approaches are valuable tools for sensing pathogens and host alteration signatures within microfluidic detection platforms. These new devices might provide novel solutions to fight parasitic diseases. Newly described specific parasite derived products with immune-modulatory properties have been postulated as the best candidates for the early and accurate detection of parasitic infections as well as for the blockage of parasite development. This review provides the most recent methodological and technological advances with great potential for bio-sensing parasites in their hosts, showing the newest opportunities offered by modern "-omics" and platforms for parasite detection and control. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessing the transfer of risk due to transportation of agricultural products.

PubMed

Li, Pei-Chiun; Shih, Hsiu-Ching; Ma, Hwong-Wen

2015-02-01

Health risk assessment (HRA) is the process used to estimate adverse health effects on humans. The importance and sensitivity of food chains to HRA have been observed, but the impact of the transportation of food has generally been ignored. This study developed an exposure assessment to demonstrate the significance of the transportation of agricultural products in HRA. The associated case study estimated the health risks derived from various sources of arsenic emissions in Taiwan. Two assessment scenarios, self-sufficiency and transportation of agricultural products, were compared to calculate risk transfer ratios that show the impact of agriculture transportation. The risk transfer ratios found by the study range from 0.22 to 42.10, indicating that the quantity of transportation of agricultural products is the critical factor. High air deposition and high agricultural production are the two main contributors to the effect of the transportation of agricultural products on HRA. Risk reduction measures could be applied to high-pollution areas as well as to areas with high agricultural productivity to reduce ingestion risks to residents. Certain areas that are sensitive to the transportation of agricultural products may incur more risks if emissions increase in agriculturally productive counties. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hotspot Mutations in KIT Receptor Differentially Modulate Its Allosterically Coupled Conformational Dynamics: Impact on Activation and Drug Sensitivity

PubMed Central

Chauvot de Beauchêne, Isaure; Allain, Ariane; Panel, Nicolas; Laine, Elodie; Trouvé, Alain; Dubreuil, Patrice; Tchertanov, Luba

2014-01-01

Receptor tyrosine kinase KIT controls many signal transduction pathways and represents a typical allosterically regulated protein. The mutation-induced deregulation of KIT activity impairs cellular physiological functions and causes serious human diseases. The impact of hotspots mutations (D816H/Y/N/V and V560G/D) localized in crucial regulatory segments, the juxtamembrane region (JMR) and the activation (A-) loop, on KIT internal dynamics was systematically studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The mutational outcomes predicted in silico were correlated with in vitro and in vivo activation rates and drug sensitivities of KIT mutants. The allosteric regulation of KIT in the native and mutated forms is described in terms of communication between the two remote segments, JMR and A-loop. A strong correlation between the communication profile and the structural and dynamical features of KIT in the native and mutated forms was established. Our results provide new insight on the determinants of receptor KIT constitutive activation by mutations and resistance of KIT mutants to inhibitors. Depiction of an intra-molecular component of the communication network constitutes a first step towards an integrated description of vast communication pathways established by KIT in physiopathological contexts. PMID:25079768

Budget Impact Analysis of Biosimilar Trastuzumab for the Treatment of Breast Cancer in Croatia.

PubMed

Cesarec, August; Likić, Robert

2017-04-01

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and has considerable impact on healthcare budgets and patients' quality of life. Trastuzumab (Herceptin ® ) is a monoclonal antibody directed against the human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) for the treatment of breast cancer. Several trastuzumab biosimilars are currently in development. In 2015, trastuzumab was the drug with the highest financial consumption among all drugs in Croatia. This model estimates the 1-year budget impact of the introduction of biosimilar trastuzumab in Croatia. A budget impact model, based on approvals for trastuzumab treatment in 2015, was developed for the introduction of biosimilars. Two biosimilar scenarios were developed: biosimilar scenario 1, based on all approvals in 2015, and biosimilar scenario 2, based on approvals after February 2015 and the reimbursement of the subcutaneous formulation of trastuzumab in Croatia. Only trastuzumab-naïve patients and drug-acquisition costs were used in the model. Uptake of biosimilar was assumed at 50 %. Scenarios were calculated with price discounts of 15, 25 and 35 %. The robustness of the model was tested by extensive sensitivity analyses. The projected drug cost savings from the introduction of biosimilar trastuzumab range from €0.26 million (scenario 2, 15 % price discount) to €0.69 million (scenario 1, 35 % price discount). If budget savings were reinvested to treat additional patients with trastuzumab, 14 (scenario 2, 15 % price discount) to 47 (scenario 1, 35 % price discount) additional patients could be treated. Sensitivity analyses showed that the incidence of breast cancer had the highest impact on the model, with a 10 % decrease in incidence leading to an 11.3 % decrease in projected savings. The introduction of biosimilar trastuzumab could lead to significant drug cost savings in Croatia.

Development of microcomputer-based mental acuity tests.

PubMed

Turnage, J J; Kennedy, R S; Smith, M G; Baltzley, D R; Lane, N E

1992-10-01

Recent disasters have focused attention on performance problems due to the use of alcohol and controlled substances in the workplace. Environmental stressors such as thermal extremes, mixed gases, noise, motion, and vibration also have adverse effects on human performance and operator efficiency. However, the lack of a standardized, sensitive, human performance assessment battery has probably delayed the systematic study of the deleterious effects of various toxic chemicals and drugs at home and in the workplace. The collective goal of the research reported here is the development of a menu of tests embedded in a coherent package of hardware and software that may be useful in repeated-measures studies of a broad range of agents that can degrade human performance. A menu of 40 tests from the Automated Performance Test System (APTS) is described, and the series of interlocking studies supporting its development is reviewed. The APTS tests, which run on several versions of laptop portables and desktop personal computers, have been shown to be stable, reliable, and factorially rich, and to have predictive validities with holistic measures of intelligence and simulator performances. In addition, sensitivity studies have been conducted in which performance changes due to stressors, agents, and treatments were demonstrated. We believe that tests like those described here have prospective use as an adjunct to urine testing for the screening for performance loss of individuals who are granted access to workplaces and stations that impact public safety.

Development of microcomputer-based mental acuity tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turnage, J. J.; Kennedy, R. S.; Smith, M. G.; Baltzley, D. R.; Lane, N. E.

1992-01-01

Recent disasters have focused attention on performance problems due to the use of alcohol and controlled substances in the workplace. Environmental stressors such as thermal extremes, mixed gases, noise, motion, and vibration also have adverse effects on human performance and operator efficiency. However, the lack of a standardized, sensitive, human performance assessment battery has probably delayed the systematic study of the deleterious effects of various toxic chemicals and drugs at home and in the workplace. The collective goal of the research reported here is the development of a menu of tests embedded in a coherent package of hardware and software that may be useful in repeated-measures studies of a broad range of agents that can degrade human performance. A menu of 40 tests from the Automated Performance Test System (APTS) is described, and the series of interlocking studies supporting its development is reviewed. The APTS tests, which run on several versions of laptop portables and desktop personal computers, have been shown to be stable, reliable, and factorially rich, and to have predictive validities with holistic measures of intelligence and simulator performances. In addition, sensitivity studies have been conducted in which performance changes due to stressors, agents, and treatments were demonstrated. We believe that tests like those described here have prospective use as an adjunct to urine testing for the screening for performance loss of individuals who are granted access to workplaces and stations that impact public safety.

Xenotransplantation as a model for human testicular development.

PubMed

Hutka, Marsida; Smith, Lee B; Mitchell, Rod T

The developing male reproductive system may be sensitive to disruption by a wide range of exogenous 'endocrine disruptors'. In-utero exposure to environmental chemicals and pharmaceuticals have been hypothesized to have an impact in the increasing incidence of male reproductive disorders. The vulnerability to adverse effects as a consequence of such exposures is elevated during a specific 'window of susceptibility' in fetal life referred to as the masculinisation programing window (MPW). Exposures that occur during prepuberty, such as chemotherapy treatment for cancer during childhood, may also affect future fertility. Much of our current knowledge about fetal and early postnatal human testicular development derives from studies conducted in animal models predictive for humans. Therefore, over recent years, testicular transplantation has been employed as a 'direct' approach to understand the development of human fetal and prepubertal testis in health and disease. In this review we describe the potential use of human testis xenotransplantation to study testicular development and its application for (i) assessing the effects of environmental exposures in humans, and (ii) establishing fertility preservation options for prepubertal boys with cancer. Copyright © 2017 International Society of Differentiation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Simple Exploration of Complexity at the Climate-Weather-Social-Conflict Nexus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, M.

2017-12-01

The conceptualization, exploration, and prediction of interplay between climate, weather, important resources, and social and economic - so political - human behavior is cast, and analyzed, in terms familiar from statistical physics and nonlinear dynamics. A simple threshold toy model is presented which emulates human tendencies to either actively engage in responses deriving, in part, from environmental circumstances or to maintain some semblance of status quo, formulated based on efforts drawn from the sociophysics literature - more specifically vis a vis a model akin to spin glass depictions of human behavior - with threshold/switching of individual and collective dynamics influenced by relatively more detailed weather and land surface model (hydrological) analyses via a land data assimilation system (a custom rendition of the NASA GSFC Land Information System). Parameters relevant to human systems' - e.g., individual and collective switching - sensitivity to hydroclimatology are explored towards investigation of overall system behavior; i.e., fixed points/equilibria, oscillations, and bifurcations of systems composed of human interactions and responses to climate and weather through, e.g., agriculture. We discuss implications in terms of conceivable impacts of climate change and associated natural disasters on socioeconomics, politics, and power transfer, drawing from relatively recent literature concerning human conflict.

People, pollution and pathogens - Global change impacts in mountain freshwater ecosystems.

PubMed

Schmeller, Dirk S; Loyau, Adeline; Bao, Kunshan; Brack, Werner; Chatzinotas, Antonis; De Vleeschouwer, Francois; Friesen, Jan; Gandois, Laure; Hansson, Sophia V; Haver, Marilen; Le Roux, Gaël; Shen, Ji; Teisserenc, Roman; Vredenburg, Vance T

2018-05-01

Mountain catchments provide for the livelihood of more than half of humankind, and have become a key destination for tourist and recreation activities globally. Mountain ecosystems are generally considered to be less complex and less species diverse due to the harsh environmental conditions. As such, they are also more sensitive to the various impacts of the Anthropocene. For this reason, mountain regions may serve as sentinels of change and provide ideal ecosystems for studying climate and global change impacts on biodiversity. We here review different facets of anthropogenic impacts on mountain freshwater ecosystems. We put particular focus on micropollutants and their distribution and redistribution due to hydrological extremes, their direct influence on water quality and their indirect influence on ecosystem health via changes of freshwater species and their interactions. We show that those changes may drive pathogen establishment in new environments with harmful consequences for freshwater species, but also for the human population. Based on the reviewed literature, we recommend reconstructing the recent past of anthropogenic impact through sediment analyses, to focus efforts on small, but highly productive waterbodies, and to collect data on the occurrence and variability of microorganisms, biofilms, plankton species and key species, such as amphibians due to their bioindicator value for ecosystem health and water quality. The newly gained knowledge can then be used to develop a comprehensive framework of indicators to robustly inform policy and decision making on current and future risks for ecosystem health and human well-being. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Brucellosis in low-income and middle-income countries

PubMed Central

Rubach, Matthew P.; Halliday, Jo E.B.; Cleaveland, Sarah; Crump, John A.

2014-01-01

Purpose of review Human brucellosis is a neglected, underrecognized infection of widespread geographic distribution. It causes acute febrile illness and a potentially debilitating chronic infection in humans, and livestock infection has substantial socioeconomic impact. This review describes new information regarding the epidemiology of brucellosis in the developing world and advances in diagnosis and treatment. Recent findings The highest recorded incidence of human brucellosis occurs in the Middle East and Central Asia. Fever etiology studies demonstrate brucellosis as a cause of undifferentiated febrile illness in the developing world. Brucellosis is a rare cause of fever among returning travelers, but is more common among travelers returning from the Middle East and North Africa. Sensitive and specific rapid diagnostic tests appropriate for resource-limited settings have been validated. Randomized controlled trials demonstrate that optimal treatment for human brucellosis consists of doxycycline and an aminoglycoside. Decreasing the burden of human brucellosis requires control of animal brucellosis, but evidence to inform the design of control programs in the developing world is needed. Summary Brucellosis causes substantial morbidity in human and animal populations. While improvements in diagnostic options for resource-limited settings and stronger evidence for optimal therapy should enhance identification and treatment of human brucellosis, prevention of human disease through control in animals remains paramount. PMID:23963260

Total-Body PET: Maximizing Sensitivity to Create New Opportunities for Clinical Research and Patient Care.

PubMed

Cherry, Simon R; Jones, Terry; Karp, Joel S; Qi, Jinyi; Moses, William W; Badawi, Ramsey D

2018-01-01

PET is widely considered the most sensitive technique available for noninvasively studying physiology, metabolism, and molecular pathways in the living human being. However, the utility of PET, being a photon-deficient modality, remains constrained by factors including low signal-to-noise ratio, long imaging times, and concerns about radiation dose. Two developments offer the potential to dramatically increase the effective sensitivity of PET. First by increasing the geometric coverage to encompass the entire body, sensitivity can be increased by a factor of about 40 for total-body imaging or a factor of about 4-5 for imaging a single organ such as the brain or heart. The world's first total-body PET/CT scanner is currently under construction to demonstrate how this step change in sensitivity affects the way PET is used both in clinical research and in patient care. Second, there is the future prospect of significant improvements in timing resolution that could lead to further effective sensitivity gains. When combined with total-body PET, this could produce overall sensitivity gains of more than 2 orders of magnitude compared with existing state-of-the-art systems. In this article, we discuss the benefits of increasing body coverage, describe our efforts to develop a first-generation total-body PET/CT scanner, discuss selected application areas for total-body PET, and project the impact of further improvements in time-of-flight PET. © 2018 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

Evaluating Modeled Impact Metrics for Human Health, Agriculture Growth, and Near-Term Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seltzer, K. M.; Shindell, D. T.; Faluvegi, G.; Murray, L. T.

2017-12-01

Simulated metrics that assess impacts on human health, agriculture growth, and near-term climate were evaluated using ground-based and satellite observations. The NASA GISS ModelE2 and GEOS-Chem models were used to simulate the near-present chemistry of the atmosphere. A suite of simulations that varied by model, meteorology, horizontal resolution, emissions inventory, and emissions year were performed, enabling an analysis of metric sensitivities to various model components. All simulations utilized consistent anthropogenic global emissions inventories (ECLIPSE V5a or CEDS), and an evaluation of simulated results were carried out for 2004-2006 and 2009-2011 over the United States and 2014-2015 over China. Results for O3- and PM2.5-based metrics featured minor differences due to the model resolutions considered here (2.0° × 2.5° and 0.5° × 0.666°) and model, meteorology, and emissions inventory each played larger roles in variances. Surface metrics related to O3 were consistently high biased, though to varying degrees, demonstrating the need to evaluate particular modeling frameworks before O3 impacts are quantified. Surface metrics related to PM2.5 were diverse, indicating that a multimodel mean with robust results are valuable tools in predicting PM2.5-related impacts. Oftentimes, the configuration that captured the change of a metric best over time differed from the configuration that captured the magnitude of the same metric best, demonstrating the challenge in skillfully simulating impacts. These results highlight the strengths and weaknesses of these models in simulating impact metrics related to air quality and near-term climate. With such information, the reliability of historical and future simulations can be better understood.

Lake Bacterial Assemblage Composition Is Sensitive to Biological Disturbance Caused by an Invasive Filter Feeder

PubMed Central

Carrick, Hunter J.; Cavaletto, Joann; Chiang, Edna; Johengen, Thomas H.; Vanderploeg, Henry A.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT One approach to improve forecasts of how global change will affect ecosystem processes is to better understand how anthropogenic disturbances alter bacterial assemblages that drive biogeochemical cycles. Species invasions are important contributors to global change, but their impacts on bacterial community ecology are rarely investigated. Here, we studied direct impacts of invasive dreissenid mussels (IDMs), one of many invasive filter feeders, on freshwater lake bacterioplankton. We demonstrated that direct effects of IDMs reduced bacterial abundance and altered assemblage composition by preferentially removing larger and particle-associated bacteria. While this increased the relative abundances of many free-living bacterial taxa, some were susceptible to filter feeding, in line with efficient removal of phytoplankton cells of <2 μm. This selective removal of particle-associated and larger bacteria by IDMs altered inferred bacterial functional group representation, defined by carbon and energy source utilization. Specifically, we inferred an increased relative abundance of chemoorganoheterotrophs predicted to be capable of rhodopsin-dependent energy generation. In contrast to the few previous studies that have focused on the longer-term combined direct and indirect effects of IDMs on bacterioplankton, our study showed that IDMs act directly as a biological disturbance to which freshwater bacterial assemblages are sensitive. The negative impacts on particle-associated bacteria, which have been shown to be more active than free-living bacteria, and the inferred shifts in functional group representation raise the possibility that IDMs may directly alter bacterially mediated ecosystem functions. IMPORTANCE Freshwater bacteria play fundamental roles in global elemental cycling and are an intrinsic part of local food webs. Human activities are altering freshwater environments, and much has been learned regarding the sensitivity of bacterial assemblages to a variety of these disturbances. Yet, relatively few studies have focused on how species invasion, which is one of the most important aspects of anthropogenic global change, affects freshwater bacterial assemblages. This study focuses on the impact of invasive dreissenid mussels (IDMs), a globally distributed group of invasive species with large impacts on freshwater phyto- and zooplankton assemblages. We show that IDMs have direct effects on lake bacterioplankton abundance, taxonomic composition, and inferred bacterial functional group representation. PMID:28593195

Lake Bacterial Assemblage Composition Is Sensitive to Biological Disturbance Caused by an Invasive Filter Feeder.

PubMed

Denef, Vincent J; Carrick, Hunter J; Cavaletto, Joann; Chiang, Edna; Johengen, Thomas H; Vanderploeg, Henry A

2017-01-01

One approach to improve forecasts of how global change will affect ecosystem processes is to better understand how anthropogenic disturbances alter bacterial assemblages that drive biogeochemical cycles. Species invasions are important contributors to global change, but their impacts on bacterial community ecology are rarely investigated. Here, we studied direct impacts of invasive dreissenid mussels (IDMs), one of many invasive filter feeders, on freshwater lake bacterioplankton. We demonstrated that direct effects of IDMs reduced bacterial abundance and altered assemblage composition by preferentially removing larger and particle-associated bacteria. While this increased the relative abundances of many free-living bacterial taxa, some were susceptible to filter feeding, in line with efficient removal of phytoplankton cells of <2 μm. This selective removal of particle-associated and larger bacteria by IDMs altered inferred bacterial functional group representation, defined by carbon and energy source utilization. Specifically, we inferred an increased relative abundance of chemoorganoheterotrophs predicted to be capable of rhodopsin-dependent energy generation. In contrast to the few previous studies that have focused on the longer-term combined direct and indirect effects of IDMs on bacterioplankton, our study showed that IDMs act directly as a biological disturbance to which freshwater bacterial assemblages are sensitive. The negative impacts on particle-associated bacteria, which have been shown to be more active than free-living bacteria, and the inferred shifts in functional group representation raise the possibility that IDMs may directly alter bacterially mediated ecosystem functions. IMPORTANCE Freshwater bacteria play fundamental roles in global elemental cycling and are an intrinsic part of local food webs. Human activities are altering freshwater environments, and much has been learned regarding the sensitivity of bacterial assemblages to a variety of these disturbances. Yet, relatively few studies have focused on how species invasion, which is one of the most important aspects of anthropogenic global change, affects freshwater bacterial assemblages. This study focuses on the impact of invasive dreissenid mussels (IDMs), a globally distributed group of invasive species with large impacts on freshwater phyto- and zooplankton assemblages. We show that IDMs have direct effects on lake bacterioplankton abundance, taxonomic composition, and inferred bacterial functional group representation.

Lake Bacterial Assemblage Composition Is Sensitive to Biological Disturbance Caused by an Invasive Filter Feeder

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Denef, Vincent J.; Carrick, Hunter J.; Cavaletto, Joann

One approach to improve forecasts of how global change will affect ecosystem processes is to better understand how anthropogenic disturbances alter bacterial assemblages that drive biogeochemical cycles. Species invasions are important contributors to global change, but their impacts on bacterial community ecology are rarely investigated. Here, we studied direct impacts of invasive dreissenid mussels (IDMs), one of many invasive filter feeders, on freshwater lake bacterioplankton. We demonstrated that direct effects of IDMs reduced bacterial abundance and altered assemblage composition by preferentially removing larger and particle-associated bacteria. While this increased the relative abundances of many free-living bacterial taxa, some were susceptiblemore » to filter feeding, in line with efficient removal of phytoplankton cells of <2 μm. This selective removal of particle-associated and larger bacteria by IDMs altered inferred bacterial functional group representation, defined by carbon and energy source utilization. Specifically, we inferred an increased relative abundance of chemoorganoheterotrophs predicted to be capable of rhodopsin-dependent energy generation. In contrast to the few previous studies that have focused on the longer-term combined direct and indirect effects of IDMs on bacterioplankton, our study showed that IDMs act directly as a biological disturbance to which freshwater bacterial assemblages are sensitive. The negative impacts on particle-associated bacteria, which have been shown to be more active than free-living bacteria, and the inferred shifts in functional group representation raise the possibility that IDMs may directly alter bacterially mediated ecosystem functions.Freshwater bacteria play fundamental roles in global elemental cycling and are an intrinsic part of local food webs. Human activities are altering freshwater environments, and much has been learned regarding the sensitivity of bacterial assemblages to a variety of these disturbances. Yet, relatively few studies have focused on how species invasion, which is one of the most important aspects of anthropogenic global change, affects freshwater bacterial assemblages. This study focuses on the impact of invasive dreissenid mussels (IDMs), a globally distributed group of invasive species with large impacts on freshwater phyto- and zooplankton assemblages. Here, we show that IDMs have direct effects on lake bacterioplankton abundance, taxonomic composition, and inferred bacterial functional group representation.« less

Lake Bacterial Assemblage Composition Is Sensitive to Biological Disturbance Caused by an Invasive Filter Feeder

DOE PAGES

Denef, Vincent J.; Carrick, Hunter J.; Cavaletto, Joann; ...

2017-05-31

One approach to improve forecasts of how global change will affect ecosystem processes is to better understand how anthropogenic disturbances alter bacterial assemblages that drive biogeochemical cycles. Species invasions are important contributors to global change, but their impacts on bacterial community ecology are rarely investigated. Here, we studied direct impacts of invasive dreissenid mussels (IDMs), one of many invasive filter feeders, on freshwater lake bacterioplankton. We demonstrated that direct effects of IDMs reduced bacterial abundance and altered assemblage composition by preferentially removing larger and particle-associated bacteria. While this increased the relative abundances of many free-living bacterial taxa, some were susceptiblemore » to filter feeding, in line with efficient removal of phytoplankton cells of <2 μm. This selective removal of particle-associated and larger bacteria by IDMs altered inferred bacterial functional group representation, defined by carbon and energy source utilization. Specifically, we inferred an increased relative abundance of chemoorganoheterotrophs predicted to be capable of rhodopsin-dependent energy generation. In contrast to the few previous studies that have focused on the longer-term combined direct and indirect effects of IDMs on bacterioplankton, our study showed that IDMs act directly as a biological disturbance to which freshwater bacterial assemblages are sensitive. The negative impacts on particle-associated bacteria, which have been shown to be more active than free-living bacteria, and the inferred shifts in functional group representation raise the possibility that IDMs may directly alter bacterially mediated ecosystem functions.Freshwater bacteria play fundamental roles in global elemental cycling and are an intrinsic part of local food webs. Human activities are altering freshwater environments, and much has been learned regarding the sensitivity of bacterial assemblages to a variety of these disturbances. Yet, relatively few studies have focused on how species invasion, which is one of the most important aspects of anthropogenic global change, affects freshwater bacterial assemblages. This study focuses on the impact of invasive dreissenid mussels (IDMs), a globally distributed group of invasive species with large impacts on freshwater phyto- and zooplankton assemblages. Here, we show that IDMs have direct effects on lake bacterioplankton abundance, taxonomic composition, and inferred bacterial functional group representation.« less

Sensitivity Analysis of Hybrid Propulsion Transportation System for Human Mars Expeditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chai, Patrick R.; Joyce, Ryan T.; Kessler, Paul D.; Merrill, Raymond G.; Qu, Min

2017-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration continues to develop and refine various transportation options to successfully field a human Mars campaign. One of these transportation options is the Hybrid Transportation System which utilizes both solar electric propulsion and chemical propulsion. The Hybrid propulsion system utilizes chemical propulsion to perform high thrust maneuvers, where the delta-V is most optimal when ap- plied to save time and to leverage the Oberth effect. It then utilizes solar electric propulsion to augment the chemical burns throughout the interplanetary trajectory. This eliminates the need for the development of two separate vehicles for crew and cargo missions. Previous studies considered single point designs of the architecture, with fixed payload mass and propulsion system performance parameters. As the architecture matures, it is inevitable that the payload mass and the performance of the propulsion system will change. It is desirable to understand how these changes will impact the in-space transportation system's mass and power requirements. This study presents an in-depth sensitivity analysis of the Hybrid crew transportation system to payload mass growth and solar electric propulsion performance. This analysis is used to identify the breakpoints of the current architecture and to inform future architecture and campaign design decisions.

Climate change and infectious diseases in the Arctic: establishment of a circumpolar working group

PubMed Central

Parkinson, Alan J.; Evengard, Birgitta; Semenza, Jan C.; Ogden, Nicholas; Børresen, Malene L.; Berner, Jim; Brubaker, Michael; Sjöstedt, Anders; Evander, Magnus; Hondula, David M.; Menne, Bettina; Pshenichnaya, Natalia; Gounder, Prabhu; Larose, Tricia; Revich, Boris; Hueffer, Karsten; Albihn, Ann

2014-01-01

The Arctic, even more so than other parts of the world, has warmed substantially over the past few decades. Temperature and humidity influence the rate of development, survival and reproduction of pathogens and thus the incidence and prevalence of many infectious diseases. Higher temperatures may also allow infected host species to survive winters in larger numbers, increase the population size and expand their habitat range. The impact of these changes on human disease in the Arctic has not been fully evaluated. There is concern that climate change may shift the geographic and temporal distribution of a range of infectious diseases. Many infectious diseases are climate sensitive, where their emergence in a region is dependent on climate-related ecological changes. Most are zoonotic diseases, and can be spread between humans and animals by arthropod vectors, water, soil, wild or domestic animals. Potentially climate-sensitive zoonotic pathogens of circumpolar concern include Brucella spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Trichinella spp., Clostridium botulinum, Francisella tularensis, Borrelia burgdorferi, Bacillus anthracis, Echinococcus spp., Leptospira spp., Giardia spp., Cryptosporida spp., Coxiella burnetti, rabies virus, West Nile virus, Hantaviruses, and tick-borne encephalitis viruses. PMID:25317383

Incorporating institutions and collective action into a sociohydrological model of flood resilience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, David J.; Sangwan, Nikhil; Sung, Kyungmin; Chen, Xi; Merwade, Venkatesh

2017-02-01

Stylized sociohydrological models have mainly used social memory aspects such as community awareness or sensitivity to connect hydrologic change and social response. However, social memory alone does not satisfactorily capture the details of how human behavior is translated into collective action for water resources governance. Nor is it the only social mechanism by which the two-way feedbacks of sociohydrology can be operationalized. This study contributes toward bridging of this gap by developing a sociohydrological model of a flood resilience that includes two additional components: (1) institutions for collective action, and (2) connections to an external economic system. Motivated by the case of community-managed flood protection systems (polders) in coastal Bangladesh, we use the model to understand critical general features that affect long-term resilience of human-flood systems. Our findings suggest that occasional adversity can enhance long-term resilience. Allowing some hydrological variability to enter into the polder can increase its adaptive capacity for resilience through the preservation of social norm for collective action. Further, there are potential trade-offs associated with optimization of flood resistance through structural measures. By reducing sensitivity to floods, the system may become more fragile under the double impact of floods and economic change.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ibarraran , Maria E.; Malone, Elizabeth L.; Brenkert, Antoinette L.

Climate change alters different localities on the planet in different ways. The impact on each region depends mainly on the degree of vulnerability that natural ecosystems and human-made infrastructure have to changes in climate and extreme meteorological events, as well as on the coping and adaptation capacity towards new environmental conditions. This study assesses the current resilience of Mexico and Mexican states to such changes, as well as how this resilience will look in the future. In recent studies (Moss et al. 2000, Brenkert and Malone 2005, Malone and Brenket 2008, Ibarrarán et al. 2007), the Vulnerability-Resilience Indicators Model (VRIM)more » is used to integrate a set of proxy variables that determine the resilience of a region to climate change. Resilience, or the ability of a region to respond to climate variations and natural events that result from climate change, is given by its adaptation and coping capacity and its sensitivity. On the one hand, the sensitivity of a region to climate change is assessed, emphasizing its infrastructure, food security, water resources, and the health of the population and regional ecosystems. On the other hand, coping and adaptation capacity is based on the availability of human resources, economic capacity and environmental capacity.« less

Experience, Context, and the Visual Perception of Human Movement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, Alissa; Pinto, Jeannine; Shiffrar, Maggie

2004-01-01

Why are human observers particularly sensitive to human movement? Seven experiments examined the roles of visual experience and motor processes in human movement perception by comparing visual sensitivities to point-light displays of familiar, unusual, and impossible gaits across gait-speed and identity discrimination tasks. In both tasks, visual…

[Lethal anaphylactic shock model induced by human mixed serum in guinea pigs].

PubMed

Ren, Guang-Mu; Bai, Ji-Wei; Gao, Cai-Rong

2005-08-01

To establish an anaphylactic shock model induced by human mixed serum in guinea pigs. Eighteen guinea pigs were divided into two groups: sensitized and control, The sensitized group were immunized intracutaneously with human mixed serum and then induced by endocardiac injection after 3 weeks. Symptoms of anaphylactic shock appeared in the sensitized group. The level of serum IgE were increased in the sensitized group significantly. An animal model of anaphylactic shock wer established successfully. It provide a tool for both forensic study and anaphylactic shock therapy.

Evaluation of Quality Assessment Protocols for High Throughput Genome Resequencing Data

PubMed Central

Chiara, Matteo; Pavesi, Giulio

2017-01-01

Large-scale initiatives aiming to recover the complete sequence of thousands of human genomes are currently being undertaken worldwide, concurring to the generation of a comprehensive catalog of human genetic variation. The ultimate and most ambitious goal of human population scale genomics is the characterization of the so-called human “variome,” through the identification of causal mutations or haplotypes. Several research institutions worldwide currently use genotyping assays based on Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) for diagnostics and clinical screenings, and the widespread application of such technologies promises major revolutions in medical science. Bioinformatic analysis of human resequencing data is one of the main factors limiting the effectiveness and general applicability of NGS for clinical studies. The requirement for multiple tools, to be combined in dedicated protocols in order to accommodate different types of data (gene panels, exomes, or whole genomes) and the high variability of the data makes difficult the establishment of a ultimate strategy of general use. While there already exist several studies comparing sensitivity and accuracy of bioinformatic pipelines for the identification of single nucleotide variants from resequencing data, little is known about the impact of quality assessment and reads pre-processing strategies. In this work we discuss major strengths and limitations of the various genome resequencing protocols are currently used in molecular diagnostics and for the discovery of novel disease-causing mutations. By taking advantage of publicly available data we devise and suggest a series of best practices for the pre-processing of the data that consistently improve the outcome of genotyping with minimal impacts on computational costs. PMID:28736571

The Role of Water Governance and Irrigation Technologies in Regional-Scale Water Use and Consumption in the US West

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lammers, R. B.; Grogan, D. S.; Frolking, S. E.; Proussevitch, A. A.; Zuidema, S.; Fowler, L.; Caccese, R. T.; Peklak, D. L.; Fisher-Vanden, K.

2017-12-01

Water management in the Western USA is challenged by the demands of an increased population, ecological needs and changing values for water use, and a broadening of variability in climate, which together have created physical limits on water availability. The management of scarce water resources in this region is strictly constrained by the current legal structure (prior appropriation water rights) on one hand, and on the other assisted by the development of new, efficient water delivery and application technologies. Therefore, critical components for a complete understanding of the hydrological landscape include the institutions governing water rights, the technologies used for the highly water consumptive agricultural sector, and the role institutions and technologies play in altering when and where water is used and consumed by humans or reserved for the environment. To explore the sensitivities of water availability within the human-physical system, we present a method to incorporate water rights allocated under the prior appropriation doctrine for the western U.S. into the University of New Hampshire macro-scale Water Balance Model to capture the essential structure of these rights and their impacts on different economic sectors in Idaho and across the US West. In addition to legal structures, new irrigation technologies also alter the efficiency and timing of water use. We assess the impacts of a variety of technologies for both the delivery of water to the agricultural fields and the application methods for bringing water to the crops on consumptive and non-consumptive agricultural water use. We explore the impacts relative to natural climate variability, investigate the role that return flows from different agricultural technologies have on regional water balance, and examine the sensitivity of the entire system to extremes such as extended drought. These methods are sufficiently generalizable to be used by other hydrological models.

Adult lactose digestion status and effects on disease

PubMed Central

Szilagyi, Andrew

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Adult assimilation of lactose divides humans into dominant lactase-persistent and recessive nonpersistent phenotypes. OBJECTIVES: To review three medical parameters of lactose digestion, namely: the changing concept of lactose intolerance; the possible impact on diseases of microbial adaptation in lactase-nonpersistent populations; and the possibility that the evolution of lactase has influenced some disease pattern distributions. METHODS: A PubMed, Google Scholar and manual review of articles were used to provide a narrative review of the topic. RESULTS: The concept of lactose intolerance is changing and merging with food intolerances. Microbial adaptation to regular lactose consumption in lactase-nonpersistent individuals is supported by limited evidence. There is evidence suggestive of a relationship among geographical distributions of latitude, sunhine exposure and lactase proportional distributions worldwide. DISCUSSION: The definition of lactose intolerance has shifted away from association with lactose maldigestion. Lactose sensitivity is described equally in lactose digesters and maldigesters. The important medical consequence of withholding dairy foods could have a detrimental impact on several diseases; in addition, microbial adaptation in lactase-nonpersistent populations may alter risk for some diseases. There is suggestive evidence that the emergence of lactase persistence, together with human migrations before and after the emergence of lactase persistence, have impacted modern-day diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Lactose maldigestion and lactose intolerance are not synonymous. Withholding dairy foods is a poor method to treat lactose intolerance. Further epidemiological work could shed light on the possible effects of microbial adaptation in lactose maldigesters. The evolutionary impact of lactase may be still ongoing. PMID:25855879

Adult lactose digestion status and effects on disease.

PubMed

Szilagyi, Andrew

2015-04-01

Adult assimilation of lactose divides humans into dominant lactase-persistent and recessive nonpersistent phenotypes. To review three medical parameters of lactose digestion, namely: the changing concept of lactose intolerance; the possible impact on diseases of microbial adaptation in lactase-nonpersistent populations; and the possibility that the evolution of lactase has influenced some disease pattern distributions. A PubMed, Google Scholar and manual review of articles were used to provide a narrative review of the topic. The concept of lactose intolerance is changing and merging with food intolerances. Microbial adaptation to regular lactose consumption in lactase-nonpersistent individuals is supported by limited evidence. There is evidence suggestive of a relationship among geographical distributions of latitude, sunhine exposure and lactase proportional distributions worldwide. The definition of lactose intolerance has shifted away from association with lactose maldigestion. Lactose sensitivity is described equally in lactose digesters and maldigesters. The important medical consequence of withholding dairy foods could have a detrimental impact on several diseases; in addition, microbial adaptation in lactase-nonpersistent populations may alter risk for some diseases. There is suggestive evidence that the emergence of lactase persistence, together with human migrations before and after the emergence of lactase persistence, have impacted modern-day diseases. Lactose maldigestion and lactose intolerance are not synonymous. Withholding dairy foods is a poor method to treat lactose intolerance. Further epidemiological work could shed light on the possible effects of microbial adaptation in lactose maldigesters. The evolutionary impact of lactase may be still ongoing.

Rapid Detection and Identification of Human Hookworm Infections through High Resolution Melting (HRM) Analysis

PubMed Central

Ngui, Romano; Lim, Yvonne A. L.; Chua, Kek Heng

2012-01-01

Background Hookworm infections are still endemic in low and middle income tropical countries with greater impact on the socioeconomic and public health of the bottom billion of the world's poorest people. In this study, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with high resolution melting-curve (HRM) analysis was evaluated for an accurate, rapid and sensitive tool for species identification focusing on the five human hookworm species. Methods Real-time PCR coupled with HRM analysis targeting the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA as the genetic marker was used to identify and distinguish hookworm species in human samples. Unique and distinct characteristics of HRM patterns were produced for each of the five hookworm species. The melting curves were characterized by peaks of 79.24±0.05°C and 83.00±0.04°C for Necator americanus, 79.12±0.10°C for Ancylostoma duodenale, 79.40±0.10°C for Ancylostoma ceylanicum, 79.63±0.05°C for Ancylostoma caninum and 79.70±0.14°C for Ancylostoma braziliense. An evaluation of the method's sensitivity and specificity revealed that this assay was able to detect as low as 0.01 ng/µl hookworm DNA and amplification was only recorded for hookworm positive samples. Conclusion The HRM assay developed in this study is a rapid and straightforward method for the diagnosis, identification and discrimination of five human hookworms. This assay is simple compared to other probe-based genotyping methods as it does not require multiplexing, DNA sequencing or post-PCR processing. Therefore, this method offers a new alternative for rapid detection of human hookworm species. PMID:22844538

Adolescent Alcohol Exposure Persistently Impacts Adult Neurobiology and Behavior

PubMed Central

Vetreno, Ryan P.; Broadwater, Margaret A.; Robinson, Donita L.

2016-01-01

Adolescence is a developmental period when physical and cognitive abilities are optimized, when social skills are consolidated, and when sexuality, adolescent behaviors, and frontal cortical functions mature to adult levels. Adolescents also have unique responses to alcohol compared with adults, being less sensitive to ethanol sedative–motor responses that most likely contribute to binge drinking and blackouts. Population studies find that an early age of drinking onset correlates with increased lifetime risks for the development of alcohol dependence, violence, and injuries. Brain synapses, myelination, and neural circuits mature in adolescence to adult levels in parallel with increased reflection on the consequence of actions and reduced impulsivity and thrill seeking. Alcohol binge drinking could alter human development, but variations in genetics, peer groups, family structure, early life experiences, and the emergence of psychopathology in humans confound studies. As adolescence is common to mammalian species, preclinical models of binge drinking provide insight into the direct impact of alcohol on adolescent development. This review relates human findings to basic science studies, particularly the preclinical studies of the Neurobiology of Adolescent Drinking in Adulthood (NADIA) Consortium. These studies focus on persistent adult changes in neurobiology and behavior following adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE), a model of underage drinking. NADIA studies and others find that AIE results in the following: increases in adult alcohol drinking, disinhibition, and social anxiety; altered adult synapses, cognition, and sleep; reduced adult neurogenesis, cholinergic, and serotonergic neurons; and increased neuroimmune gene expression and epigenetic modifiers of gene expression. Many of these effects are specific to adolescents and not found in parallel adult studies. AIE can cause a persistence of adolescent-like synaptic physiology, behavior, and sensitivity to alcohol into adulthood. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that adolescent binge drinking leads to long-lasting changes in the adult brain that increase risks of adult psychopathology, particularly for alcohol dependence. PMID:27677720

Fukushima's lessons from the blue butterfly: A risk assessment of the human living environment in the post-Fukushima era.

PubMed

Otaki, Joji M

2016-10-01

A series of studies on the pale grass blue butterfly that were carried out to assess the biological effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident teach 3 important lessons. First, it is necessary to have an environmental indicator species, such as the pale grass blue butterfly in Japan, that is common (not endangered), shares a living environment (air, water, and soil) with humans, and is amenable to laboratory experiments. The monitoring of such indicator species before and immediately after a nuclear accident likely reflects acute impacts caused by initial exposure. To assess transgenerational and chronic effects, continuous monitoring over time is encouraged. Second, it is important to understand the actual health status of a polluted region and comprehend the whole picture of the pollution impacts, rather than focusing on the selected effects of radiation alone. In our butterfly experiments, plant leaves from Fukushima were fed to larval butterflies to access whole-body effects, focusing on survival rate and morphological abnormalities (rather than focusing on a specific disease or biochemical marker). Our results revealed that ionizing radiation is unlikely to be the exclusive source of environmental disturbances. Airborne particulate matter from a nuclear reactor, regardless of its radioactivity, is likely equally important. Finally, our butterfly experiments demonstrate that there is considerable variation in sensitivities to nuclear pollution within a single species or even within a local population. Based on these results, it is speculated that high pollution sensitivity in humans may be caused not only by low levels of functional DNA repair enzymes but also by immunological responses to particulate matter in the respiratory tract. These lessons from the pale grass blue butterfly should be integrated in studying future nuclear pollution events and decision making on nuclear and environmental policies at the local and international levels in the postFukushima era. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:667-672. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Biological assessment: possible impacts of exploratory drilling in Section 18B, Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 2, Kern County, California on the endangered San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and other sensitive species

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O'Farrell, T.P.

1981-11-01

The proposed site is thought to provide habitat for the endangered an Joaquin kit fox and blunt-nosed leopard lizard, as well as the giant kangaroo rat and San Joaquin antelope ground squirrel. The objective of this study was to assess the possible impacts of the exploratory drilling on these species and their essential habitats. The proposed project will have four phases: (1) surveying; (2) site preparation; (3) drilling, logging, and testing; and (4) cleanup and restoration. During site preparation approximately 1.5 acres of vegetation and surface soils will be removed for an access road and well pad. During a 20-daymore » drilling, logging, and testing phase, there will be increased vehicular traffic, human activities, noise and ground vibrations, and illumination during the night. Although 1.5 acres of habitat will be disturbed, there is no evidence to indicate any of the species has burrows on-site that will be lost during land clearing. Loss of habitat will be mitigated during the cleanup and restoration phases when disturbed areas will be revegetated. Increased traffic, human activities, noise and ground vibration levels, as well as illumination throughout the night, may disturb the fauna. However, these species have adapted to intensive human disturbances on Elk Hills without obvious negative effects. The most direct threat to the species is the possibility that they might be killed by vehicles. Since the project poses so few threats to individual endangered or sensitive species, and since minor habitat disturbances will be mitigated during a restoration program, it is unlikely that completion of the project jeopardizes the continued existence of any of the species or their essential habitats. (ERB)« less

Novel approach for classifying chemicals according to skin sensitizing potency by non-radioisotopic modification of the local lymph node assay.

PubMed

Takeyoshi, Masahiro; Iida, Kenji; Shiraishi, Keiji; Hoshuyama, Satsuki

2005-01-01

The murine local lymph node assay (LLNA) is currently recognized as a stand-alone sensitization test for determining the sensitizing potential of chemicals, and it has the advantage of yielding a quantitative endpoint that can be used to predict the sensitization potency of chemicals. The EC3 has been proposed as a parameter for classifying chemicals according to the sensitization potency. We previously developed a non-radioisotopic endpoint for the LLNA based on 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation (non-RI LLNA), and we are proposing a new procedure to predict the sensitization potency of chemicals based on comparisons with known human contact allergens. Nine chemicals (i.e. diphencyclopropenone, p-phenylenediamine, glutaraldehyde, cinnamicaldehyde, citral, eugenol, isopropyl myristate, propyleneglycol and hexane) categorized as human contact allergen classes 1-5 were tested by the non-RI LLNA with the following reference allergens: 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) as a class 1 human contact allergen, isoeugenol as a class 2 human contact allergen and alpha-hexylcinnamic aldehyde (HCA) as a class 3 human contact allergen. Consequently, nine test chemicals were almost assigned to their correct allergen class. The results suggested that the new procedure for non-RI LLNA can provide correct sensitization potency data. Sensitization potency data are useful for evaluating the sensitization risk to humans of exposure to new chemical products. Accordingly, this approach would be an effective modification of LLNA with regard to its experimental design. Moreover, this procedure can be applied also to the standard LLNA with radioisotopes and to other modifications of the LLNA. Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Multivariate Models for Prediction of Human Skin Sensitization ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

One of the lnteragency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Method's (ICCVAM) top priorities is the development and evaluation of non-animal approaches to identify potential skin sensitizers. The complexity of biological events necessary to produce skin sensitization suggests that no single alternative method will replace the currently accepted animal tests. ICCVAM is evaluating an integrated approach to testing and assessment based on the adverse outcome pathway for skin sensitization that uses machine learning approaches to predict human skin sensitization hazard. We combined data from three in chemico or in vitro assays - the direct peptide reactivity assay (DPRA), human cell line activation test (h-CLAT) and KeratinoSens TM assay - six physicochemical properties and an in silico read-across prediction of skin sensitization hazard into 12 variable groups. The variable groups were evaluated using two machine learning approaches , logistic regression and support vector machine, to predict human skin sensitization hazard. Models were trained on 72 substances and tested on an external set of 24 substances. The six models (three logistic regression and three support vector machine) with the highest accuracy (92%) used: (1) DPRA, h-CLAT and read-across; (2) DPRA, h-CLAT, read-across and KeratinoSens; or (3) DPRA, h-CLAT, read-across, KeratinoSens and log P. The models performed better at predicting human skin sensitization hazard than the murine

Nanofluidic Pre-Concentration Devices for Enhancing the Detection Sensitivity and Selectivity of Biomarkers for Human Performance Monitoring

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-17

AFRL-AFOSR-JP-TR-2016-0082 Nanofluidic Pre -Concentration Devices for Enhancing the Detection Sensitivity and Selectivity of Biomarkers for Human...Nanofluidic Pre -Concentration Devices for Enhancing the Detection Sensitivity and Selectivity of Biomarkers for Human Performance Monitoring 5a...SUBJECT TERMS Biomarkers, Nanofluidics, Pre -concentration Devices, Sensing, AOARD 16.  SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17.  LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT SAR 18

Impact of graphene oxide on human placental trophoblast viability, functionality and barrier integrity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kucki, Melanie; Aengenheister, Leonie; Diener, Liliane; Rippl, Alexandra V.; Vranic, Sandra; Newman, Leon; Vazquez, Ester; Kostarelos, Kostas; Wick, Peter; Buerki-Thurnherr, Tina

2018-07-01

Graphene oxide (GO) is considered a promising 2D material for biomedical applications. However, the biological health effects of GO are not yet fully understood, in particular for highly sensitive populations such as pregnant women and their unborn children. Especially the potential impact of GO on the human placenta, a transient and multifunctional organ that enables successful pregnancy, has not been investigated yet. Here we performed a mechanistic in vitro study on the placental uptake and biological effects of four non-labelled GO with varying physicochemical properties using the human trophoblast cell line BeWo. No overt cytotoxicity was observed for all GO materials after 48 h of exposure at concentrations up to 40 µg ml‑1. However, exposure to GO materials induced a slight decrease in mitochondrial activity and human choriogonadotropin secretion. In addition, GO induced a transient opening of the trophoblast barrier as evidenced by a temporary increase in the translocation of sodium fluorescein, a marker molecule for passive transport. Evidence for cellular uptake of GO was found by transmission electron microscopy analysis, revealing uptake of even large micro-sized GO by BeWo cells. Although GO did not elicit major acute adverse effects on BeWo trophoblast cells, the pronounced cellular internalization as well as the potential adverse effects on hormone release and barrier integrity warrants further studies on the long-term consequences of GO on placental functionality in order to understand potential embryo-fetotoxic risks.

Decoding facial expressions based on face-selective and motion-sensitive areas.

PubMed

Liang, Yin; Liu, Baolin; Xu, Junhai; Zhang, Gaoyan; Li, Xianglin; Wang, Peiyuan; Wang, Bin

2017-06-01

Humans can easily recognize others' facial expressions. Among the brain substrates that enable this ability, considerable attention has been paid to face-selective areas; in contrast, whether motion-sensitive areas, which clearly exhibit sensitivity to facial movements, are involved in facial expression recognition remained unclear. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study used multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to explore facial expression decoding in both face-selective and motion-sensitive areas. In a block design experiment, participants viewed facial expressions of six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise) in images, videos, and eyes-obscured videos. Due to the use of multiple stimulus types, the impacts of facial motion and eye-related information on facial expression decoding were also examined. It was found that motion-sensitive areas showed significant responses to emotional expressions and that dynamic expressions could be successfully decoded in both face-selective and motion-sensitive areas. Compared with static stimuli, dynamic expressions elicited consistently higher neural responses and decoding performance in all regions. A significant decrease in both activation and decoding accuracy due to the absence of eye-related information was also observed. Overall, the findings showed that emotional expressions are represented in motion-sensitive areas in addition to conventional face-selective areas, suggesting that motion-sensitive regions may also effectively contribute to facial expression recognition. The results also suggested that facial motion and eye-related information played important roles by carrying considerable expression information that could facilitate facial expression recognition. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3113-3125, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Variation in normal mood state influences sensitivity to dynamic changes in emotional expression.

PubMed

Jackson, Margaret C; Arlegui-Prieto, Maritxu

2016-03-01

Normal social functioning depends on the ability to efficiently and accurately detect when someone's facial expression changes to convey positive or negative emotion. While observer mood state has been shown to influence emotion recognition, how variations in normal mood might influence sensitivity to the dynamic emergence of expressions has not yet been addressed. To investigate this, we modified an existing face-morphing paradigm in which a central face gradually changes from neutral to expressive (angry, sad, happy, surprised). Our sample comprised healthy young adults, and current mood state was measured using the PANAS-X. Participants pressed a key as soon as they (1) noticed a physical change in expression (perceptual sensitivity-novel task element), and (2) could clearly conceptualize which expression was emerging (conceptual sensitivity). A final unspeeded response required participants to explicitly label the expression as a measure of recognition accuracy. We measured the percentage morph (expression intensity) at which a perceptual and conceptual change was detected, where greater intensity equates to poorer sensitivity. Increased positive mood reduced perceptual and conceptual sensitivity to angry and sad expressions only (a mood incongruency effect). Of particular interest, increased negative mood decreased conceptual sensitivity for all expressions, but had limited impact on perceptual sensitivity. Thus, heightened negative mood is particularly detrimental for effectively decoding someone else's mood change. This may reflect greater introspection and consumption of attentional resources directed toward the negative self, leaving fewer resources to process emotional signals conveyed by others. This could have important consequences for human social interaction. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Prediction of skin sensitization potency using machine learning approaches.

PubMed

Zang, Qingda; Paris, Michael; Lehmann, David M; Bell, Shannon; Kleinstreuer, Nicole; Allen, David; Matheson, Joanna; Jacobs, Abigail; Casey, Warren; Strickland, Judy

2017-07-01

The replacement of animal use in testing for regulatory classification of skin sensitizers is a priority for US federal agencies that use data from such testing. Machine learning models that classify substances as sensitizers or non-sensitizers without using animal data have been developed and evaluated. Because some regulatory agencies require that sensitizers be further classified into potency categories, we developed statistical models to predict skin sensitization potency for murine local lymph node assay (LLNA) and human outcomes. Input variables for our models included six physicochemical properties and data from three non-animal test methods: direct peptide reactivity assay; human cell line activation test; and KeratinoSens™ assay. Models were built to predict three potency categories using four machine learning approaches and were validated using external test sets and leave-one-out cross-validation. A one-tiered strategy modeled all three categories of response together while a two-tiered strategy modeled sensitizer/non-sensitizer responses and then classified the sensitizers as strong or weak sensitizers. The two-tiered model using the support vector machine with all assay and physicochemical data inputs provided the best performance, yielding accuracy of 88% for prediction of LLNA outcomes (120 substances) and 81% for prediction of human test outcomes (87 substances). The best one-tiered model predicted LLNA outcomes with 78% accuracy and human outcomes with 75% accuracy. By comparison, the LLNA predicts human potency categories with 69% accuracy (60 of 87 substances correctly categorized). These results suggest that computational models using non-animal methods may provide valuable information for assessing skin sensitization potency. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The effects of reduced gluten barley diet on humoral and cell-mediated systemic immune responses of gluten-sensitive rhesus macaques.

PubMed

Sestak, Karol; Thwin, Hazel; Dufour, Jason; Aye, Pyone P; Liu, David X; Moehs, Charles P

2015-03-06

Celiac disease (CD) affects approximately 1% of the general population while an estimated additional 6% suffers from a recently characterized, rapidly emerging, similar disease, referred to as non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). The only effective treatment of CD and NCGS requires removal of gluten sources from the diet. Since required adherence to a gluten-free diet (GFD) is difficult to accomplish, efforts to develop alternative treatments have been intensifying in recent years. In this study, the non-human primate model of CD/NCGS, e.g., gluten-sensitive rhesus macaque, was utilized with the objective to evaluate the treatment potential of reduced gluten cereals using a reduced gluten (RG; 1% of normal gluten) barley mutant as a model. Conventional and RG barleys were used for the formulation of experimental chows and fed to gluten-sensitive (GS) and control macaques to determine if RG barley causes a remission of dietary gluten-induced clinical and immune responses in GS macaques. The impacts of the RG barley diet were compared with the impacts of the conventional barley-containing chow and the GFD. Although remission of the anti-gliadin antibody (AGA) serum responses and an improvement of clinical diarrhea were noted after switching the conventional to the RG barley diet, production of inflammatory cytokines, e.g., interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) by peripheral CD4+ T helper lymphocytes, persisted during the RG chow treatment and were partially abolished only upon re-administration of the GFD. It was concluded that the RG barley diet might be used for the partial improvement of gluten-induced disease but its therapeutic value still requires upgrading-by co-administration of additional treatments.

The Effects of Reduced Gluten Barley Diet on Humoral and Cell-Mediated Systemic Immune Responses of Gluten-Sensitive Rhesus Macaques

PubMed Central

Sestak, Karol; Thwin, Hazel; Dufour, Jason; Aye, Pyone P.; Liu, David X.; Moehs, Charles P.

2015-01-01

Celiac disease (CD) affects approximately 1% of the general population while an estimated additional 6% suffers from a recently characterized, rapidly emerging, similar disease, referred to as non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). The only effective treatment of CD and NCGS requires removal of gluten sources from the diet. Since required adherence to a gluten-free diet (GFD) is difficult to accomplish, efforts to develop alternative treatments have been intensifying in recent years. In this study, the non-human primate model of CD/NCGS, e.g., gluten-sensitive rhesus macaque, was utilized with the objective to evaluate the treatment potential of reduced gluten cereals using a reduced gluten (RG; 1% of normal gluten) barley mutant as a model. Conventional and RG barleys were used for the formulation of experimental chows and fed to gluten-sensitive (GS) and control macaques to determine if RG barley causes a remission of dietary gluten-induced clinical and immune responses in GS macaques. The impacts of the RG barley diet were compared with the impacts of the conventional barley-containing chow and the GFD. Although remission of the anti-gliadin antibody (AGA) serum responses and an improvement of clinical diarrhea were noted after switching the conventional to the RG barley diet, production of inflammatory cytokines, e.g., interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) by peripheral CD4+ T helper lymphocytes, persisted during the RG chow treatment and were partially abolished only upon re-administration of the GFD. It was concluded that the RG barley diet might be used for the partial improvement of gluten-induced disease but its therapeutic value still requires upgrading—by co-administration of additional treatments. PMID:25756783

Urban Land Use Change Effects on Below and Aboveground Carbon Stocks—a Global Perspective and Future Research Needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pouyat, R. V.; Chen, Y.; Yesilonis, I.; Day, S.

2014-12-01

Land use change (LUC) has a significant impact on both above- and below-ground carbon (C) stocks; however, little is known about the net effects of urban LUC on the C cycle and climate system. Moreover, as climate change becomes an increasingly pressing concern, there is growing evidence that urban policy and management decisions can have significant regional impacts on C dynamics. Soil organic carbon (SOC) varies significantly across ecoregions at global and continental scales due to differential sensitivity of primary production, substrate quality, and organic matter decay to changes in temperature and soil moisture. These factors are highly modified by urban LUC due to vegetation removal, soil relocation and disruption, pollution, urban heat island effects, and increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations. As a result, on a global scale urban LUC differentially affects the C cycle from ecoregion to ecoregion. For urban ecosystems, the data collected thus far suggests urbanization can lead to both an increase and decrease in soil C pools and fluxes, depending on the native ecosystem being impacted by urban development. For example, in drier climates, urban landscapes accumulate higher C densities than the native ecosystems they replaced. Results suggest also that soil C storage in urban ecosystems is highly variable with very high (> 20.0) and low (< 2.0) C densities (kg m-2 to a 1 m depth) present in the landscape at any one time. Moreover, similar to non-urban soils, total SOC densities are consistently 2-fold greater than aboveground stocks. For those soils with low SOC densities, there is potential to increase C sequestration through management, but specific urban related management practices need to be evaluated. In addition, urban LUC is a human-driven process and thus can be modified or adjusted to reduce its impacts on the C cycle. For example, policies that influence development patterns, population density, management practices, and other human factors can greatly ameliorate the impact of urban LUC on the C cycle. However, even with the recent and rapid expansion of newly acquired data, the net effects of urban LUC on C stocks and fluxes have not been comprehensively addressed. Furthermore, how sensitive these changes are to urban planning, policy decisions, and site management needs to be explored.

Hunted Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix poeppigii) Show Threat-Sensitive Responses to Human Presence

PubMed Central

Papworth, Sarah; Milner-Gulland, E. J.; Slocombe, Katie

2013-01-01

Responding only to individuals of a predator species which display threatening behaviour allows prey species to minimise energy expenditure and other costs of predator avoidance, such as disruption of feeding. The threat sensitivity hypothesis predicts such behaviour in prey species. If hunted animals are unable to distinguish dangerous humans from non-dangerous humans, human hunting is likely to have a greater effect on prey populations as all human encounters should lead to predator avoidance, increasing stress and creating opportunity costs for exploited populations. We test the threat sensitivity hypothesis in wild Poeppigi's woolly monkeys (Lagothrix poeppigii) in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador, by presenting human models engaging in one of three behaviours “hunting”, “gathering” or “researching”. These experiments were conducted at two sites with differing hunting pressures. Visibility, movement and vocalisations were recorded and results from two sites showed that groups changed their behaviours after being exposed to humans, and did so in different ways depending on the behaviour of the human model. Results at the site with higher hunting pressure were consistent with predictions based on the threat sensitivity hypothesis. Although results at the site with lower hunting pressure were not consistent with the results at the site with higher hunting pressure, groups at this site also showed differential responses to different human behaviours. These results provide evidence of threat-sensitive predator avoidance in hunted primates, which may allow them to conserve both time and energy when encountering humans which pose no threat. PMID:23614003

Hydroclimate of the northeastern United States is highly sensitive to solar forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nichols, Jonathan E.; Huang, Yongsong

2012-02-01

Dramatic hydrological fluctuations strongly impact human society, but the driving mechanisms for these changes are unclear. One suggested driver is solar variability, but supporting paleoclimate evidence is lacking. Therefore, long, continuous, high-resolution records from strategic locations are crucial for resolving the scientific debate regarding sensitivity of climate to solar forcing. We present a 6800-year, decadally-resolved biomarker and multidecadally-resolved hydrogen isotope record of hydroclimate from a coastal Maine peatland, The Great Heath (TGH). Regional moisture balance responds strongly and consistently to solar forcing at centennial to millennial timescales, with solar minima concurrent with wet conditions. We propose that the Arctic/North Atlantic Oscillation (AO/NAO) can amplify small solar fluctuations, producing the reconstructed hydrological variations. The Sun may be entering a weak phase, analogous to the Maunder minimum, which could lead to more frequent flooding in the northeastern US at this multidecadal timescale.

A technological update of molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases

PubMed Central

Liu, Yu-Tsueng

2008-01-01

Identification of a causative pathogen is essential for the choice of treatment for most infectious diseases. Many FDA approved molecular assays; usually more sensitive and specific compared to traditional tests, have been developed in the last decade. A new trend of high throughput and multiplexing assays are emerging thanks to technological developments for the human genome sequencing project. The applications of microarray and ultra high throughput sequencing technologies for diagnostic microbiology are reviewed. The race for the $1000 genome technology by 2014 will have a profound impact in diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases in the near future. PMID:18782035

Colorado River basin sensitivity to disturbance impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bennett, K. E.; Urrego-Blanco, J. R.; Jonko, A. K.; Vano, J. A.; Newman, A. J.; Bohn, T. J.; Middleton, R. S.

2017-12-01

The Colorado River basin is an important river for the food-energy-water nexus in the United States and is projected to change under future scenarios of increased CO2emissions and warming. Streamflow estimates to consider climate impacts occurring as a result of this warming are often provided using modeling tools which rely on uncertain inputs—to fully understand impacts on streamflow sensitivity analysis can help determine how models respond under changing disturbances such as climate and vegetation. In this study, we conduct a global sensitivity analysis with a space-filling Latin Hypercube sampling of the model parameter space and statistical emulation of the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrologic model to relate changes in runoff, evapotranspiration, snow water equivalent and soil moisture to model parameters in VIC. Additionally, we examine sensitivities of basin-wide model simulations using an approach that incorporates changes in temperature, precipitation and vegetation to consider impact responses for snow-dominated headwater catchments, low elevation arid basins, and for the upper and lower river basins. We find that for the Colorado River basin, snow-dominated regions are more sensitive to uncertainties. New parameter sensitivities identified include runoff/evapotranspiration sensitivity to albedo, while changes in snow water equivalent are sensitive to canopy fraction and Leaf Area Index (LAI). Basin-wide streamflow sensitivities to precipitation, temperature and vegetation are variable seasonally and also between sub-basins; with the largest sensitivities for smaller, snow-driven headwater systems where forests are dense. For a major headwater basin, a 1ºC of warming equaled a 30% loss of forest cover, while a 10% precipitation loss equaled a 90% forest cover decline. Scenarios utilizing multiple disturbances led to unexpected results where changes could either magnify or diminish extremes, such as low and peak flows and streamflow timing, dependent on the strength and direction of the forcing. These results indicate the importance of understanding model sensitivities under disturbance impacts to manage these shifts; plan for future water resource changes and determine how the impacts will affect the sustainability and adaptability of food-energy-water systems.

Environmental management zoning for coal mining in mainland China based on ecological and resources conditions.

PubMed

Geng, Haiqing; Chen, Fan; Wang, Zhiyuan; Liu, Jie; Xu, Weihua

2017-05-01

The purpose of this research is to establish an environmental management zoning for coal mining industry which is served as a basis for making environmental management policies. Based on the specific impacts of coal mining and regional characteristics of environment and resources, the ecological impact, water resources impact, and arable land impact are chose as the zoning indexes to construct the index system. The ecological sensitivity is graded into three levels of low, medium, and high according to analytical hierarchy processes and gray fixed weight clustering analysis, and the water resources sensitivity is divided into five levels of lower, low, medium, high, and higher according to the weighted sum of sub-indexes, while only the arable land sensitive zone was extracted on the basis of the ratio of arable land to the county or city. By combining the ecological sensitivity zoning and the water resources sensitive zoning and then overlapping the arable-sensitive areas, the mainland China is classified into six types of environmental management zones for coal mining except to the forbidden exploitation areas.

Modeling the impact of the difference in cross-protection data between a human papillomavirus (HPV)-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine and a human papillomavirus (HPV)-6/11/16/18 vaccine in Canada.

PubMed

Kohli, Michele; Lawrence, Donna; Haig, Jennifer; Anonychuk, Andrea; Demarteau, Nadia

2012-10-13

In Canada, two vaccines that have demonstrated high efficacy against infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) types -16 and -18 are available. The HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine provides protection against genital warts (GW) while the HPV-16/18 vaccine may provide better protection against other oncogenic HPV types. In this analysis, the estimated clinical and economic benefit of each of these vaccines was compared in the Canadian setting. A Markov model of the natural history of HPV infection among women, cervical cancer (CC) and GW was used to estimate the impact of vaccinating a cohort of 100,000 12-year-old females on lifetime outcomes and healthcare system costs (no indirect benefit in males included). A budget impact model was used to estimate the impact of each vaccine by province. In the base case, vaccination with the HPV-16/18 vaccine was predicted to prevent 48 additional CC cases, and 16 additional CC deaths, while vaccination with the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine was predicted to prevent 6,933 additional GW cases. Vaccination with the HPV-16/18 vaccine was estimated to save 1 additional discounted quality adjusted life year (QALY) at an overall lower lifetime cost to the healthcare system compared to the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine (assuming vaccine price parity). In sensitivity analyses, the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine was associated with greater QALYs saved when the cross-protection efficacy of the HPV-16/18 vaccine was reduced, or the burden of GW due to HPV-6/11 was increased. In most scenarios with price parity, the lifetime healthcare cost of the strategy with the HPV-16/18 vaccine was predicted to be lower than the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine. In the probabilistic sensitivity analyses, the HPV-16/18 vaccine provided more QALY benefit than the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine in 49.2% of scenarios, with lower relative lifetime costs in 83.5% of scenarios. Overall, the predicted lifetime healthcare costs and QALYs saved by implementing each of the vaccines are similar. Vaccination with the HPV-16/18 vaccine is expected to be associated with reduced CC disease morbidity and mortality compared to vaccination with the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine. Differences in these outcomes depend on the extent of cervical disease prevented by cross-protection and the burden of GW caused by HPV-6/11.

Modeling the impact of the difference in cross-protection data between a human papillomavirus (HPV)-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine and a human papillomavirus (HPV)-6/11/16/18 vaccine in Canada

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background In Canada, two vaccines that have demonstrated high efficacy against infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) types −16 and −18 are available. The HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine provides protection against genital warts (GW) while the HPV-16/18 vaccine may provide better protection against other oncogenic HPV types. In this analysis, the estimated clinical and economic benefit of each of these vaccines was compared in the Canadian setting. Methods A Markov model of the natural history of HPV infection among women, cervical cancer (CC) and GW was used to estimate the impact of vaccinating a cohort of 100,000 12-year-old females on lifetime outcomes and healthcare system costs (no indirect benefit in males included). A budget impact model was used to estimate the impact of each vaccine by province. Results In the base case, vaccination with the HPV-16/18 vaccine was predicted to prevent 48 additional CC cases, and 16 additional CC deaths, while vaccination with the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine was predicted to prevent 6,933 additional GW cases. Vaccination with the HPV-16/18 vaccine was estimated to save 1 additional discounted quality adjusted life year (QALY) at an overall lower lifetime cost to the healthcare system compared to the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine (assuming vaccine price parity). In sensitivity analyses, the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine was associated with greater QALYs saved when the cross-protection efficacy of the HPV-16/18 vaccine was reduced, or the burden of GW due to HPV-6/11 was increased. In most scenarios with price parity, the lifetime healthcare cost of the strategy with the HPV-16/18 vaccine was predicted to be lower than the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine. In the probabilistic sensitivity analyses, the HPV-16/18 vaccine provided more QALY benefit than the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine in 49.2% of scenarios, with lower relative lifetime costs in 83.5% of scenarios. Conclusions Overall, the predicted lifetime healthcare costs and QALYs saved by implementing each of the vaccines are similar. Vaccination with the HPV-16/18 vaccine is expected to be associated with reduced CC disease morbidity and mortality compared to vaccination with the HPV-6/11/16/18 vaccine. Differences in these outcomes depend on the extent of cervical disease prevented by cross-protection and the burden of GW caused by HPV-6/11. PMID:23061913

The role of histopathology in establishing the diagnosis of tuberculous pericardial effusions in the presence of HIV.

PubMed

Reuter, H; Burgess, L J; Schneider, J; Van Vuuren, W; Doubell, A F

2006-02-01

To establish the influence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on the histopathological features of patients presenting with tuberculous pericarditis. A prospective study was carried out at Tygerberg Academic Hospital, South Africa; 36 patients with large pericardial effusions had open pericardial biopsies under general anaesthesia and were included in the study. Patients underwent pericardiocentesis, followed by daily intermittent catheter drainage; a comprehensive diagnostic work-up (including histopathology of the pericardial tissue) was also performed. Histological tuberculous pericarditis was diagnosed according to predetermined criteria. Tuberculous pericarditis was identified in 25 patients, five of whom were HIV+. The presence of granulomatous inflammation (with or without necrosis) and/or Ziehl-Neelsen positivity yielded the best test results (sensitivity 64%, specificity 100% and diagnostic efficiency 75%). Co-infection with HIV impacts on the histopathological features of pericardial tuberculosis and leads to a decrease in the sensitivity of the test. In areas which have a high prevalence of tuberculosis, the combination of a sensitive test such as adenosine deaminase, chest X-ray and clinical features has a higher diagnostic efficiency than pericardial biopsy in diagnosing tuberculous pericarditis.

Monitoring the Productivity of Coastal Systems Using PH ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The impact of nutrient inputs to the eutrophication of coastal ecosystems has been one of the great themes of coastal ecology. There have been countless studies devoted to quantifying how human sources of nutrients, in particular nitrogen (N), effect coastal water bodies. These studies, which often measure in situ concentrations of nutrients, chlorophyll, and dissolved oxygen, are often spatially and/or temporally intensive and expensive. We provide evidence from experimental mesocosms, coupled with data from the water column of a well-mixed estuary, that pH can be a quick, inexpensive, and integrative measure of net ecosystem metabolism. In some cases, this approach is a more sensitive tracer of production than direct measurements of chlorophyll and carbon-14. Taken together, our data suggest that pH is a sensitive, but often overlooked, tool for monitoring estuarine production. This presentation will explore the potential utility of pH as an indicator of ecosystem productivity. Our data suggest that pH is a sensitive and potentially integrator of net ecosystem production. It should not be overlooked, that measuring pH is quick, easy, and inexpensive, further increasing its value as an analytical tool.

Parallel Measurement of Circadian Clock Gene Expression and Hormone Secretion in Human Primary Cell Cultures.

PubMed

Petrenko, Volodymyr; Saini, Camille; Perrin, Laurent; Dibner, Charna

2016-11-11

Circadian clocks are functional in all light-sensitive organisms, allowing for an adaptation to the external world by anticipating daily environmental changes. Considerable progress in our understanding of the tight connection between the circadian clock and most aspects of physiology has been made in the field over the last decade. However, unraveling the molecular basis that underlies the function of the circadian oscillator in humans stays of highest technical challenge. Here, we provide a detailed description of an experimental approach for long-term (2-5 days) bioluminescence recording and outflow medium collection in cultured human primary cells. For this purpose, we have transduced primary cells with a lentiviral luciferase reporter that is under control of a core clock gene promoter, which allows for the parallel assessment of hormone secretion and circadian bioluminescence. Furthermore, we describe the conditions for disrupting the circadian clock in primary human cells by transfecting siRNA targeting CLOCK. Our results on the circadian regulation of insulin secretion by human pancreatic islets, and myokine secretion by human skeletal muscle cells, are presented here to illustrate the application of this methodology. These settings can be used to study the molecular makeup of human peripheral clocks and to analyze their functional impact on primary cells under physiological or pathophysiological conditions.

Impact of Procyanidins from Different Berries on Caspase 8 Activation in Colon Cancer.

PubMed

Minker, Carole; Duban, Livine; Karas, Daniel; Järvinen, Päivi; Lobstein, Annelise; Muller, Christian D

2015-01-01

The aim of this work is to identify which proapoptotic pathway is induced in human colon cancer cell lines, in contact with proanthocyanidins extracted from various berries. Proanthocyanidins (Pcys) extracted from 11 berry species are monitored for proapoptotic activities on two related human colon cancer cell lines: SW480-TRAIL-sensitive and SW620-TRAIL-resistant. Apoptosis induction is monitored by cell surface phosphatidylserine (PS) detection. Lowbush blueberry extract triggers the strongest activity. When tested on the human monocytic cell line THP-1, blueberry Pcys are less effective for PS externalisation and DNA fragmentation is absent, highlighting a specificity of apoptosis induction in gut cells. In Pcys-treated gut cell lines, caspase 8 (apoptosis extrinsic pathway) but not caspase 9 (apoptosis intrinsic pathway) is activated after 3 hours through P38 phosphorylation (90 min), emphasizing the potency of lowbush blueberry Pcys to eradicate gut TRAIL-resistant cancer cells. We highlight here that berries Pcys, especially lowbush blueberry Pcys, are of putative interest for nutritional chemoprevention of colorectal cancer in view of their apoptosis induction in a human colorectal cancer cell lines.

Laboratory Diagnosis of Human Rabies: Recent Advances

PubMed Central

Mani, Reeta Subramaniam; Madhusudana, Shampur Narayan

2013-01-01

Rabies, an acute progressive, fatal encephalomyelitis, transmitted most commonly through the bite of a rabid animal, is responsible for an estimated 61,000 human deaths worldwide. The true disease burden and public health impact due to rabies remain underestimated due to lack of sensitive laboratory diagnostic methods. Rapid diagnosis of rabies can help initiate prompt infection control and public health measures, obviate the need for unnecessary treatment/medical tests, and assist in timely administration of pre- or postexposure prophylactic vaccination to family members and medical staff. Antemortem diagnosis of human rabies provides an impetus for clinicians to attempt experimental therapeutic approaches in some patients, especially after the reported survival of a few cases of human rabies. Traditional methods for antemortem and postmortem rabies diagnosis have several limitations. Recent advances in technology have led to the improvement or development of several diagnostic assays which include methods for rabies viral antigen and antibody detection and assays for viral nucleic acid detection and identification of specific biomarkers. These assays which complement traditional methods have the potential to revolutionize rabies diagnosis in future. PMID:24348170

Climate warming and disease risks for terrestrial and marine biota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harvell, C.D.; Mitchell, C.E.; Ward, J.R.; Altizer, S.; Dobson, A.P.; Ostfeld, R.S.; Samuel, M.D.

2002-01-01

Infectious diseases can cause rapid population declines or species extinctions. Many pathogens of terrestrial and marine taxa are sensitive to temperature, rainfall, and humidity, creating synergisms that could affect biodiversity. Climate warming can increase pathogen development and survival rates, disease transmission, and host susceptibility. Although most host-parasite systems are predicted to experience more frequent or severe disease impacts with warming, a subset of pathogens might decline with warming, releasing hosts from disease. Recently, changes in El Niño–Southern Oscillation events have had a detectable influence on marine and terrestrial pathogens, including coral diseases, oyster pathogens, crop pathogens, Rift Valley fever, and human cholera. To improve our ability to predict epidemics in wild populations, it will be necessary to separate the independent and interactive effects of multiple climate drivers on disease impact.

Climate Warming and Disease Risks for Terrestrial and Marine Biota

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harvell, C. Drew; Mitchell, Charles E.; Ward, Jessica R.; Altizer, Sonia; Dobson, Andrew P.; Ostfeld, Richard S.; Samuel, Michael D.

2002-06-01

Infectious diseases can cause rapid population declines or species extinctions. Many pathogens of terrestrial and marine taxa are sensitive to temperature, rainfall, and humidity, creating synergisms that could affect biodiversity. Climate warming can increase pathogen development and survival rates, disease transmission, and host susceptibility. Although most host-parasite systems are predicted to experience more frequent or severe disease impacts with warming, a subset of pathogens might decline with warming, releasing hosts from disease. Recently, changes in El Niño-Southern Oscillation events have had a detectable influence on marine and terrestrial pathogens, including coral diseases, oyster pathogens, crop pathogens, Rift Valley fever, and human cholera. To improve our ability to predict epidemics in wild populations, it will be necessary to separate the independent and interactive effects of multiple climate drivers on disease impact.

MicroRNA-566 activates EGFR signaling and its inhibition sensitizes glioblastoma cells to nimotuzumab.

PubMed

Zhang, Kai-Liang; Zhou, Xuan; Han, Lei; Chen, Lu-Yue; Chen, Ling-Chao; Shi, Zhen-Dong; Yang, Ming; Ren, Yu; Yang, Jing-Xuan; Frank, Thomas S; Zhang, Chuan-Bao; Zhang, Jun-Xia; Pu, Pei-Yu; Zhang, Jian-Ning; Jiang, Tao; Wagner, Eric J; Li, Min; Kang, Chun-Sheng

2014-03-20

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is amplified in 40% of human glioblastomas. However, most glioblastoma patients respond poorly to anti-EGFR therapy. MicroRNAs can function as either oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes, and have been shown to play an important role in cancer cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis. Whether microRNAs can impact the therapeutic effects of EGFR inhibitors in glioblastoma is unknown. miR-566 expression levels were detected in glioma cell lines, using real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). Luciferase reporter assays and Western blots were used to validate VHL as a direct target gene of miR-566. Cell proliferation, invasion, cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were also examined to confirm whether miR-566 inhibition could sensitize anti-EGFR therapy. In this study, we demonstrated that miR-566 is up-regulated in human glioma cell lines and inhibition of miR-566 decreased the activity of the EGFR pathway. Lentiviral mediated inhibition of miR-566 in glioblastoma cell lines significantly inhibited cell proliferation and invasion and led to cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. In addition, we identified von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) as a novel functional target of miR-566. VHL regulates the formation of the β-catenin/hypoxia-inducible factors-1α complex under miR-566 regulation. miR-566 activated EGFR signaling and its inhibition sensitized glioblastoma cells to anti-EGFR therapy.

Secondary ion mass spectrometry: The application in the analysis of atmospheric particulate matter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Di; Hua, Xin; Xiu, Guang-Li

Currently, considerable attention has been paid to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) investigation due to its importance in human health and global climate change. Surface characterization of PM is important since the chemical heterogeneity between the surface and bulk may vary its impact on the environment and human being. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is a surface technique with high surface sensitivity, capable of high spatial chemical imaging and depth profiling. Recent research shows that SIMS holds great potential in analyzing both surface and bulk chemical information of PM. In this review, we presented the working principal of SIMS in PMmore » characterization, summarized recent applications in PM analysis from different sources, discussed its advantages and limitations, and proposed the future development of this technique with a perspective in environmental sciences.« less

Sensitivity and specificity of the online version of ImPACT in high school and collegiate athletes.

PubMed

Schatz, Philip; Sandel, Natalie

2013-02-01

The utility of postconcussion neurocognitive testing versus symptom data has been debated. The sensitivity of the desktop version of the Immediate Post-concussion assessment and cognitive testing (ImPACT) tool has been documented, but psychometric properties of the recently released online version of ImPACT have yet to be fully established. To document the sensitivity of the online ImPACT version in samples of (1) symptomatic concussed (high school and collegiate) athletes, and (2) asymptomatic concussed (high school and collegiate) athletes suspected of hiding their concussions. Cohort study; level of evidence, 3. A total of 81 athletes observed to sustain a concussion by a certified athletic trainer or team physician, a finding that was confirmed with reported postconcussion symptoms, completed the ImPACT test within 3 days of injury. Data were compared with an independent sample of 81 athletes who completed preseason baseline cognitive assessments using ImPACT and who were matched (with concussed athletes) on the basis of sex, age, sport, concussion history, and absence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disability. An independent group of 37 athletes who were also observed to sustain a concussion completed ImPACT within 3 days of injury. These athletes reported no postconcussion symptoms but were noted for suspected invalid response patterns on ImPACT (impulse control index >30 and verbal memory index <69%). The subscale data from the assessments (excluding those contributing to the aforementioned indices) were compared with a matched sample of 37 athletes who completed preseason baseline cognitive assessments in ImPACT (using the same criteria described above). Data from the ImPACT online version yielded 91.4% sensitivity and 69.1% specificity. For asymptomatic athletes suspected of hiding their concussion, data from ImPACT yielded 94.6% sensitivity and 97.3% specificity. The online version of the ImPACT tool is a valid measure of neurocognitive performance at the acute stages of concussion, with high levels of sensitivity and specificity, even when athletes appear to be denying postconcussion symptoms.

Sensitivity of health sector indicators' response to climate change in Ghana.

PubMed

Dovie, Delali B K; Dzodzomenyo, Mawuli; Ogunseitan, Oladele A

2017-01-01

There is accumulating evidence that the emerging burden of global climate change threatens the fidelity of routine indicators for disease detection and management of risks to public health. The threat partially reflects the conservative character of the health sector and the reluctance to adopt new indicators, despite the growing awareness that existing environmental health indicators were developed to respond to risks that may no longer be relevant, and are too simplistic to also act as indicators for newer global-scale risk factors. This study sought to understand the scope of existing health indicators, while aiming to discover new indicators for building resilience against three climate sensitive diseases (cerebro spinal meningitis, malaria and diarrhea). Therefore, new potential indicators derived from human and biophysical origins were developed to complement existing health indicators, thereby creating climate-sensitive battery of robust composite indices of resilience in health planning. Using Ghana's health sector as a case study systematic international literature review, national expert consultation, and focus group outcomes yielded insights into the relevance, sensitivity and impacts of 45 indicators in 11 categories in responding to climate change. In total, 65% of the indicators were sensitive to health impacts of climate change; 24% acted directly; 31% synergistically; and 45% indirectly, with indicator relevance strongly associated with type of health response. Epidemiological indicators (e.g. morbidity) and health demographic indicators (e.g. population structure) require adjustments with external indicators (e.g. biophysical, policy) to be resilient to climate change. Therefore, selective integration of social and ecological indicators with existing public health indicators improves the fidelity of the health sector to adopt more robust planning of interdependent systems to build resilience. The study highlights growing uncertainties in translating research into protective policies when new indicators associated with non-health sources are needed to complement existing health indicators that are expected to respond to climate change. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New impact sensitivity test of liquid explosives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiutiaev, Andrei; Trebunskih, Valeri

The sensitivity of liquid explosive in the presence of gas bubbles increases many times as compared with the liquid without gas bubbles. Local hot spot in this case formed as a result of compression and heating of the gas inside the bubbles. If we consider that in the liquid as a result of convection, wave motion, shock, etc. gas bubbles are easily generated, the need to develop a method for determining sensitivity of liquid explosives to impact and a detailed study of the ignition explosives with bubbles is obvious. On a mathematical model of a single steam bubbles in the fluid theoretically considered the process of initiating explosive liquid systems to impact. For the experimental investigation, the well-known K-44 -II with the metal cap were used. Instead of the metal cap in the standard method in this paper there was polyurethane foam cylindrical container with LHE, which is easily deforms by impact. A large number of tests with different liquid explosives were made. It was found that the test LHE to impact with polyurethane foam to a large extent reflect the real mechanical sensitivity due to the small loss of impact energy on the deformation of the metal cap, as well as the best differentiation LHE sensitivity due to the higher resolution method . Results obtained in the samara state technical university.

Comparison of visual sensitivity to human and object motion in autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Kaiser, Martha D; Delmolino, Lara; Tanaka, James W; Shiffrar, Maggie

2010-08-01

Successful social behavior requires the accurate detection of other people's movements. Consistent with this, typical observers demonstrate enhanced visual sensitivity to human movement relative to equally complex, nonhuman movement [e.g., Pinto & Shiffrar, 2009]. A psychophysical study investigated visual sensitivity to human motion relative to object motion in observers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants viewed point-light depictions of a moving person and, for comparison, a moving tractor and discriminated between coherent and scrambled versions of these stimuli in unmasked and masked displays. There were three groups of participants: young adults with ASD, typically developing young adults, and typically developing children. Across masking conditions, typical observers showed enhanced visual sensitivity to human movement while observers in the ASD group did not. Because the human body is an inherently social stimulus, this result is consistent with social brain theories [e.g., Pelphrey & Carter, 2008; Schultz, 2005] and suggests that the visual systems of individuals with ASD may not be tuned for the detection of socially relevant information such as the presence of another person. Reduced visual sensitivity to human movements could compromise important social behaviors including, for example, gesture comprehension.

Insights from Modeling the Integrated Climate, Biogeochemical Cycles, Human Activities and Their Interactions in the ACME Earth System Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leung, L. R.; Thornton, P. E.; Riley, W. J.; Calvin, K. V.

2017-12-01

Towards the goal of understanding the contributions from natural and managed systems to current and future greenhouse gas fluxes and carbon-climate and carbon-CO2 feedbacks, efforts have been underway to improve representations of the terrestrial, river, and human components of the ACME earth system model. Broadly, our efforts include implementation and comparison of approaches to represent the nutrient cycles and nutrient limitations on ecosystem production, extending the river transport model to represent sediment and riverine biogeochemistry, and coupling of human systems such as irrigation, reservoir operations, and energy and land use with the ACME land and river components. Numerical experiments have been designed to understand how terrestrial carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles regulate climate system feedbacks and the sensitivity of the feedbacks to different model treatments, examine key processes governing sediment and biogeochemistry in the rivers and their role in the carbon cycle, and exploring the impacts of human systems in perturbing the hydrological and carbon cycles and their interactions. This presentation will briefly introduce the ACME modeling approaches and discuss preliminary results and insights from numerical experiments that lay the foundation for improving understanding of the integrated climate-biogeochemistry-human system.

Genetic Thinking in the Study of Social Relationships: Five Points of Entry.

PubMed

Reiss, David

2010-09-01

For nearly a generation, researchers studying human behavioral development have combined genetically informed research designs with careful measures of social relationships such as parenting, sibling relationships, peer relationships, marital processes, social class stratifications, and patterns of social engagement in the elderly. In what way have these genetically informed studies altered the construction and testing of social theories of human development? We consider five points of entry where genetic thinking is taking hold. First, genetic findings suggest an alternative scenario for explaining social data. Associations between measures of the social environment and human development may be due to genes that influence both. Second, genetic studies add to other prompts to study the early developmental origins of current social phenomena in midlife and beyond. Third, genetic analyses promise to shed light on understudied social systems, such as sibling relationships, that have an impact on human development independent of genotype. Fourth, genetic analyses anchor in neurobiology individual differences in resilience and sensitivity to both adverse and favorable social environments. Finally, genetic analyses increase the utility of laboratory simulations of human social processes and of animal models. © The Author(s) 2010.

Energetic Materials Center Report--Small-Scale Safety and Thermal Testing Evaluation of Butyl Nitrate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hsu, Peter C.; Reynolds, John G.

2013-04-26

Butyl Nitrate (BN) was examined by Small-Scale Safety and Thermal (SSST) Testing techniques to determine its sensitivity to impact, friction, spark and thermal exposure simulating handling and storage conditions. Under the conditions tested, the BN exhibits thermal sensitivity above 150 °C, and does not exhibit sensitive to impact, friction or spark.

Investigation of explosives mechanic impact sensitivity on the samples

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Loboyko, B.G.; Alekseev, A.V.; Litvinov, B.V.

1996-05-01

Several results of investigation into HMX-based explosive compound sensitivity to mechanic impact on the samples are presented. Mechanic loading of samples was effected by dynamic insertion of a pin. Alternation of physical state of explosive compound on account of preliminary thermal treatment or destruction of samples increased their sensitivity considerably. {copyright} {ital 1996 American Institute of Physics.}

Impact of variations in triage cytology interpretation on human papillomavirus-based cervical screening and implications for screening algorithms.

PubMed

Ronco, Guglielmo; Zappa, Marco; Franceschi, Silvia; Tunesi, Sara; Caprioglio, Adele; Confortini, Massimo; Del Mistro, Annarosa; Carozzi, Francesca; Segnan, Nereo; Zorzi, Manuel; Giorgi-Rossi, Paolo

2016-11-01

Women positive to human papillomavirus (HPV+) testing at cervical screening need triage, typically cytology and immediate colposcopy in case of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) or worse (ASCUS+) or, in cytology-normal HPV+ women, HPV test repeat after 1 year and colposcopy referral if still HPV+. Our hypothesis was that substantial variations in triage positivity and sensitivity may produce little variation in overall referral to colposcopy and on sensitivity of the entire screening process. Centre- and age-aggregated data from 72,869 women aged 35-64 years were derived from 10 organised screening programmes which have piloted HPV screening in Italy since 2012. Overall colposcopy referral was evaluated as a function of immediate colposcopy referral and overall CIN2+ detection as a function of the proportion of all CIN2+ detected by immediate referral (a proxy of cytology's sensitivity). We fitted additive regression models, adjusted for centre, age, compliance to HPV retesting and to colposcopy, by generalised estimation equations. The proportion of HPV+ women directly referred to colposcopy varied across programmes (20-57%; average 37%) and so did CIN2+ detection (49-94%; average 77%). Overall, 63% (range 41-75%) of HPV+ were referred to colposcopy either immediately or at HPV repeat. An absolute 10% increase in immediate colposcopy referral resulted in 4.2% (95% CI: 3.3-5.1%) increase in overall referral. An absolute 10% increase in cytology's sensitivity resulted in a 1.1% (95% CI: 0.1-2.0%) increase in overall CIN2+ detection. Repeat HPV testing limits the effect of subjectivity of cytology interpretation on overall referral and sensitivity. These will change only slightly when replacing cytology with another test if the interval to HPV repeat remains unchanged. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous quantification of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, 11-hydroxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and 11-nor-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid in human plasma using two-dimensional gas chromatography, cryofocusing, and electron impact-mass spectrometry

PubMed Central

Lowe, Ross H.; Karschner, Erin L.; Schwilke, Eugene W.; Barnes, Allan J.; Huestis, Marilyn A.

2009-01-01

A two-dimensional (2D) gas chromatography/electron impact-mass spectrometry (GC/EI-MS) method for simultaneous quantification of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 11-hydroxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-THC), and 11-nor-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH) in human plasma was developed and validated. The method employs 2D capillary GC and cryofocusing for enhanced resolution and sensitivity. THC, 11-OH-THC, and THCCOOH were extracted by precipitation with acetonitrile followed by solid-phase extraction. GC separation of trimethylsilyl derivatives of analytes was accomplished with two capillary columns in series coupled via a pneumatic Deans switch system. Detection and quantification were accomplished with a bench-top single quadrupole mass spectrometer operated in electron impact-selected ion monitoring mode. Limits of quantification (LOQ) were 0.125, 0.25 and 0.125 ng/mL for THC, 11-OH-THC, and THCCOOH, respectively. Accuracy ranged from 86.0 to 113.0% for all analytes. Intra- and inter-assay precision, as percent relative standard deviation, was less than 14.1% for THC, 11-OH-THC, and THCCOOH. The method was successfully applied to quantification of THC and its 11-OH-THC and THCCOOH metabolites in plasma specimens following controlled administration of THC. PMID:17640656

Human Mars Ascent Configuration and Design Sensitivities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Polsgrove, Tara P.; Gernhardt, Mike; Collins, Tim; Martin, John

2017-01-01

Human missions to Mars may utilize several small cabins where crew members could live for days up to a couple of weeks. At the end of a Mars surface mission the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) crew cabin would carry the crew to their destination in orbit in a matter of hours or days. Other small cabins in support of a Mars mission would include pressurized rovers that allow crew members to travel great distances from their primary habitat on Mars while unconstrained by time limits of typical EVAs. An orbital crew taxi could allow for exploration of the moons of Mars with minimum impact to the primary Earth-Mars transportation systems. A common crew cabin design that can perform in each of these applications is desired and could reduce the overall mission cost. However, for the MAV, the crew cabin size and mass can have a large impact on vehicle design and performance. The total ascent vehicle mass drives performance requirements for the Mars descent systems and the Earth to Mars transportation elements. Minimizing MAV mass is a priority and minimizing the crew cabin size and mass is one way to do that. This paper explores the benefits and impacts of using a common crew cabin design for the MAV. Results of a MAV configuration trade study will be presented along with mass and performance estimates for the selected design.

DRD4 genotype predicts longevity in mouse and human.

PubMed

Grady, Deborah L; Thanos, Panayotis K; Corrada, Maria M; Barnett, Jeffrey C; Ciobanu, Valentina; Shustarovich, Diana; Napoli, Anthony; Moyzis, Alexandra G; Grandy, David; Rubinstein, Marcelo; Wang, Gene-Jack; Kawas, Claudia H; Chen, Chuansheng; Dong, Qi; Wang, Eric; Volkow, Nora D; Moyzis, Robert K

2013-01-02

Longevity is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. The brain's dopamine system may be particularly relevant, since it modulates traits (e.g., sensitivity to reward, incentive motivation, sustained effort) that impact behavioral responses to the environment. In particular, the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) has been shown to moderate the impact of environments on behavior and health. We tested the hypothesis that the DRD4 gene influences longevity and that its impact is mediated through environmental effects. Surviving participants of a 30-year-old population-based health survey (N = 310; age range, 90-109 years; the 90+ Study) were genotyped/resequenced at the DRD4 gene and compared with a European ancestry-matched younger population (N = 2902; age range, 7-45 years). We found that the oldest-old population had a 66% increase in individuals carrying the DRD4 7R allele relative to the younger sample (p = 3.5 × 10(-9)), and that this genotype was strongly correlated with increased levels of physical activity. Consistent with these results, DRD4 knock-out mice, when compared with wild-type and heterozygous mice, displayed a 7-9.7% decrease in lifespan, reduced spontaneous locomotor activity, and no lifespan increase when reared in an enriched environment. These results support the hypothesis that DRD4 gene variants contribute to longevity in humans and in mice, and suggest that this effect is mediated by shaping behavioral responses to the environment.

Interplay between mast cells, enterochromaffin cells, and sensory signaling in the aging human bowel.

PubMed

Yu, Y; Daly, D M; Adam, I J; Kitsanta, P; Hill, C J; Wild, J; Shorthouse, A; Grundy, D; Jiang, W

2016-10-01

Advanced age is associated with a reduction in clinical visceral pain perception. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Previous studies have suggested that an abnormal interplay between mast cells, enterochromaffin (EC) cells, and afferent nerves contribute to nociception in gastrointestinal disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate how aging affects afferent sensitivity and neuro-immune association in the human bowel. Mechanical and chemical sensitivity of human bowel afferents were examined by ex vivo afferent nerve recordings. Age-related changes in the density of mast cells, EC cells, sensory nerve terminals, and mast cell-nerve micro-anatomical association were investigated by histological and immune staining. Human afferents could be broadly classified into subpopulations displaying mechanical and chemical sensitivity, adaptation, chemo-sensitization, and recruitment. Interestingly human bowel afferent nerve sensitivity was attenuated with age. The density of substance P-immunoreactive (SP-IR) nerve varicosities was also reduced with age. In contrast, the density of ileal and colonic mucosal mast cells was increased with age, as was ileal EC cell number. An increased proportion of mast cells was found in close apposition to SP-IR nerves. Afferent sensitivity in human bowel was reduced with advancing age. Augmentation of mast cells and EC cell numbers and the mast cell-nerve association suggest a compensatory mechanism for sensory neurodegeneration. © 2016 The Authors. Neurogastroenterology & Motility Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Plasma stable, pH-sensitive fusogenic polymer-modified liposomes: A promising carrier for mitoxantrone.

PubMed

Ghanbarzadeh, Saeed; Arami, Sanam; Pourmoazzen, Zhaleh; Ghasemian-Yadegari, Javad; Khorrami, Arash

2014-07-01

pH-sensitive liposomes are designed to undergo acid-triggered destabilization. In the present study, we prepared polymer-modified, plasma stable, pH-sensitive fusogenic mitoxantrone liposomes to increase efficacy and selectivity on cancer cell lines. Conventional liposomes were prepared using cholesterol and dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylethanolamine. Dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine and a cholesteryl derivative, poly(monomethylitaconate)-co-poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PMMI-co-PDMAEMA), were used for the preparation of pH-sensitive fusogenic liposomes. Using polyethylene glycol (PEG)-poly(monomethylitaconate)-CholC6 (PEG-PMMI-CholC6) copolymers instead of cholesterol introduced pH-sensitive and plasma stability properties simultaneously in prepared liposomes. All formulations were prepared by thin film hydration method and subsequently, pH-sensitivity and stability in human serum were evaluated. The ability of pH-sensitive fusogenic liposomes to enhance the mitoxantrone cytotoxicity and selectivity in cancerous cell lines was assessed in vitro compared to normal cell line using human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), human prostate cancer cell line (PC-3), and human umbilical vein endothelial cells line. Results revealed that both PMMI-co-PDMAEMA and PEG-PMMI-CholC6-based formulations showed pH-sensitive property and were found to rapidly release mitoxantrone under mildly acidic conditions. Nevertheless, only the PEG-PMMI-CholC6-based liposomes preserved pH-sensitivity after incubation in plasma. Mitoxantrone loaded-pH-sensitive fusogenic liposomes exhibited a higher cytotoxicity than the control conventional liposomes on MCF-7 and PC-3 cell lines. On the contrary, both pH-sensitive fusogenic liposomes showed lower cytotoxic effect on human umbilical vein endothelial cell line. Plasma stable, pH-sensitive fusogenic liposomes are promising carriers for enhancing the efficiency and selectivity, besides reduction of the side effects of anticancer agents. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Quantifying the environmental impact of a Li-rich high-capacity cathode material in electric vehicles via life cycle assessment.

PubMed

Wang, Yuqi; Yu, Yajuan; Huang, Kai; Chen, Bo; Deng, Wensheng; Yao, Ying

2017-01-01

A promising Li-rich high-capacity cathode material (xLi 2 MnO 3 ·(1-x)LiMn 0.5 Ni 0.5 O 2 ) has received much attention with regard to improving the performance of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. This study presents an environmental impact evaluation of a lithium-ion battery with Li-rich materials used in an electric vehicle throughout the life cycle of the battery. A comparison between this cathode material and a Li-ion cathode material containing cobalt was compiled in this study. The battery use stage was found to play a large role in the total environmental impact and high greenhouse gas emissions. During battery production, cathode material manufacturing has the highest environmental impact due to its complex processing and variety of raw materials. Compared to the cathode with cobalt, the Li-rich material generates fewer impacts in terms of human health and ecosystem quality. Through the life cycle assessment (LCA) results and sensitivity analysis, we found that the electricity mix and energy efficiency significantly influence the environmental impacts of both battery production and battery use. This paper also provides a detailed life cycle inventory, including firsthand data on lithium-ion batteries with Li-rich cathode materials.

The impact of stillbirth on bereaved parents: A qualitative study.

PubMed

Nuzum, Daniel; Meaney, Sarah; O'Donoghue, Keelin

2018-01-01

To explore the lived experiences and personal impact of stillbirth on bereaved parents. Semi-structured in-depth interviews analysed by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) on a purposive sample of parents of twelve babies born following fetal death at a tertiary university maternity hospital in Ireland with a birth rate of c8,500 per annum and a stillbirth rate of 4.6/1000. Stillbirth had a profound and enduring impact on bereaved parents. Four superordinate themes relating to the human impact of stillbirth emerged from the data: maintaining hope, importance of the personhood of the baby, protective care and relationships (personal and professional). Bereaved parents recalled in vivid detail their experiences of care following diagnosis of stillbirth and their subsequent care. The time between diagnosis of a life-limiting anomaly or stillbirth and delivery is highlighted as important for parents as they find meaning in their loss. The impact of stillbirth on bereaved parents is immense and how parents are cared for is recalled in precise detail as they revisit their experience. Building on existing literature, these data bring to light the depth of personal experience and impact of stillbirth for parents and provides medical professionals with valuable insights to inform their care of bereaved parents and the importance of clear and sensitive communication.

Zoonotic infections in Alaska: disease prevalence, potential impact of climate change and recommended actions for earlier disease detection, research, prevention and control

PubMed Central

Hueffer, Karsten; Parkinson, Alan J.; Gerlach, Robert

2013-01-01

Over the last 60 years, Alaska's mean annual temperature has increased by 1.6°C, more than twice the rate of the rest of the United States. As a result, climate change impacts are more pronounced here than in other regions of the United States. Warmer temperatures may allow some infected host animals to survive winters in larger numbers, increase their population and expand their range of habitation thus increasing the opportunity for transmission of infection to humans. Subsistence hunting and gathering activities may place rural residents of Alaska at a greater risk of acquiring zoonotic infections than urban residents. Known zoonotic diseases that occur in Alaska include brucellosis, toxoplasmosis, trichinellosis, giardiasis/cryptosporidiosis, echinococcosis, rabies and tularemia. Actions for early disease detection, research and prevention and control include: (1) determining baseline levels of infection and disease in both humans and host animals; (2) conducting more research to understand the ecology of infection in the Arctic environment; (3) improving active and passive surveillance systems for infection and disease in humans and animals; (4) improving outreach, education and communication on climate-sensitive infectious diseases at the community, health and animal care provider levels; and (5) improving coordination between public health and animal health agencies, universities and tribal health organisations. PMID:23399790

Human-assisted invasions of pacific islands by litoria frogs: a case study of the bleating tree frog on Lord Howe Island.

PubMed

Plenderleith, T Lynette; Smith, Katie L; Donnellan, Stephen C; Reina, Richard D; Chapple, David G

2015-01-01

There are substantial differences among taxonomic groups in their capacity to reach remote oceanic islands via long-distance overwater dispersal from mainland regions. Due to their permeable skin and intolerance of saltwater, amphibians generally require human-assisted dispersal to reach oceanic islands. Several Litoria frog species have been introduced to remote islands throughout the Pacific Ocean region. Lord Howe Island (LHI) is an oceanic island that lies approximately 600 km east of the Australian mainland and has a diverse, endemic biota. The bleating tree frog (Litoria dentata) is native to mainland eastern Australia, but was accidentally introduced to LHI in the 1990s, yet its ecology and potential impact on LHI has remained unstudied. We used a mitochondrial phylogeographical approach to determine that L. dentata was introduced from the Ballina region in northeastern New South Wales. The founding population was likely accidentally introduced with cargo shipped from the mainland. We also completed the first detailed investigation of the distribution, ecology and habitat use of L. dentata on LHI. The species is widespread on LHI and is prevalent in human habitat, cattle pasture and undisturbed forest. We discuss the potential impact of introduced Litoria species on Pacific islands and outline what biosecurity protocols could be implemented to prevent the introduction of further amphibian species to the ecologically sensitive oceanic area.

Human-Assisted Invasions of Pacific Islands by Litoria Frogs: A Case Study of the Bleating Tree Frog on Lord Howe Island

PubMed Central

Plenderleith, T. Lynette; Smith, Katie L.; Donnellan, Stephen C.; Reina, Richard D.; Chapple, David G.

2015-01-01

There are substantial differences among taxonomic groups in their capacity to reach remote oceanic islands via long-distance overwater dispersal from mainland regions. Due to their permeable skin and intolerance of saltwater, amphibians generally require human-assisted dispersal to reach oceanic islands. Several Litoria frog species have been introduced to remote islands throughout the Pacific Ocean region. Lord Howe Island (LHI) is an oceanic island that lies approximately 600 km east of the Australian mainland and has a diverse, endemic biota. The bleating tree frog (Litoria dentata) is native to mainland eastern Australia, but was accidentally introduced to LHI in the 1990s, yet its ecology and potential impact on LHI has remained unstudied. We used a mitochondrial phylogeographical approach to determine that L. dentata was introduced from the Ballina region in northeastern New South Wales. The founding population was likely accidentally introduced with cargo shipped from the mainland. We also completed the first detailed investigation of the distribution, ecology and habitat use of L. dentata on LHI. The species is widespread on LHI and is prevalent in human habitat, cattle pasture and undisturbed forest. We discuss the potential impact of introduced Litoria species on Pacific islands and outline what biosecurity protocols could be implemented to prevent the introduction of further amphibian species to the ecologically sensitive oceanic area. PMID:25962141

GWAS of human bitter taste perception identifies new loci and reveals additional complexity of bitter taste genetics.

PubMed

Ledda, Mirko; Kutalik, Zoltán; Souza Destito, Maria C; Souza, Milena M; Cirillo, Cintia A; Zamboni, Amabilene; Martin, Nathalie; Morya, Edgard; Sameshima, Koichi; Beckmann, Jacques S; le Coutre, Johannes; Bergmann, Sven; Genick, Ulrich K

2014-01-01

Human perception of bitterness displays pronounced interindividual variation. This phenotypic variation is mirrored by equally pronounced genetic variation in the family of bitter taste receptor genes. To better understand the effects of common genetic variations on human bitter taste perception, we conducted a genome-wide association study on a discovery panel of 504 subjects and a validation panel of 104 subjects from the general population of São Paulo in Brazil. Correction for general taste-sensitivity allowed us to identify a SNP in the cluster of bitter taste receptors on chr12 (10.88- 11.24 Mb, build 36.1) significantly associated (best SNP: rs2708377, P = 5.31 × 10(-13), r(2) = 8.9%, β = -0.12, s.e. = 0.016) with the perceived bitterness of caffeine. This association overlaps with-but is statistically distinct from-the previously identified SNP rs10772420 influencing the perception of quinine bitterness that falls in the same bitter taste cluster. We replicated this association to quinine perception (P = 4.97 × 10(-37), r(2) = 23.2%, β = 0.25, s.e. = 0.020) and additionally found the effect of this genetic locus to be concentration specific with a strong impact on the perception of low, but no impact on the perception of high concentrations of quinine. Our study, thus, furthers our understanding of the complex genetic architecture of bitter taste perception.

Design analysis of an MPI human functional brain scanner

PubMed Central

Mason, Erica E.; Cooley, Clarissa Z.; Cauley, Stephen F.; Griswold, Mark A.; Conolly, Steven M.; Wald, Lawrence L.

2017-01-01

MPI’s high sensitivity makes it a promising modality for imaging brain function. Functional contrast is proposed based on blood SPION concentration changes due to Cerebral Blood Volume (CBV) increases during activation, a mechanism utilized in fMRI studies. MPI offers the potential for a direct and more sensitive measure of SPION concentration, and thus CBV, than fMRI. As such, fMPI could surpass fMRI in sensitivity, enhancing the scientific and clinical value of functional imaging. As human-sized MPI systems have not been attempted, we assess the technical challenges of scaling MPI from rodent to human brain. We use a full-system MPI simulator to test arbitrary hardware designs and encoding practices, and we examine tradeoffs imposed by constraints that arise when scaling to human size as well as safety constraints (PNS and central nervous system stimulation) not considered in animal scanners, thereby estimating spatial resolutions and sensitivities achievable with current technology. Using a projection FFL MPI system, we examine coil hardware options and their implications for sensitivity and spatial resolution. We estimate that an fMPI brain scanner is feasible, although with reduced sensitivity (20×) and spatial resolution (5×) compared to existing rodent systems. Nonetheless, it retains sufficient sensitivity and spatial resolution to make it an attractive future instrument for studying the human brain; additional technical innovations can result in further improvements. PMID:28752130

A model of chronic diabetic polyneuropathy: benefits from intranasal insulin are modified by sex and RAGE deletion

PubMed Central

de la Hoz, Cristiane L.; Cheng, Chu; Fernyhough, Paul

2017-01-01

Human diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) is a progressive complication of chronic diabetes mellitus. Preliminary evidence has suggested that intranasal insulin, in doses insufficient to alter hyperglycemia, suppresses the development of DPN. In this work we confirm this finding, but demonstrate that its impact is modified by sex and deletion of RAGE, the receptor for advanced glycosylation end products. We serially evaluated experimental DPN in male and female wild-type mice and male RAGE null (RN) mice, each with nondiabetic controls, during 16 wk of diabetes, the final 8 wk including groups given intranasal insulin. Age-matched nondiabetic female mice had higher motor and sensory conduction velocities than their male counterparts and had lesser conduction slowing from chronic diabetes. Intranasal insulin improved slowing in both sexes. In male RN mice, there was less conduction slowing with chronic diabetes, and intranasal insulin provided limited benefits. Rotarod testing and hindpaw grip power offered less consistent impacts. Mechanical sensitivity and thermal sensitivity were respectively but disparately changed and improved with insulin in wild-type female and male mice but not RN male mice. These studies confirm that intranasal insulin improves indexes of experimental DPN but indicates that females with DPN may differ in their underlying phenotype. RN mice had partial but incomplete protection from underlying DPN and lesser impacts from insulin. We also identify an important role for sex in the development of DPN and report evidence that insulin and AGE-RAGE pathways in its pathogenesis may overlap. PMID:28223295

Monoamine-Sensitive Developmental Periods Impacting Adult Emotional and Cognitive Behaviors

PubMed Central

Suri, Deepika; Teixeira, Cátia M; Cagliostro, Martha K Caffrey; Mahadevia, Darshini; Ansorge, Mark S

2015-01-01

Development passes through sensitive periods, during which plasticity allows for genetic and environmental factors to exert indelible influence on the maturation of the organism. In the context of central nervous system development, such sensitive periods shape the formation of neurocircuits that mediate, regulate, and control behavior. This general mechanism allows for development to be guided by both the genetic blueprint as well as the environmental context. While allowing for adaptation, such sensitive periods are also vulnerability windows during which external and internal factors can confer risk to disorders by derailing otherwise resilient developmental programs. Here we review developmental periods that are sensitive to monoamine signaling and impact adult behaviors of relevance to psychiatry. Specifically, we review (1) a serotonin-sensitive period that impacts sensory system development, (2) a serotonin-sensitive period that impacts cognition, anxiety- and depression-related behaviors, and (3) a dopamine- and serotonin-sensitive period affecting aggression, impulsivity and behavioral response to psychostimulants. We discuss preclinical data to provide mechanistic insight, as well as epidemiological and clinical data to point out translational relevance. The field of translational developmental neuroscience has progressed exponentially providing solid conceptual advances and unprecedented mechanistic insight. With such knowledge at hand and important methodological innovation ongoing, the field is poised for breakthroughs elucidating the developmental origins of neuropsychiatric disorders, and thus understanding pathophysiology. Such knowledge of sensitive periods that determine the developmental trajectory of complex behaviors is a necessary step towards improving prevention and treatment approaches for neuropsychiatric disorders. PMID:25178408

Internal noise sources limiting contrast sensitivity.

PubMed

Silvestre, Daphné; Arleo, Angelo; Allard, Rémy

2018-02-07

Contrast sensitivity varies substantially as a function of spatial frequency and luminance intensity. The variation as a function of luminance intensity is well known and characterized by three laws that can be attributed to the impact of three internal noise sources: early spontaneous neural activity limiting contrast sensitivity at low luminance intensities (i.e. early noise responsible for the linear law), probabilistic photon absorption at intermediate luminance intensities (i.e. photon noise responsible for de Vries-Rose law) and late spontaneous neural activity at high luminance intensities (i.e. late noise responsible for Weber's law). The aim of this study was to characterize how the impact of these three internal noise sources vary with spatial frequency and determine which one is limiting contrast sensitivity as a function of luminance intensity and spatial frequency. To estimate the impact of the different internal noise sources, the current study used an external noise paradigm to factorize contrast sensitivity into equivalent input noise and calculation efficiency over a wide range of luminance intensities and spatial frequencies. The impact of early and late noise was found to drop linearly with spatial frequency, whereas the impact of photon noise rose with spatial frequency due to ocular factors.

A review of major factors influencing plant responses to recreation impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuss, Fred R.

1986-09-01

This article reviews some of the more important factors found to influence the susceptibility of plants to trampling impacts associated with recreational use of natural areas. A three-way interaction mediates plant responses to impacts: plant x environment x stress level(s). Plant responses vary in part according to the genetic constitution of the plant, life and growth form, the adaptive flexibility of the plant, and anatomical differences inherent to growth habit and morphology. Other factors that influence plant sensitivities to impacts are the habitat environments in which plants grow, since a number of conditions such as moisture excesses or deficiencies, nitrogen or oxygen starvation, late frosts, etc., cause physiological injury and may increase plant sensitivity to impacts. Among the environmental factors that may increase or lessen plant sensitivities to impacts are soil moisture levels, canopy density, elevation, aspect, microclimate, soil drainage, texture, fertility and productivity. Seasonal influences also bear consideration since environmental changes and phonological and physiological events are mediated by time of year. Stresses are caused by both direct and indirect forms of impact and vary according to season of use, frequency and amount of use, and the type of activity. These interactions are further complicated by evidence that inter- and intraspecific competition, antagonism, and commensalism may influence differences in the sensitivity of plant communities to impacts.

Sensitivity of global terrestrial ecosystems to climate variability.

PubMed

Seddon, Alistair W R; Macias-Fauria, Marc; Long, Peter R; Benz, David; Willis, Kathy J

2016-03-10

The identification of properties that contribute to the persistence and resilience of ecosystems despite climate change constitutes a research priority of global relevance. Here we present a novel, empirical approach to assess the relative sensitivity of ecosystems to climate variability, one property of resilience that builds on theoretical modelling work recognizing that systems closer to critical thresholds respond more sensitively to external perturbations. We develop a new metric, the vegetation sensitivity index, that identifies areas sensitive to climate variability over the past 14 years. The metric uses time series data derived from the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) enhanced vegetation index, and three climatic variables that drive vegetation productivity (air temperature, water availability and cloud cover). Underlying the analysis is an autoregressive modelling approach used to identify climate drivers of vegetation productivity on monthly timescales, in addition to regions with memory effects and reduced response rates to external forcing. We find ecologically sensitive regions with amplified responses to climate variability in the Arctic tundra, parts of the boreal forest belt, the tropical rainforest, alpine regions worldwide, steppe and prairie regions of central Asia and North and South America, the Caatinga deciduous forest in eastern South America, and eastern areas of Australia. Our study provides a quantitative methodology for assessing the relative response rate of ecosystems--be they natural or with a strong anthropogenic signature--to environmental variability, which is the first step towards addressing why some regions appear to be more sensitive than others, and what impact this has on the resilience of ecosystem service provision and human well-being.

Sensitivity of global terrestrial ecosystems to climate variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seddon, Alistair W. R.; Macias-Fauria, Marc; Long, Peter R.; Benz, David; Willis, Kathy J.

2016-03-01

The identification of properties that contribute to the persistence and resilience of ecosystems despite climate change constitutes a research priority of global relevance. Here we present a novel, empirical approach to assess the relative sensitivity of ecosystems to climate variability, one property of resilience that builds on theoretical modelling work recognizing that systems closer to critical thresholds respond more sensitively to external perturbations. We develop a new metric, the vegetation sensitivity index, that identifies areas sensitive to climate variability over the past 14 years. The metric uses time series data derived from the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) enhanced vegetation index, and three climatic variables that drive vegetation productivity (air temperature, water availability and cloud cover). Underlying the analysis is an autoregressive modelling approach used to identify climate drivers of vegetation productivity on monthly timescales, in addition to regions with memory effects and reduced response rates to external forcing. We find ecologically sensitive regions with amplified responses to climate variability in the Arctic tundra, parts of the boreal forest belt, the tropical rainforest, alpine regions worldwide, steppe and prairie regions of central Asia and North and South America, the Caatinga deciduous forest in eastern South America, and eastern areas of Australia. Our study provides a quantitative methodology for assessing the relative response rate of ecosystems—be they natural or with a strong anthropogenic signature—to environmental variability, which is the first step towards addressing why some regions appear to be more sensitive than others, and what impact this has on the resilience of ecosystem service provision and human well-being.

Molecular mechanisms of maternal cannabis and cigarette use on human neurodevelopment

PubMed Central

Morris, Claudia V.; DiNieri, Jennifer A.; Szutorisz, Henrietta; Hurd, Yasmin L.

2011-01-01

Prenatal development is highly sensitive to maternal drug use due to the vulnerability for disruption of the fetal brain where the ongoing neurodevelopmental, resulting in lifelong consequences that can enhance risk for psychiatric disorders. Cannabis and cigarettes are the most commonly used illicit and licit substances, respectively, among pregnant women. While the behavioral consequences of prenatal cannabis and cigarette exposure have been well-documented in epidemiological and clinical studies, only recently have investigations into the molecular mechanisms associated with the developmental impact of early drug exposure been addressed. This article reviews the literature relevant to long-term gene expression disturbances in the human fetal brain in relation to maternal cannabis and cigarette use. To provide translational insights, we discuss animal models in which protracted molecular consequences of prenatal cannabis and cigarette exposure can be better explored and enable future evaluation of epigenetic pathways such as DNA methylation and histone modification that could potentially maintain abnormal gene regulation and related behavioral disturbances. Altogether, this information may help to address the current gaps of knowledge regarding the impact of early drug exposure that set in motion lifelong molecular disturbances that underlie vulnerability to psychiatric disorders. PMID:22103415

Observing and simulating the impact of growing urbanization on air quality and climate in the Eastern Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanakidou, Maria; Myriokefalitakis, Stelios; Mihalopoulos, Nikos; Vrekoussis, Mihalis; Daskalakis, Nikos; Sfakianaki, Maria; Hatziannastassiou, Nikos; Im, Ulas

2016-07-01

The Mediterranean, and particularly its east basin, is a crossroad of air masses coming from Europe, Asia and Africa. Over this area, anthropogenic emissions, mainly from Europe, Balkans and the Black Sea, meet with natural emissions from Sahara (Saharan dust), vegetation and the ocean as well as from biomass burning, overall presenting a strong seasonal pattern. As a consequence of its unique location and emissions, the Mediterranean region is climatically very sensitive and often exposed to multiple stresses, such as a simultaneous water shortage and elevated air pollution exposure. During the last decades, the Eastern Mediterranean, following the general trend, has experienced a rapid growth in urbanization, including increased vehicle circulation, and industrialization, all impacting pollutant emissions in the atmosphere. Air pollution is one of the challenging environmental problems for Istanbul and Cairo megacities but also for the whole Eastern Mediterranean region. The recent financial crisis resulted in changes in human habits, energy production and subsequently air pollution. This resulted in changes in tropospheric composition that reflect changes in natural emissions and in human behavior have been detected by satellites and simulated by chemistry transport models. The results are presented and their robustness is discussed.

Human factors issues in performing life science experiments in a 0-G environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gonzalez, Wayne

1989-01-01

An overview of the environmental conditions within the Spacelab and the planned Space Station Freedom is presented. How this environment causes specific Human Factors problems and the nature of design solutions are described. The impact of these problems and solutions on the performance of life science activities onboard Spacelab (SL) and Space Station Freedom (SSF) is discussed. The first area highlighted is contamination. The permanence of SSF in contrast to the two-week mission of SL has significant impacts on crew and specimen protection requirements and, thus, resource utilization. These requirements, in turn impose restrictions on working volumes, scheduling, training, and scope of experimental procedures. A second area is microgravity. This means that all specimens, materials, and apparatus must be restrained and carefully controlled. Because so much of the scientific activity must occur within restricted enclosures (gloveboxes), the provisions for restraint and control are made more complex. The third topic is crewmember biomechanics and the problems of movement and task performance in microgravity. In addition to the need to stabilize the body for the performance of tasks, performance of very sensitive tasks such as dissection is difficult. The issue of space sickness and adaption is considered in this context.

Predicting phenotype from genotype: Improving accuracy through more robust experimental and computational modeling.

PubMed

Gallion, Jonathan; Koire, Amanda; Katsonis, Panagiotis; Schoenegge, Anne-Marie; Bouvier, Michel; Lichtarge, Olivier

2017-05-01

Computational prediction yields efficient and scalable initial assessments of how variants of unknown significance may affect human health. However, when discrepancies between these predictions and direct experimental measurements of functional impact arise, inaccurate computational predictions are frequently assumed as the source. Here, we present a methodological analysis indicating that shortcomings in both computational and biological data can contribute to these disagreements. We demonstrate that incomplete assaying of multifunctional proteins can affect the strength of correlations between prediction and experiments; a variant's full impact on function is better quantified by considering multiple assays that probe an ensemble of protein functions. Additionally, many variants predictions are sensitive to protein alignment construction and can be customized to maximize relevance of predictions to a specific experimental question. We conclude that inconsistencies between computation and experiment can often be attributed to the fact that they do not test identical hypotheses. Aligning the design of the computational input with the design of the experimental output will require cooperation between computational and biological scientists, but will also lead to improved estimations of computational prediction accuracy and a better understanding of the genotype-phenotype relationship. © 2017 The Authors. **Human Mutation published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effects of overnight fasting on working memory-related brain network: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Chechko, Natalia; Vocke, Sebastian; Habel, Ute; Toygar, Timur; Kuckartz, Lisa; Berthold-Losleben, Mark; Laoutidis, Zacharias G; Orfanos, Stelios; Wassenberg, Annette; Karges, Wölfram; Schneider, Frank; Kohn, Nils

2015-03-01

Glucose metabolism serves as the central source of energy for the human brain. Little is known about the effects of blood glucose level (BGL) on higher-order cognitive functions within a physiological range (e.g., after overnight fasting). In this randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind study, we assessed the impact of overnight fasting (14 h) on brain activation during a working memory task. We sought to mimic BGLs that occur naturally in healthy humans after overnight fasting. After standardized periods of food restriction, 40 (20 male) healthy participants were randomly assigned to receive either glucagon to balance the BGL or placebo (NaCl). A parametric fMRI paradigm, including 2-back and 0-back tasks, was used. Subclinically low BGL following overnight fasting was found to be linked to reduced involvement of the bilateral dorsal midline thalamus and the bilateral basal ganglia, suggesting high sensitivity of those regions to minimal changes in BGLs. Our results indicate that overnight fasting leads to physiologically low levels of glucose, impacting brain activation during working memory tasks even when there are no differences in cognitive performance. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Modeling Anthropogenic Impact on Sediment Balance and Relative Sea-Level Rise in Contemporary and Future Deltas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tessler, Z. D.; Vorosmarty, C. J.; Overeem, I.; Syvitski, J. P.

2017-12-01

Modern deltas are dependent on human-mediated freshwater and sediment fluxes. Changes to these fluxes impact delta biogeophysical functioning, and affect the long-term sustainability of these landscapes for both human and natural systems. Here we present contemporary estimates of long-term mean sediment balance and relative sea-level rise across 46 global deltas. We model ongoing development and scenarios of future water resource management and hydropower infrastructure in upstream river basins to explore how changing sediment fluxes impact relative sea-level in coastal delta systems. Model results show that contemporary sediment fluxes, anthropogenic drivers of land subsidence, and sea-level rise result in relative sea-level rise rates in deltas that average 6.8 mm/year. Currently planned or under-construction dams can be expected to increase rates of relative sea-level rise on the order of 1 mm/year. Some deltas systems, including the Magdalena, Orinoco, and Indus, are highly sensitive to future impoundment of river basins, with RSLR rates increasing up to 4 mm/year in a high-hydropower-utilization scenario. Sediment fluxes may be reduced by up to 60% in the Danube and 21% in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Megnha if all currently planned dams are constructed. Reduced sediment retention on deltas due to increased river channelization and local flood controls increases RSLR on average by nearly 2 mm/year. Long-term delta sustainability requires a more complete understanding of how geophysical and anthropogenic change impact delta geomorphology. Strategies for sustainable delta management that focus on local and regional drivers of change, especially groundwater and hydrocarbon extraction and upstream dam construction, can be highly impactful even in the context of global climate-induced sea-level rise.

How Has Human-induced Climate Change Affected California Drought Risk?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, L.; Hoerling, M. P.; Aghakouchak, A.; Livneh, B.; Quan, X. W.; Eischeid, J. K.

2015-12-01

The current California drought has cast a heavy burden on statewide agriculture and water resources, further exacerbated by concurrent extreme high temperatures. Furthermore, industrial-era global radiative forcing brings into question the role of long-term climate change on CA drought. How has human-induced climate change affected California drought risk? Here, observations and model experimentation are applied to characterize this drought employing metrics that synthesize drought duration, cumulative precipitation deficit, and soil moisture depletion. The model simulations show that increases in radiative forcing since the late 19th Century induces both increased annual precipitation and increased surface temperature over California, consistent with prior model studies and with observed long-term change. As a result, there is no material difference in the frequency of droughts defined using bivariate indicators of precipitation and near-surface (10-cm) soil moisture, because shallow soil moisture responds most sensitively to increased evaporation driven by warming, which compensates the increase in the precipitation. However, when using soil moisture within a deep root zone layer (1-m) as co-variate, droughts become less frequent because deep soil moisture responds most sensitively to increased precipitation. The results illustrate the different land surface responses to anthropogenic forcing that are relevant for near-surface moisture exchange and for root zone moisture availability. The latter is especially relevant for agricultural impacts as the deep layer dictates moisture availability for plants, trees, and many crops. The results thus indicate the net effect of climate change has made agricultural drought less likely, and that the current severe impacts of drought on California's agriculture has not been substantially caused by long-term climate changes.

Impact and Cost-effectiveness of 3 Doses of 9-Valent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine Among US Females Previously Vaccinated With 4-Valent HPV Vaccine.

PubMed

Chesson, Harrell W; Laprise, Jean-François; Brisson, Marc; Markowitz, Lauri E

2016-06-01

We estimated the potential impact and cost-effectiveness of providing 3-doses of nonavalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (9vHPV) to females aged 13-18 years who had previously completed a series of quadrivalent HPV vaccine (4vHPV), a strategy we refer to as "additional 9vHPV vaccination." We used 2 distinct models: (1) the simplified model, which is among the most basic of the published dynamic HPV models, and (2) the US HPV-ADVISE model, a complex, stochastic, individual-based transmission-dynamic model. When assuming no 4vHPV cross-protection, the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained by additional 9vHPV vaccination was $146 200 in the simplified model and $108 200 in the US HPV-ADVISE model ($191 800 when assuming 4vHPV cross-protection). In 1-way sensitivity analyses in the scenario of no 4vHPV cross-protection, the simplified model results ranged from $70 300 to $182 000, and the US HPV-ADVISE model results ranged from $97 600 to $118 900. The average cost per QALY gained by additional 9vHPV vaccination exceeded $100 000 in both models. However, the results varied considerably in sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. Additional 9vHPV vaccination is likely not as efficient as many other potential HPV vaccination strategies, such as increasing primary 9vHPV vaccine coverage. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2016. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Correlation between experimental human and murine skin sensitization induction thresholds.

PubMed

Api, Anne Marie; Basketter, David; Lalko, Jon

2015-01-01

Quantitative risk assessment for skin sensitization is directed towards the determination of levels of exposure to known sensitizing substances that will avoid the induction of contact allergy in humans. A key component of this work is the predictive identification of relative skin sensitizing potency, achieved normally by the measurement of the threshold (the "EC3" value) in the local lymph node assay (LLNA). In an extended series of studies, the accuracy of this murine induction threshold as the predictor of the absence of a sensitizing effect has been verified by conduct of a human repeated insult patch test (HRIPT). Murine and human thresholds for a diverse set of 57 fragrance chemicals spanning approximately four orders of magnitude variation in potency have been compared. The results confirm that there is a useful correlation, with the LLNA EC3 value helping particularly to identify stronger sensitizers. Good correlation (with half an order of magnitude) was seen with three-quarters of the dataset. The analysis also helps to identify potential outlier types of (fragrance) chemistry, exemplified by hexyl and benzyl salicylates (an over-prediction) and trans-2-hexenal (an under-prediction).

Polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic chemiluminescence immunodevice with the signal amplification strategy for sensitive detection of human immunoglobin G.

PubMed

Li, Huifang; Zhao, Mei; Liu, Wei; Chu, Weiru; Guo, Yumei

2016-01-15

A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic chemiluminescence (CL) immunodevice for sensitive detection of human immunoglobin G (IgG) with the signal amplification strategy was developed in this work. The immunodevice was prepared by covalently immobilizing capture antibodies (Abs) on the silanized microchannel of microfluidic chip. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized with a high molar ratio of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were used as an Ab label for signal amplification. Using a sandwich immunoassay, the multi-HRP conjugated AuNPs can catalyze the luminol-H2O2 CL system to achieve the high sensitivity. In addition, the double spiral flow-channel was adopted here, which can still contribute to the high sensitivity. Based on signal amplification strategy, the performance of human IgG tests revealed a lower detection limit (DL) of 0.03ng/mL and showed an increase of 7.4-fold in detection sensitivity compared to a commercial Ab-HRP conjugation. This microfluidic immunodevice can provide an alternative approach for sensitive detection of human IgG in the field of clinic diagnostic and therapeutic. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of aberrations in human eye on contrast sensitivity function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quan, Wei; Wang, Feng-lin; Wang, Zhao-qi

2011-06-01

The quantitative analysis of the effect of aberrations in human eye on vision has important clinical value in the correction of aberrations. The wave-front aberrations of human eyes were measured with the Hartmann-Shack wave-front sensor and modulation transfer function (MTF) was computed from the wave-front aberrations. Contrast sensitivity function (CSF) was obtained from MTF and the retinal aerial image modulation (AIM). It is shown that the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th Zernike aberrations deteriorate contrast sensitivity function. When the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th Zernike aberrations are corrected high contrast sensitivity function can be obtained.

Space Mission Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boyer, Roger

2014-01-01

The purpose of the Space Mission Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) Project is to extend current ground-based HRA risk prediction techniques to a long-duration, space-based tool. Ground-based HRA methodology has been shown to be a reasonable tool for short-duration space missions, such as Space Shuttle and lunar fly-bys. However, longer-duration deep-space missions, such as asteroid and Mars missions, will require the crew to be in space for as long as 400 to 900 day missions with periods of extended autonomy and self-sufficiency. Current indications show higher risk due to fatigue, physiological effects due to extended low gravity environments, and others, may impact HRA predictions. For this project, Safety & Mission Assurance (S&MA) will work with Human Health & Performance (HH&P) to establish what is currently used to assess human reliabiilty for human space programs, identify human performance factors that may be sensitive to long duration space flight, collect available historical data, and update current tools to account for performance shaping factors believed to be important to such missions. This effort will also contribute data to the Human Performance Data Repository and influence the Space Human Factors Engineering research risks and gaps (part of the HRP Program). An accurate risk predictor mitigates Loss of Crew (LOC) and Loss of Mission (LOM).The end result will be an updated HRA model that can effectively predict risk on long-duration missions.

The Impact of Density and Ratio on Object-Ensemble Representation in Human Anterior-Medial Ventral Visual Cortex

PubMed Central

Cant, Jonathan S.; Xu, Yaoda

2015-01-01

Behavioral research has demonstrated that observers can extract summary statistics from ensembles of multiple objects. We recently showed that a region of anterior-medial ventral visual cortex, overlapping largely with the scene-sensitive parahippocampal place area (PPA), participates in object-ensemble representation. Here we investigated the encoding of ensemble density in this brain region using fMRI-adaptation. In Experiment 1, we varied density by changing the spacing between objects and found no sensitivity in PPA to such density changes. Thus, density may not be encoded in PPA, possibly because object spacing is not perceived as an intrinsic ensemble property. In Experiment 2, we varied relative density by changing the ratio of 2 types of objects comprising an ensemble, and observed significant sensitivity in PPA to such ratio change. Although colorful ensembles were shown in Experiment 2, Experiment 3 demonstrated that sensitivity to object ratio change was not driven mainly by a change in the ratio of colors. Thus, while anterior-medial ventral visual cortex is insensitive to density (object spacing) changes, it does code relative density (object ratio) within an ensemble. Object-ensemble processing in this region may thus depend on high-level visual information, such as object ratio, rather than low-level information, such as spacing/spatial frequency. PMID:24964917

Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus modulates sensitivity to decision outcome value in Parkinson’s disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seymour, Ben; Barbe, Michael; Dayan, Peter; Shiner, Tamara; Dolan, Ray; Fink, Gereon R.

2016-09-01

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson’s disease is known to cause a subtle but important adverse impact on behaviour, with impulsivity its most widely reported manifestation. However, precisely which computational components of the decision process are modulated is not fully understood. Here we probe a number of distinct subprocesses, including temporal discount, outcome utility, instrumental learning rate, instrumental outcome sensitivity, reward-loss trade-offs, and perseveration. We tested 22 Parkinson’s Disease patients both on and off subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS), while they performed an instrumental learning task involving financial rewards and losses, and an inter-temporal choice task for financial rewards. We found that instrumental learning performance was significantly worse following stimulation, due to modulation of instrumental outcome sensitivity. Specifically, patients became less sensitive to decision values for both rewards and losses, but without any change to the learning rate or reward-loss trade-offs. However, we found no evidence that DBS modulated different components of temporal impulsivity. In conclusion, our results implicate the subthalamic nucleus in a modulation of outcome value in experience-based learning and decision-making in Parkinson’s disease, suggesting a more pervasive role of the subthalamic nucleus in the control of human decision-making than previously thought.

Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus modulates sensitivity to decision outcome value in Parkinson’s disease

PubMed Central

Seymour, Ben; Barbe, Michael; Dayan, Peter; Shiner, Tamara; Dolan, Ray; Fink, Gereon R.

2016-01-01

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson’s disease is known to cause a subtle but important adverse impact on behaviour, with impulsivity its most widely reported manifestation. However, precisely which computational components of the decision process are modulated is not fully understood. Here we probe a number of distinct subprocesses, including temporal discount, outcome utility, instrumental learning rate, instrumental outcome sensitivity, reward-loss trade-offs, and perseveration. We tested 22 Parkinson’s Disease patients both on and off subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS), while they performed an instrumental learning task involving financial rewards and losses, and an inter-temporal choice task for financial rewards. We found that instrumental learning performance was significantly worse following stimulation, due to modulation of instrumental outcome sensitivity. Specifically, patients became less sensitive to decision values for both rewards and losses, but without any change to the learning rate or reward-loss trade-offs. However, we found no evidence that DBS modulated different components of temporal impulsivity. In conclusion, our results implicate the subthalamic nucleus in a modulation of outcome value in experience-based learning and decision-making in Parkinson’s disease, suggesting a more pervasive role of the subthalamic nucleus in the control of human decision-making than previously thought. PMID:27624437

Socio-hydrologic perspectives of the co-evolution of humans and groundwater in Cangzhou, North China Plain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, S.; Tian, F.; Liu, Y.

2017-12-01

This study presents a historical analysis from socio-hydrologic perspectives of the coupled human-groundwater system of the Cangzhou region in the North China Plain. The history of the "pendulum swing" for water allocation between the economic development and aquifer environmental health of the system is divided into five eras (i.e., natural, exploitation, degradation and restoration, drought-triggered deterioration, and returning to the balance). The system evolution was interpreted using the Taiji-Tire model. Over-exploitation was considered as the main cause of aquifer depletion and the groundwater utilization pattern was affected by the varying groundwater table. The aquifer depletion enhanced the community sensitivity of humans toward environmental issues, and upgraded the social productive force for restoration. The evolution of the system was substantially impacted by two droughts. The drought in 1965 induced the system from natural condition to groundwater exploiting. The drought from 1997 to 2002 resulted a pulse in further groundwater abstraction and dramatic aquifer deterioration, and the community sensitivity increased rapidly and induced the social productive force to a tipping point. From then on, the system is returning the balance through new policies and water-saving technologies. Along with the establishment of a strict water resource management strategy and the launch of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, further restorations of groundwater environment would be implemented. However, a comprehensive and coordinated drought management plan should be devised to avoid the irreversible change of the system.

Isolation of infectious chikungunya virus and dengue virus using anionic polymer-coated magnetic beads.

PubMed

Patramool, Sirilaksana; Bernard, Eric; Hamel, Rodolphe; Natthanej, Luplertlop; Chazal, Nathalie; Surasombatpattana, Pornapat; Ekchariyawat, Peeraya; Daoust, Simon; Thongrungkiat, Supatra; Thomas, Frédéric; Briant, Laurence; Missé, Dorothée

2013-10-01

Mosquitoes-borne viruses are a major threat for human populations. Among them, chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and dengue virus (DENV) cause thousands of cases worldwide. The recent propagation of mosquito vectors competent to transmit these viruses to temperate areas increases their potential impact on susceptible human populations. The development of sensitive methods allowing the detection and isolation of infectious viruses is of crucial interest for determination of virus contamination in humans and in competent mosquito vectors. However, simple and rapid method allowing the capture of infectious CHIKV and DENV from samples with low viral titers useful for further genetic and functional characterization of circulating strains is lacking. The present study reports a fast and sensitive isolation technique based on viral particles adsorption on magnetic beads coated with anionic polymer, poly(methyl vinyl ether-maleic anhydrate) and suitable for isolation of infectious CHIKV and DENV from the four serotypes. Starting from quite reduced biological material, this method was accurate to combine with conventional detection techniques, including qRT-PCR and immunoblotting and allowed isolation of infectious particles without resorting to a step of cultivation. The use of polymer-coated magnetic beads is therefore of high interest for rapid detection and isolation of CHIKV and DENV from samples with reduced viral loads and represents an accurate approach for the surveillance of mosquito vector in area at risk for arbovirus outbreaks. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multivariate models for prediction of human skin sensitization hazard.

PubMed

Strickland, Judy; Zang, Qingda; Paris, Michael; Lehmann, David M; Allen, David; Choksi, Neepa; Matheson, Joanna; Jacobs, Abigail; Casey, Warren; Kleinstreuer, Nicole

2017-03-01

One of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Method's (ICCVAM) top priorities is the development and evaluation of non-animal approaches to identify potential skin sensitizers. The complexity of biological events necessary to produce skin sensitization suggests that no single alternative method will replace the currently accepted animal tests. ICCVAM is evaluating an integrated approach to testing and assessment based on the adverse outcome pathway for skin sensitization that uses machine learning approaches to predict human skin sensitization hazard. We combined data from three in chemico or in vitro assays - the direct peptide reactivity assay (DPRA), human cell line activation test (h-CLAT) and KeratinoSens™ assay - six physicochemical properties and an in silico read-across prediction of skin sensitization hazard into 12 variable groups. The variable groups were evaluated using two machine learning approaches, logistic regression and support vector machine, to predict human skin sensitization hazard. Models were trained on 72 substances and tested on an external set of 24 substances. The six models (three logistic regression and three support vector machine) with the highest accuracy (92%) used: (1) DPRA, h-CLAT and read-across; (2) DPRA, h-CLAT, read-across and KeratinoSens; or (3) DPRA, h-CLAT, read-across, KeratinoSens and log P. The models performed better at predicting human skin sensitization hazard than the murine local lymph node assay (accuracy 88%), any of the alternative methods alone (accuracy 63-79%) or test batteries combining data from the individual methods (accuracy 75%). These results suggest that computational methods are promising tools to identify effectively the potential human skin sensitizers without animal testing. Published 2016. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA. Published 2016. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

Amygdala Lesions Reduce Anxiety-like Behavior in a Human Benzodiazepine-Sensitive Approach-Avoidance Conflict Test.

PubMed

Korn, Christoph W; Vunder, Johanna; Miró, Júlia; Fuentemilla, Lluís; Hurlemann, Rene; Bach, Dominik R

2017-10-01

Rodent approach-avoidance conflict tests are common preclinical models of human anxiety disorder. Their translational validity mainly rests on the observation that anxiolytic drugs reduce rodent anxiety-like behavior. Here, we capitalized on a recently developed approach-avoidance conflict computer game to investigate the impact of benzodiazepines and of amygdala lesions on putative human anxiety-like behavior. In successive epochs of this game, participants collect monetary tokens on a spatial grid while under threat of virtual predation. In a preregistered, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we tested the effect of a single dose (1 mg) of lorazepam (n = 59). We then compared 2 patients with bilateral amygdala lesions due to Urbach-Wiethe syndrome with age- and gender-matched control participants (n = 17). Based on a previous report, the primary outcome measure was the effect of intra-epoch time (i.e., an adaptation to increasing potential loss) on presence in the safe quadrant of the spatial grid. We hypothesized reduced loss adaptation in this measure under lorazepam and in patients with amygdala lesions. Lorazepam and amygdala lesions reduced loss adaptation in the primary outcome measure. We found similar results in several secondary outcome measures. The relative reduction of anxiety-like behavior in patients with amygdala lesions was qualitatively and quantitatively indistinguishable from an impact of anterior hippocampus lesions found in a previous report. Our results establish the translational validity of human approach-avoidance conflict tests in terms of anxiolytic drug action. We identified the amygdala, in addition to the hippocampus, as a critical structure in human anxiety-like behavior. Copyright © 2017 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multimodel estimates of premature human mortality due to intercontinental transport of air pollution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, C.; Silva, R.; West, J. J.; Sudo, K.; Lund, M. T.; Emmons, L. K.; Takemura, T.; Bian, H.

2015-12-01

Numerous modeling studies indicate that emissions from one continent influence air quality over others. Reducing air pollutant emissions from one continent can therefore benefit air quality and health on multiple continents. Here, we estimate the impacts of the intercontinental transport of ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on premature human mortality by using an ensemble of global chemical transport models coordinated by the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (TF HTAP). We use simulations of 20% reductions of all anthropogenic emissions from 13 regions (North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Northern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Former Soviet Union, Middle East, East Asia, South Asia, South East Asia, Central Asia, and Australia) to calculate their impact on premature mortality within each region and elsewhere in the world. To better understand the impact of potential control strategies, we also analyze premature mortality for global 20% perturbations from five sectors individually: power and industry, ground transport, forest and savannah fires, residential, and others (shipping, aviation, and agriculture). Following previous studies, premature human mortality resulting from each perturbation scenario is calculated using a health impact function based on a log-linear model for O3 and an integrated exposure response model for PM2.5 to estimate relative risk. The spatial distribution of the exposed population (adults aged 25 and over) is obtained from the LandScan 2011 Global Population Dataset. Baseline mortality rates for chronic respiratory disease, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer are estimated from the GBD 2010 country-level mortality dataset for the exposed population. Model results are regridded from each model's original grid to a common 0.5°x0.5° grid used to estimate mortality. We perform uncertainty analysis and evaluate the sensitivity of mortality estimates to a low-concentration threshold for ozone and a log-linear risk model for PM2.5. Our results allow us to identify the contributions of emissions from different source regions and sectors to air pollutant concentrations and premature human mortality in each region.

Prior methylphenidate self-administration alters the subsequent reinforcing effects of methamphetamine in rats

PubMed Central

Baladi, Michelle G.; Nielsen, Shannon M.; Umpierre, Anthony; Hanson, Glen R.; Fleckenstein, Annette E

2014-01-01

Methylphenidate (MPD) is clinically effective in treating symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; however, its relatively wide availability has raised public health concerns for non-medical use of MPD among certain adult populations. Most preclinical studies investigate whether presumed therapeutically relevant doses of MPD alter sensitivity to the reinforcing effects of other drugs, but it remains unclear whether doses of MPD likely exceeding therapeutic relevance impact the subsequent reinforcing effects of drugs. To begin to address this question, the effect of prior MPD self-administration (0.56 mg/kg/infusion) on the subsequent reinforcing effects of methamphetamine (METH, 0.032 or 0.1 mg/kg/infusion) was investigated in male, Sprague-Dawley rats. For comparison, it was also determined whether prior experimenter-administered MPD, injected daily at a presumed therapeutically-relevant dose (2 mg/kg), altered the subsequent reinforcing effects of METH. Results indicate that under the current conditions, only a history of MPD self-administration increased sensitivity to the subsequent reinforcing effects of METH. Furthermore, MPD did not impact food-maintained responding, suggesting that the effect of MPD might be specific to drug reinforcers. These data suggest that short-term, non-medical use of MPD might alter the positive reinforcing effects of METH in a manner relevant to vulnerability to drug use in humans. PMID:25325290

Prior methylphenidate self-administration alters the subsequent reinforcing effects of methamphetamine in rats.

PubMed

Baladi, Michelle G; Nielsen, Shannon M; Umpierre, Anthony; Hanson, Glen R; Fleckenstein, Annette E

2014-12-01

Methylphenidate (MPD) is clinically effective in treating the symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; however, its relatively widespread availability has raised public health concerns on nonmedical use of MPD among certain adult populations. Most preclinical studies investigate whether presumed therapeutically relevant doses of MPD alter sensitivity to the reinforcing effects of other drugs, but it remains unclear whether doses of MPD likely exceeding therapeutic relevance impact the subsequent reinforcing effects of drugs. To begin to address this question, the effect of prior MPD self-administration (0.56 mg/kg/infusion) on the subsequent reinforcing effects of methamphetamine (METH, 0.032 or 0.1 mg/kg/infusion) was investigated in male Sprague-Dawley rats. For comparison, it was also determined whether prior experimenter-administered MPD, injected daily at a presumed therapeutically relevant dose (2 mg/kg), altered the subsequent reinforcing effects of METH. Results indicated that, under the current conditions, only a history of MPD self-administration increased sensitivity to the subsequent reinforcing effects of METH. Furthermore, MPD did not impact food-maintained responding, suggesting that the effect of MPD might be specific to drug reinforcers. These data suggest that short-term, nonmedical use of MPD might alter the positive reinforcing effects of METH in a manner relevant to vulnerability to drug use in humans.

Inquiry Based Projects Using Student Ozone Measurements and the Status of Using Plants as Bio-Indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ladd, I. H.; Fishman, J.; Pippin, M.; Sachs, S.; Skelly, J.; Chappelka, A.; Neufeld, H.; Burkey, K.

2006-05-01

Students around the world work cooperatively with their teachers and the scientific research community measuring local surface ozone levels using a hand-held optical scanner and ozone sensitive chemical strips. Through the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program, students measuring local ozone levels are connected with the chemistry of the air they breathe and how human activity impacts air quality. Educational tools have been developed and correlated with the National Science and Mathematics Standards to facilitate integrating the study of surface ozone with core curriculum. Ozone air pollution has been identified as the major pollutant causing foliar injury to plants when they are exposed to concentrations of surface ozone. The inclusion of native and agricultural plants with measuring surface ozone provides an Earth system approach to understanding surface ozone. An implementation guide for investigating ozone induced foliar injury has been developed and field tested. The guide, Using Sensitive Plants as Bio-Indicators of Ozone Pollution, provides: the background information and protocol for implementing an "Ozone Garden" with native and agricultural plants; and, a unique opportunity to involve students in a project that will develop and increase their awareness of surface ozone air pollution and its impact on plants.

Climate, not Aboriginal landscape burning, controlled the historical demography and distribution of fire-sensitive conifer populations across Australia

PubMed Central

Sakaguchi, Shota; Bowman, David M. J. S.; Prior, Lynda D.; Crisp, Michael D.; Linde, Celeste C.; Tsumura, Yoshihiko; Isagi, Yuji

2013-01-01

Climate and fire are the key environmental factors that shape the distribution and demography of plant populations in Australia. Because of limited palaeoecological records in this arid continent, however, it is unclear as to which factor impacted vegetation more strongly, and what were the roles of fire regime changes owing to human activity and megafaunal extinction (since ca 50 kya). To address these questions, we analysed historical genetic, demographic and distributional changes in a widespread conifer species complex that paradoxically grows in fire-prone regions, yet is very sensitive to fire. Genetic demographic analysis showed that the arid populations experienced strong bottlenecks, consistent with range contractions during the Last Glacial Maximum (ca 20 kya) predicted by species distribution models. In southern temperate regions, the population sizes were estimated to have been mostly stable, followed by some expansion coinciding with climate amelioration at the end of the last glacial period. By contrast, in the flammable tropical savannahs, where fire risk is the highest, demographic analysis failed to detect significant population bottlenecks. Collectively, these results suggest that the impact of climate change overwhelmed any modifications to fire regimes by Aboriginal landscape burning and megafaunal extinction, a finding that probably also applies to other fire-prone vegetation across Australia. PMID:24174110

Impact of early life adversity on EMG stress reactivity of the trapezius muscle.

PubMed

Luijcks, Rosan; Vossen, Catherine J; Roggeveen, Suzanne; van Os, Jim; Hermens, Hermie J; Lousberg, Richel

2016-09-01

Human and animal research indicates that exposure to early life adversity increases stress sensitivity later in life. While behavioral markers of adversity-induced stress sensitivity have been suggested, physiological markers remain to be elucidated. It is known that trapezius muscle activity increases during stressful situations. The present study examined to what degree early life adverse events experienced during early childhood (0-11 years) and adolescence (12-17 years) moderate experimentally induced electromyographic (EMG) stress activity of the trapezius muscles, in an experimental setting. In a general population sample (n = 115), an anticipatory stress effect was generated by presenting a single unpredictable and uncontrollable electrical painful stimulus at t = 3 minutes. Subjects were unaware of the precise moment of stimulus delivery and its intensity level. Linear and nonlinear time courses in EMG activity were modeled using multilevel analysis. The study protocol included 2 experimental sessions (t = 0 and t = 6 months) allowing for examination of reliability.Results show that EMG stress reactivity during the stress paradigm was consistently stronger in people with higher levels of early life adverse events; early childhood adversity had a stronger moderating effect than adolescent adversity. The impact of early life adversity on EMG stress reactivity may represent a reliable facet that can be used in both clinical and nonclinical studies.

Comparison between Surrogate Indexes of Insulin Sensitivity/Resistance and Hyperinsulinemic Euglycemic Glucose Clamps in Rhesus Monkeys

PubMed Central

Lee, Ho-Won; Muniyappa, Ranganath; Yan, Xu; Yue, Lilly Q.; Linden, Ellen H.; Chen, Hui; Hansen, Barbara C.

2011-01-01

The euglycemic glucose clamp is the reference method for assessing insulin sensitivity in humans and animals. However, clamps are ill-suited for large studies because of extensive requirements for cost, time, labor, and technical expertise. Simple surrogate indexes of insulin sensitivity/resistance including quantitative insulin-sensitivity check index (QUICKI) and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) have been developed and validated in humans. However, validation studies of QUICKI and HOMA in both rats and mice suggest that differences in metabolic physiology between rodents and humans limit their value in rodents. Rhesus monkeys are a species more similar to humans than rodents. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated data from 199 glucose clamp studies obtained from a large cohort of 86 monkeys with a broad range of insulin sensitivity. Data were used to evaluate simple surrogate indexes of insulin sensitivity/resistance (QUICKI, HOMA, Log HOMA, 1/HOMA, and 1/Fasting insulin) with respect to linear regression, predictive accuracy using a calibration model, and diagnostic performance using receiver operating characteristic. Most surrogates had modest linear correlations with SIClamp (r ≈ 0.4–0.64) with comparable correlation coefficients. Predictive accuracy determined by calibration model analysis demonstrated better predictive accuracy of QUICKI than HOMA and Log HOMA. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed equivalent sensitivity and specificity of most surrogate indexes to detect insulin resistance. Thus, unlike in rodents but similar to humans, surrogate indexes of insulin sensitivity/resistance including QUICKI and log HOMA may be reasonable to use in large studies of rhesus monkeys where it may be impractical to conduct glucose clamp studies. PMID:21209021

Effects of Varenicline on Ethanol-Induced Conditioned Place Preference, Locomotor Stimulation, and Sensitization

PubMed Central

Gubner, Noah R.; McKinnon, Carrie S.; Phillips, Tamara J.

2014-01-01

Background Varenicline, a partial nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonist, is a promising new drug for the treatment of alcohol (ethanol) dependence. Varenicline has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a smoking cessation therapeutic and has also been found to reduce ethanol consumption in humans and animal models of alcohol use. The current studies examined the hypotheses that varenicline attenuates the stimulant and sensitizing effects of ethanol, and reduces the motivational effects of ethanol-associated cues. The goal was to determine if these effects of varenicline contribute to its pharmacotherapeutic effects for alcohol dependence. In addition, effects of varenicline on acute stimulation and/or on the acquisition of sensitization would suggest a role for nAChR involvement in these effects of ethanol. Methods Dose-dependent effects of varenicline on the expression of ethanol-induced conditioned place preference (CPP), locomotor activation, and behavioral sensitization were examined. These measures model motivational effects of ethanol-associated cues, euphoric or stimulatory effects of ethanol, and ethanol-induced neuroadaptation. All studies used DBA/2J mice, an inbred strain with high sensitivity to these ethanol-related effects. Results Varenicline did not significantly attenuate the expression of ethanol-induced CPP. Varenicline reduced locomotor activity and had the most pronounced effect in the presence of ethanol, with the largest effect on acute ethanol-induced locomotor stimulation and a trend for varenicline to attenuate the expression of ethanol-induced sensitization. Conclusions Because varenicline did not attenuate the expression of ethanol-induced CPP, it may not be effective at reducing the motivational effects of ethanol-associated cues. This outcome suggests that reductions in the motivational effects of ethanol-associated cues may not be involved in how varenicline reduces ethanol consumption. However, varenicline did have effects on locomotor behavior and significantly attenuated acute ethanol-induced locomotor stimulation. In humans who drink while taking varenicline, it might similarly reduce stimulant responses and have an impact on continued drinking. General sedative effects in such individuals should be carefully considered. PMID:25581658

Diatom assemblage responses to changing environment in the conspicuously eutrophic Kiuruvesi lake route, central-eastern Finland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tammelin, Mira; Kauppila, Tommi

2016-04-01

Lakes and their water quality have been affected by anthropogenic actions for centuries. The most intensive changes have often occurred since the mid-19th century. Industrialization, modern agriculture, forest ditching and artificial lowering of water level are examples of these changes that have usually resulted in the deterioration of lake water quality. Many organisms, such as diatoms, are sensitive to these changes in their environmental conditions. Therefore, a marked species turnover is often seen between the pre and post human impact diatom assemblages. This turnover can be rapidly assessed simultaneously from many lakes by using multivariate methods and top-bottom sampling. Our study area consists of three adjacent lake routes in the grass cultivation and dairy production area of central-eastern Finland, where slash-and-burn cultivation and artificial water level lowering were common practice during the past centuries. The centermost Iisalmi lake route is particularly interesting because of the conspicuously eutrophic lakes in its Kiuruvesi subroute. We used the top-bottom approach to sample pre and post human impact samples from 47 lakes (50 sampling sites) located in the three lake routes. In addition, stratigraphic samples from the long cores of three lakes (one larger central basin and two small upstream lakes) in the Kiuruvesi subroute were studied in more detail. Multivariate methods were used to assess diatom assemblage change within the long cores and between the pre-disturbance and modern samples. The results indicate that most study lakes have undergone a marked shift in their diatom assemblages since the onset of human impact in the area. The lake routes are characterized by differing pre-impact diatom assemblages. However, human influence has reduced their natural variation. Similar diatom species are common in the modern samples of the heavily impacted lakes in all three lake routes. The detailed examination of the diatom assemblage turnover in the three Kiuruvesi route lakes portrays different trajectories in each lake. The central basin has changed less than the upstream lakes. Two of the lakes have assemblage change trajectories that suggest increased nutrients, electrical conductivity, and pH. Unexpectedly, one of the upstream lakes shows an opposite trajectory, which might result from lowering water depth and improved living conditions for benthic diatoms.

Discrimination of skin sensitizers from non-sensitizers by interleukin-1α and interleukin-6 production on cultured human keratinocytes.

PubMed

Jung, Daun; Che, Jeong-Hwan; Lim, Kyung-Min; Chun, Young-Jin; Heo, Yong; Seok, Seung Hyeok

2016-09-01

In vitro testing methods for classifying sensitizers could be valuable alternatives to in vivo sensitization testing using animal models, such as the murine local lymph node assay (LLNA) and the guinea pig maximization test (GMT), but there remains a need for in vitro methods that are more accurate and simpler to distinguish skin sensitizers from non-sensitizers. Thus, the aim of our study was to establish an in vitro assay as a screening tool for detecting skin sensitizers using the human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT. HaCaT cells were exposed to 16 relevant skin sensitizers and 6 skin non-sensitizers. The highest dose used was the dose causing 75% cell viability (CV75) that we determined by an MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay. The levels of extracellular production of interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and IL-6 were measured. The sensitivity of IL-1α was 63%, specificity was 83% and accuracy was 68%. In the case of IL-6, sensitivity: 69%, specificity: 83% and accuracy: 73%. Thus, this study suggests that measuring extracellular production of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1α and IL-6 by human HaCaT cells may potentially classify skin sensitizers from non-sensitizers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Integrating human impacts and ecological integrity into a risk-based protocol for conservation planning

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mattson, K.M.; Angermeier, P.L.

2007-01-01

Conservation planning aims to protect biodiversity by sustainng the natural physical, chemical, and biological processes within representative ecosystems. Often data to measure these components are inadequate or unavailable. The impact of human activities on ecosystem processes complicates integrity assessments and might alter ecosystem organization at multiple spatial scales. Freshwater conservation targets, such as populations and communities, are influenced by both intrinsic aquatic properties and the surrounding landscape, and locally collected data might not accurately reflect potential impacts. We suggest that changes in five major biotic drivers-energy sources, physical habitat, flow regime, water quality, and biotic interactions-might be used as surrogates to inform conservation planners of the ecological integrity of freshwater ecosystems. Threats to freshwater systems might be evaluated based on their impact to these drivers to provide an overview of potential risk to conservation targets. We developed a risk-based protocol, the Ecological Risk Index (ERI), to identify watersheds with least/most risk to conservation targets. Our protocol combines risk-based components, specifically the frequency and severity of human-induced stressors, with biotic drivers and mappable land- and water-use data to provide a summary of relative risk to watersheds. We illustrate application of our protocol with a case study of the upper Tennessee River basin, USA. Differences in risk patterns among the major drainages in the basin reflect dominant land uses, such as mining and agriculture. A principal components analysis showed that localized, moderately severe threats accounted for most of the threat composition differences among our watersheds. We also found that the relative importance of threats is sensitive to the spatial grain of the analysis. Our case study demonstrates that the ERI is useful for evaluating the frequency and severity of ecosystemwide risk, which can inform local and regional conservation planning. ?? 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

Learning to Live Together: A Review of UNESCO's Associated Schools Project Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schweisfurth, Michele

2005-05-01

Some 7400 schools belong to the global network of UNESCO's Associated School Project Network. They are committed to promoting ideals such as human rights, intercultural understanding, peace and environmental protection. This study is based on an extensive review undertaken in 2003. It discusses the origins and analyzes the achievements of the Associated School Project Network in bringing change to schools, communities and national policy. The analysis employs a variety of models of educational innovation and reform in order to assess the horizontal and vertical impact of the Associated School Project Network. It draws general conclusions on the usefulness of such networks for intercultural learning and educational and social change. Key issues include the commitment of stakeholders; the treatment of culturally sensitive issues; cultural interpretations of certain subjects; the value of horizontal networks; and the difficulty of achieving vertical impact on national policy-making.

Early life exposure to malaria and cognition in adulthood: evidence from Mexico.

PubMed

Venkataramani, Atheendar S

2012-09-01

This study examines the impact of early life malaria exposure on cognition in sample of Mexican adults, using the nationwide introduction of malaria eradication efforts to identify causal impacts. The core findings are that birth year exposure to malaria eradication was associated with increases in Raven Progressive Matrices test scores and consumption expenditures, but not schooling. Additionally, cohorts born after eradication both entered and exited school earlier than their pre-eradication counterparts. These effects were only seen for men and explanations for this are assessed. Collectively, these findings suggest that improvements in infant health help explain secular increases in cognitive test scores, that better cognition may link early life health to adulthood earnings, and that human capital investments through childhood and young adulthood respond sensitively to market returns to early life endowment shocks. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of perampanel, a novel α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor antagonist in human plasma.

PubMed

Mano, Yuji; Takenaka, Osamu; Kusano, Kazutomi

2015-03-25

Perampanel (Fycompa(®)) is a novel α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor antagonist registered for the adjunctive treatment of patients (≥12 years) with refractory partial onset seizures. In order to support clinical trials, as well as therapeutic drug monitoring, a sensitive bioanalytical method for the determination of perampanel concentrations in human plasma was established and validated using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Perampanel and an internal standard were extracted from human plasma (100 μL) by liquid extraction using methyl t-butyl ether, then evaporated and reconstituted. The chromatographic separation was conducted on a C8 column with isocratic elution at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. The established method showed linearity in the range 0.25-200 ng/mL with correlation coefficients of >0.99 that could be extended 10-fold as validated by dilution integrity analyses. No significant endogenous peaks were detected in the elution of analytes in blank human plasma and no significant matrix effect was observed. The intra- and inter-batch reproducibility analyses demonstrated accuracy and precision within the acceptance criteria. To check the impact of anti-epileptic drugs on the perampanel assay, accuracy, precision, and specificity were assessed in the presence of 14 anti-epileptic drugs. No anti-epileptic drugs at clinically relevant levels showed a significant impact on the perampanel assay. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Prevention and Control of Zika as a Mosquito-Borne and Sexually Transmitted Disease: A Mathematical Modeling Analysis.

PubMed

Gao, Daozhou; Lou, Yijun; He, Daihai; Porco, Travis C; Kuang, Yang; Chowell, Gerardo; Ruan, Shigui

2016-06-17

The ongoing Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic in the Americas poses a major global public health emergency. While ZIKV is transmitted from human to human by bites of Aedes mosquitoes, recent evidence indicates that ZIKV can also be transmitted via sexual contact with cases of sexually transmitted ZIKV reported in Argentina, Canada, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, and the USA. Yet, the role of sexual transmission on the spread and control of ZIKV infection is not well-understood. We introduce a mathematical model to investigate the impact of mosquito-borne and sexual transmission on the spread and control of ZIKV and calibrate the model to ZIKV epidemic data from Brazil, Colombia, and El Salvador. Parameter estimates yielded a basic reproduction number 0 = 2.055 (95% CI: 0.523-6.300), in which the percentage contribution of sexual transmission is 3.044% (95% CI: 0.123-45.73). Our sensitivity analyses indicate that 0 is most sensitive to the biting rate and mortality rate of mosquitoes while sexual transmission increases the risk of infection and epidemic size and prolongs the outbreak. Prevention and control efforts against ZIKV should target both the mosquito-borne and sexual transmission routes.

Prevention and Control of Zika as a Mosquito-Borne and Sexually Transmitted Disease: A Mathematical Modeling Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Daozhou; Lou, Yijun; He, Daihai; Porco, Travis C.; Kuang, Yang; Chowell, Gerardo; Ruan, Shigui

2016-06-01

The ongoing Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic in the Americas poses a major global public health emergency. While ZIKV is transmitted from human to human by bites of Aedes mosquitoes, recent evidence indicates that ZIKV can also be transmitted via sexual contact with cases of sexually transmitted ZIKV reported in Argentina, Canada, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, and the USA. Yet, the role of sexual transmission on the spread and control of ZIKV infection is not well-understood. We introduce a mathematical model to investigate the impact of mosquito-borne and sexual transmission on the spread and control of ZIKV and calibrate the model to ZIKV epidemic data from Brazil, Colombia, and El Salvador. Parameter estimates yielded a basic reproduction number 0 = 2.055 (95% CI: 0.523-6.300), in which the percentage contribution of sexual transmission is 3.044% (95% CI: 0.123-45.73). Our sensitivity analyses indicate that 0 is most sensitive to the biting rate and mortality rate of mosquitoes while sexual transmission increases the risk of infection and epidemic size and prolongs the outbreak. Prevention and control efforts against ZIKV should target both the mosquito-borne and sexual transmission routes.

Bridging the gap between sample collection and laboratory analysis: using dried blood spots to identify human exposure to chemical agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamelin, Elizabeth I.; Blake, Thomas A.; Perez, Jonas W.; Crow, Brian S.; Shaner, Rebecca L.; Coleman, Rebecca M.; Johnson, Rudolph C.

2016-05-01

Public health response to large scale chemical emergencies presents logistical challenges for sample collection, transport, and analysis. Diagnostic methods used to identify and determine exposure to chemical warfare agents, toxins, and poisons traditionally involve blood collection by phlebotomists, cold transport of biomedical samples, and costly sample preparation techniques. Use of dried blood spots, which consist of dried blood on an FDA-approved substrate, can increase analyte stability, decrease infection hazard for those handling samples, greatly reduce the cost of shipping/storing samples by removing the need for refrigeration and cold chain transportation, and be self-prepared by potentially exposed individuals using a simple finger prick and blood spot compatible paper. Our laboratory has developed clinical assays to detect human exposures to nerve agents through the analysis of specific protein adducts and metabolites, for which a simple extraction from a dried blood spot is sufficient for removing matrix interferents and attaining sensitivities on par with traditional sampling methods. The use of dried blood spots can bridge the gap between the laboratory and the field allowing for large scale sample collection with minimal impact on hospital resources while maintaining sensitivity, specificity, traceability, and quality requirements for both clinical and forensic applications.

Laser bioprinting of human induced pluripotent stem cells-the effect of printing and biomaterials on cell survival, pluripotency, and differentiation.

PubMed

Koch, Lothar; Deiwick, Andrea; Franke, Annika; Schwanke, Kristin; Haverich, Axel; Zweigerdt, Robert; Chichkov, Boris

2018-04-25

Research on human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) is one of the fastest growing fields in biomedicine. Generated from patient's own somatic cells, hiPSCs can be differentiated towards all functional cell types and returned to the patient without immunological concerns. 3D printing of hiPSCs could enable the generation of functional organs for replacement therapies or realization of organ-on-chip systems for individualized medicine. Printing of living cells was demonstrated with immortalized cell lines, primary cells, and adult stem cells with different printing technologies and biomaterials. However, hiPSCs are more sensitive to handling procedures, in particular, when dissociated into single cells. Both pluripotency and directed differentiation are influenced by numerous environmental factors including culture media, biomaterials, and cell density. Notably, existing literature on the effect of applied biomaterials on pluripotency is rather ambiguous. In this study, laser bioprinting of undifferentiated hiPSCs in combination with different biomaterials was performed and the impact on cells' behavior, pluripotency, and differentiation was investigated. Our findings suggest that hiPSCs are indeed more sensitive to the applied biomaterials, but not to laser printing itself. With appropriate biomaterials, such as the hyaluronic acid based solutions applied in this study, hiPSCs can be successfully laser printed without losing their pluripotency.

Three Months of High-Fructose Feeding Fails to Induce Excessive Weight Gain or Leptin Resistance in Mice

PubMed Central

Tillman, Erik J.; Morgan, Donald A.; Rahmouni, Kamal; Swoap, Steven J.

2014-01-01

High-fructose diets have been implicated in obesity via impairment of leptin signaling in humans and rodents. We investigated whether fructose-induced leptin resistance in mice could be used to study the metabolic consequences of fructose consumption in humans, particularly in children and adolescents. Male C57Bl/6 mice were weaned to a randomly assigned diet: high fructose, high sucrose, high fat, or control (sugar-free, low-fat). Mice were maintained on their diets for at least 14 weeks. While fructose-fed mice regularly consumed more kcal and expended more energy, there was no difference in body weight compared to control by the end of the study. Additionally, after 14 weeks, both fructose-fed and control mice displayed similar leptin sensitivity. Fructose-feeding also did not change circulating glucose, triglycerides, or free fatty acids. Though fructose has been linked to obesity in several animal models, our data fail to support a role for fructose intake through food lasting 3 months in altering of body weight and leptin signaling in mice. The lack of impact of fructose in the food of growing mice on either body weight or leptin sensitivity over this time frame was surprising, and important information for researchers interested in fructose and body weight regulation. PMID:25211467

Sprouty2 protein is downregulated in human squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and suppresses cell proliferation in vitro.

PubMed

Lin, Chiang-Liang; Chiang, Wei-Fan; Tung, Chao-Ling; Hsieh, Jeng-Long; Hsiao, Jenn-Ren; Huang, Wen-Tsung; Feng, Li-Yia; Chang, Chi-Hua; Liu, Shyun-Yeu; Tsao, Chao-Jung; Feng, Yin-Hsun

2015-01-01

Sprouty2 is known for its tumor-suppressing effect in various human malignant diseases. In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the role of sprouty2 in tumorigenesis and clinical implication remains elusive. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of sprouty2 in patients with HNSCC and its function in vitro. Quantitative analysis of mRNA expression of sprouty2 was performed on frozen tumor samples from 42 patients with HNSCC and 19 with oral verrucous hyperplasia (OVH) with paired counterparts of normal mucosa. Downregulation of sprouty2 expression was demonstrated in 79% of HNSCC samples and in 58% of OVH samples compared with paired samples of normal mucosa. Enhanced expression of sprouty2 protein suppressed the growth of HNSCC cells and signaling of the phosphorylated AKT pathway. Following transfection of the sprouty2 plasmid, HNSCC cells were more sensitive to sorafenib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of Raf and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor. The present study suggested that sprouty2 expression was downregulated and behaved as a tumor suppressor in HNSCC. Sprouty2 expression in tumor cells enhanced sensitivity to sorafenib. Further studies are required to define the clinical impact of sprouty2 in patients with HNSCC.

Prevention and Control of Zika as a Mosquito-Borne and Sexually Transmitted Disease: A Mathematical Modeling Analysis

PubMed Central

Gao, Daozhou; Lou, Yijun; He, Daihai; Porco, Travis C.; Kuang, Yang; Chowell, Gerardo; Ruan, Shigui

2016-01-01

The ongoing Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic in the Americas poses a major global public health emergency. While ZIKV is transmitted from human to human by bites of Aedes mosquitoes, recent evidence indicates that ZIKV can also be transmitted via sexual contact with cases of sexually transmitted ZIKV reported in Argentina, Canada, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, and the USA. Yet, the role of sexual transmission on the spread and control of ZIKV infection is not well-understood. We introduce a mathematical model to investigate the impact of mosquito-borne and sexual transmission on the spread and control of ZIKV and calibrate the model to ZIKV epidemic data from Brazil, Colombia, and El Salvador. Parameter estimates yielded a basic reproduction number 0 = 2.055 (95% CI: 0.523–6.300), in which the percentage contribution of sexual transmission is 3.044% (95% CI: 0.123–45.73). Our sensitivity analyses indicate that 0 is most sensitive to the biting rate and mortality rate of mosquitoes while sexual transmission increases the risk of infection and epidemic size and prolongs the outbreak. Prevention and control efforts against ZIKV should target both the mosquito-borne and sexual transmission routes. PMID:27312324

Mixed-complexity artificial grammar learning in humans and macaque monkeys: evaluating learning strategies.

PubMed

Wilson, Benjamin; Smith, Kenny; Petkov, Christopher I

2015-03-01

Artificial grammars (AG) can be used to generate rule-based sequences of stimuli. Some of these can be used to investigate sequence-processing computations in non-human animals that might be related to, but not unique to, human language. Previous AG learning studies in non-human animals have used different AGs to separately test for specific sequence-processing abilities. However, given that natural language and certain animal communication systems (in particular, song) have multiple levels of complexity, mixed-complexity AGs are needed to simultaneously evaluate sensitivity to the different features of the AG. Here, we tested humans and Rhesus macaques using a mixed-complexity auditory AG, containing both adjacent (local) and non-adjacent (longer-distance) relationships. Following exposure to exemplary sequences generated by the AG, humans and macaques were individually tested with sequences that were either consistent with the AG or violated specific adjacent or non-adjacent relationships. We observed a considerable level of cross-species correspondence in the sensitivity of both humans and macaques to the adjacent AG relationships and to the statistical properties of the sequences. We found no significant sensitivity to the non-adjacent AG relationships in the macaques. A subset of humans was sensitive to this non-adjacent relationship, revealing interesting between- and within-species differences in AG learning strategies. The results suggest that humans and macaques are largely comparably sensitive to the adjacent AG relationships and their statistical properties. However, in the presence of multiple cues to grammaticality, the non-adjacent relationships are less salient to the macaques and many of the humans. © 2015 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience published by Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

BOTH HYPOMETHYLATION AND HYPERMETHYLATION OF DNA ASSOCIATED WITH ARSENITE EXPOSURE IN CULTURES OF HUMAN CELLS IDENTIFIED BY METHYLATION-SENSITIVE ARBITRARILY-PRIMED PCR

EPA Science Inventory

Differentially Methylated DNA Sequences Associated with Exposure to Arsenite in Cultures of Human Cells Identified by Methylation-Sensitive-Primed PCR

Arsenic, a known human carcinogen, is converted to methylated derivatives by a methyltransferase (Mtase) and its biotra...

Perceiving Group Behavior: Sensitive Ensemble Coding Mechanisms for Biological Motion of Human Crowds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sweeny, Timothy D.; Haroz, Steve; Whitney, David

2013-01-01

Many species, including humans, display group behavior. Thus, perceiving crowds may be important for social interaction and survival. Here, we provide the first evidence that humans use ensemble-coding mechanisms to perceive the behavior of a crowd of people with surprisingly high sensitivity. Observers estimated the headings of briefly presented…

Attributing Climate Conditions for Stable Malaria Transmission to Human Activity in sub-Saharan Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheldrake, L.; Mitchell, D.; Allen, M. R.

2015-12-01

Temperature and precipitation limit areas of stable malaria transmission, but the effects of climate change on the disease remain controversial. Previously, studies have not separated the influence of anthropogenic climate change and natural variability, despite being an essential step in the attribution of climate change impacts. Ensembles of 2900 simulations of regional climate in sub-Saharan Africa for the year 2013, one representing realistic conditions and the other how climate might have been in the absence of human influence, were used to force a P.falciparium climate suitability model developed by the Mapping Malaria Risk in Africa project. Strongest signals were detected in areas of unstable transmission, indicating their heightened sensitivity to climatic factors. Evidently, impacts of human-induced climate change were unevenly distributed: the probability of conditions being suitable for stable malaria transmission were substantially reduced (increased) in the Sahel (Greater Horn of Africa (GHOA), particularly in the Ethiopian and Kenyan highlands). The length of the transmission season was correspondingly shortened in the Sahel and extended in the GHOA, by 1 to 2 months, including in Kericho (Kenya), where the role of climate change in driving recent malaria occurrence is hotly contested. Human-induced warming was primarily responsible for positive anomalies in the GHOA, while reduced rainfall caused negative anomalies in the Sahel. The latter was associated with anthropogenic impacts on the West African Monsoon, but uncertainty in the RCM's ability to reproduce precipitation trends in the region weakens confidence in the result. That said, outputs correspond well with broad-scale changes in observed endemicity, implying a potentially important contribution of anthropogenic climate change to the malaria burden during the past century. Results support the health-framing of climate risk and help indicate hotspots of climate vulnerability, providing information to direct control interventions and investment, and allude to climate injustices. Extending methods, such as by using multiple climate and malaria models and investigating trends over longer timescales, would make results more generally applicable and improve their policy relevance.

Nociceptin inhibits vanilloid TRPV-1-mediated neurosensitization induced by fenoterol in human isolated bronchi.

PubMed

Faisy, Christophe; Naline, Emmanuel; Rouget, Céline; Risse, Paul-André; Guerot, Emmanuel; Fagon, Jean-Yves; Chinet, Thierry; Roche, Nicolas; Advenier, Charles

2004-09-01

Chronic exposure to beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonists, especially fenoterol, has been shown to increase smooth muscle contraction to endothelin-1 in human bronchi partly through tachykinin-mediated pathways. The purpose of this work was to further investigate the role of sensory nerves in fenoterol-induced sensitization of human airways and the effect of nociceptin, a nociceptin/orphanin FQ (NOP) receptor agonist, on the increase in contraction after fenoterol exposure. Human bronchi from 62 patients were sensitized to endothelin-1 by prolonged incubation with fenoterol (0.1 microM, 15 h). The sensitizing effect of fenoterol was inhibited by high concentration of capsaicin (10 microM, 30 min before fenoterol sensitization), which induces depletion of mediators from sensory nerves, or co-incubation of fenoterol and capsazepine (1 microM), a vanilloid TRPV-1 receptor antagonist. Moreover, short pretreatment of bronchi with capsaicin (10 microM) or capsazepine (1 microM) after sensitization by fenoterol decreased the rise in smooth muscle contraction to endothelin-1. Nociceptin (1 microM) also inhibited the increased contraction in fenoterol-sensitized bronchi. Tertiapin (10 microM), an inhibitor of the inward-rectifier K(+) channels, but not naloxone (0.1 microM), a DOP/KOP/MOP receptor antagonist, prevented the inhibitory effect of nociceptin. In conclusion, fenoterol induces sensitization of human isolated bronchi to endothelin-1 in part through the stimulation of the vanilloid TRPV-1 receptor on tachykininergic sensory nerves. Nociceptin inhibits airway hyperresponsiveness via NOP receptor activation. This effect involves inward-rectifier K(+) channels.

Interaction of aberrations, diffraction, and quantal fluctuations determine the impact of pupil size on visual quality.

PubMed

Xu, Renfeng; Wang, Huachun; Thibos, Larry N; Bradley, Arthur

2017-04-01

Our purpose is to develop a computational approach that jointly assesses the impact of stimulus luminance and pupil size on visual quality. We compared traditional optical measures of image quality and those that incorporate the impact of retinal illuminance dependent neural contrast sensitivity. Visually weighted image quality was calculated for a presbyopic model eye with representative levels of chromatic and monochromatic aberrations as pupil diameter was varied from 7 to 1 mm, stimulus luminance varied from 2000 to 0.1  cd/m², and defocus varied from 0 to -2 diopters. The model included the effects of quantal fluctuations on neural contrast sensitivity. We tested the model's predictions for five cycles per degree gratings by measuring contrast sensitivity at 5  cyc/deg. Unlike the traditional Strehl ratio and the visually weighted area under the modulation transfer function, the visual Strehl ratio derived from the optical transfer function was able to capture the combined impact of optics and quantal noise on visual quality. In a well-focused eye, provided retinal illuminance is held constant as pupil size varies, visual image quality scales approximately as the square root of illuminance because of quantum fluctuations, but optimum pupil size is essentially independent of retinal illuminance and quantum fluctuations. Conversely, when stimulus luminance is held constant (and therefore illuminance varies with pupil size), optimum pupil size increases as luminance decreases, thereby compensating partially for increased quantum fluctuations. However, in the presence of -1 and -2 diopters of defocus and at high photopic levels where Weber's law operates, optical aberrations and diffraction dominate image quality and pupil optimization. Similar behavior was observed in human observers viewing sinusoidal gratings. Optimum pupil size increases as stimulus luminance drops for the well-focused eye, and the benefits of small pupils for improving defocused image quality remain throughout the photopic and mesopic ranges. However, restricting pupils to <2  mm will cause significant reductions in the best focus vision at low photopic and mesopic luminances.

River channel sensitivity to change in the context of human activities and natural factors: an 80-year record of channel morphodynamics on the lower Santa Clara River, Ventura County, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Downs, P. W.; Dusterhoff, S. R.; Sears, W. A.

2010-12-01

River channel adjustments arise from the application of numerous catchment-based stressors operating at different space and time scales. Natural stressors include the impact of climatic phenomena and their inheritance; human stressors include both direct and indirect factors whose impacts have grown in magnitude and intensity during the Anthropocene, especially since about 1945. Consequently, the sensitivity of river channel morphodynamics is likely to have changed also, with implications for landform understanding and river management. Reconstructing channel morphodynamics during the Anthropocene requires interpreting multiple historical and secondary data sources to document changes at sufficient (i.e., reach-scale) resolution: for the 60-km lower Santa Clara River (LSCR), Ventura County, California, we used flow, sediment and precipitation records, repeat aerial photographs, LiDAR data, repeat topographic surveys, in-channel vegetation data, field observations, numerical modeling of high flow events, and narrative accounts. The catchment historical context since European-American settlement includes periods dominated by ranching and colonization (ca.1820-1890), irrigations and diversions (ca.1890-1955), dams and river modifications (1955-1990), and urban population growth (1990-present). Natural stressors were investigated based on the correlation of instantaneous flood peaks with annual rainfall records in this semi-arid setting. Successful prediction of the majority of gauged floods since about 1950 allows a flood sequence to be reconstructed back to 1873. Floods are clustered and of considerably greater magnitude in El Nino years of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation. The great majority of sediment transport thus occurs in El Nino years so that the dominant discharge is the largest discharge on record, in contrast to humid-region alluvial rivers. Responding to these stressors, the average width of the active channel bed has become narrower by almost 50% (1938-2005), with downstream reaches losing their responsiveness to flood events over time, in contrast to the middle reaches. The channel bed has incised on average 0.7 m from 1949-2005, again with a strong contrast between the downstream reaches (average incision 2.4 m) and middle reaches (no incision). Overall, catchment historical disturbances to the LSCR consist of numerous ‘pulse’ disturbances related to sediment delivery during clustered flood events, and following wildfire and earthquakes, at least five human-caused ‘press’ disturbances and two human ‘pulse’ disturbances. The end product includes several ‘natural’ reaches that are highly responsive but resilient to flood events, and numerous disequilibrium lower reaches disconnected from this floodplain and with high potential sensitivity held in check by force. Long-term approaches to hazard management should consider vulnerability modification approaches.

Exploring the Surface Sensitivity of ToF-SIMS by Measuring the Implantation and Sampling Depths of Bin and C60 Ions in Organic Films

PubMed Central

Muramoto, Shin; Brison, Jeremy; Castner, David G.

2011-01-01

The surface sensitivity of Binq+ (n = 1, 3, 5, q = 1, 2) and C60q+ (q = 1, 2) primary ions in static time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) experiments were investigated for molecular trehalose and polymeric tetraglyme organic films. Parameters related to surface sensitivity (impact crater depth, implantation depth, and molecular escape depths) were measured. Under static ToF-SIMS conditions (primary ion doses of 1 × 1012 ions/cm2), the 25 keV Bi1+ primary ions were the most surface sensitive with a molecular escape depth of 1.8 nm for protein films with tetraglyme overlayers, but they had the deepest implantation depth (~18 and 26 nm in trehalose and tetraglyme films, respectively). The 20 keV C60++ primary ions were the second most surface sensitive with a slightly larger molecular escape depth of 2.3 nm. The most important factor that determined the surface sensitivity of the primary ion was its impact crater depth, or the amount of surface erosion. The most surface sensitive primary ions, Bi1+ and C60++, created impact craters with depths of 0.3 and 1.0 nm, respectively, in tetraglyme films. In contrast, Bi5++ primary ions created impact craters with a depth of 1.8 nm in tetraglyme films and were the least surface sensitive with a molecular escape depth of 4.7 nm. PMID:22084828

People-Technology-Ecosystem Integration: A Framework to Ensure Regional Interoperability for Safety, Sustainability, and Resilience of Interdependent Energy, Water, and Seafood Sources in the (Persian) Gulf.

PubMed

Meshkati, Najmedin; Tabibzadeh, Maryam; Farshid, Ali; Rahimi, Mansour; Alhanaee, Ghena

2016-02-01

The aim of this study is to identify the interdependencies of human and organizational subsystems of multiple complex, safety-sensitive technological systems and their interoperability in the context of sustainability and resilience of an ecosystem. Recent technological disasters with severe environmental impact are attributed to human factors and safety culture causes. One of the most populous and environmentally sensitive regions in the world, the (Persian) Gulf, is on the confluence of an exponentially growing number of two industries--nuclear power and seawater desalination plants--that is changing its land- and seascape. Building upon Rasmussen's model, a macrosystem integrative framework, based on the broader context of human factors, is developed, which can be considered in this context as a "meta-ergonomics" paradigm, for the analysis of interactions, design of interoperability, and integration of decisions of major actors whose actions can affect safety and sustainability of the focused industries during routine and nonroutine (emergency) operations. Based on the emerging realities in the Gulf region, it is concluded that without such systematic approach toward addressing the interdependencies of water and energy sources, sustainability will be only a short-lived dream and prosperity will be a disappearing mirage for millions of people in the region. This multilayered framework for the integration of people, technology, and ecosystem--which has been applied to the (Persian) Gulf--offers a viable and vital approach to the design and operation of large-scale complex systems wherever the nexus of water, energy, and food sources are concerned, such as the Black Sea. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

One health: the Hong Kong experience with avian influenza.

PubMed

Sims, L D; Peiris, Malik

2013-01-01

The occurrence of avian influenza A(H5N1) in Hong Kong in 1997 led to the development of a "One-Health" approach to deal with emerging infectious diseases that has been applied to other emergent diseases such as SARS and the pandemic H1N1 2009. Evaluation of poultry marketing and production systems and investigations at the animal-human interface, led to defining the routes of human exposure to avian influenza and factors that allowed virus to multiply and persist. Active and systematic surveillance of apparently healthy as well as diseased poultry and wild birds provided evidence of ongoing virus evolution in the wider region. Epidemiological studies, supplemented with molecular epidemiology, helped to elucidate the role of the poultry marketing system and live poultry markets in the persistence of avian influenza viruses and provided evidence for the impact of interventions designed to interrupt virus transmission. Enhanced bio-security, active surveillance together with targeted and evidence-based interventions in the poultry production, and marketing system together with poultry vaccination has prevented further human H5N1 disease and minimized outbreaks of poultry disease in Hong Kong. Similar strategies have led to the understanding of the emergence of SARS and provided options for preventing the re-emergence of this disease. Surveillance of influenza in swine has provided insights into the emergence of the 2009 pandemic, to the reverse zoonosis of the pandemic virus from humans to swine and to the emergence of novel reassortant viruses within swine. "One Health" strategies are not "cost-free" and require sensitive implementation to optimize food-safety and food security, while safeguarding the economics of animal husbandry and the environment and remaining sensitive to cultural practices.

Brown Adipose Tissue Improves Whole-Body Glucose Homeostasis and Insulin Sensitivity in Humans

PubMed Central

Chondronikola, Maria; Volpi, Elena; Børsheim, Elisabet; Porter, Craig; Annamalai, Palam; Enerbäck, Sven; Lidell, Martin E.; Saraf, Manish K.; Labbe, Sebastien M.; Hurren, Nicholas M.; Yfanti, Christina; Chao, Tony; Andersen, Clark R.; Cesani, Fernando; Hawkins, Hal

2014-01-01

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) has attracted scientific interest as an antidiabetic tissue owing to its ability to dissipate energy as heat. Despite a plethora of data concerning the role of BAT in glucose metabolism in rodents, the role of BAT (if any) in glucose metabolism in humans remains unclear. To investigate whether BAT activation alters whole-body glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity in humans, we studied seven BAT-positive (BAT+) men and five BAT-negative (BAT−) men under thermoneutral conditions and after prolonged (5–8 h) cold exposure (CE). The two groups were similar in age, BMI, and adiposity. CE significantly increased resting energy expenditure, whole-body glucose disposal, plasma glucose oxidation, and insulin sensitivity in the BAT+ group only. These results demonstrate a physiologically significant role of BAT in whole-body energy expenditure, glucose homeostasis, and insulin sensitivity in humans, and support the notion that BAT may function as an antidiabetic tissue in humans. PMID:25056438

Objective measures of situation awareness in a simulated medical environment

PubMed Central

Wright, M; Taekman, J; Endsley, M

2004-01-01

One major limitation in the use of human patient simulators is a lack of objective, validated measures of human performance. Objective measures are necessary if simulators are to be used to evaluate the skills and training of medical practitioners and teams or to evaluate the impact of new processes or equipment design on overall system performance. Situation awareness (SA) refers to a person's perception and understanding of their dynamic environment. This awareness and comprehension is critical in making correct decisions that ultimately lead to correct actions in medical care settings. An objective measure of SA may be more sensitive and diagnostic than traditional performance measures. This paper reviews a theory of SA and discusses the methods required for developing an objective measure of SA within the context of a simulated medical environment. Analysis and interpretation of SA data for both individual and team performance in health care are also presented. PMID:15465958

Sources of information for assessing human papillomavirus vaccination history among young women.

PubMed

Niccolai, Linda M; McBride, Vanessa; Julian, Pamela R

2014-05-23

Assessing history of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is important for monitoring vaccine uptake, impact, and effectiveness. Based on data collected from 1720 women with high-grade cervical lesions reported to a statewide surveillance system in Connecticut, we found that available medical records did not contain HPV vaccination information for 34% of women, and 43% of women could not be reached for interview. When both were used for data collection, concordance of vaccination history (83%) and sensitivity of self-report (96%) were both high. Reviewing medical records based on self-reported information about vaccine providers increased confirmation of vaccination histories in this sample by 18%. The vaccine registry in Connecticut is not currently utilized for HPV vaccinations, but efforts to increase use for adolescent vaccines could be useful in the future to overcome limitations of other sources. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Striatal BOLD Response Reflects the Impact of Herd Information on Financial Decisions

PubMed Central

Burke, Christopher J.; Tobler, Philippe N.; Schultz, Wolfram; Baddeley, Michelle

2010-01-01

Like other species, humans are sensitive to the decisions and actions of conspecifics, which can lead to herd behavior and undesirable outcomes such as stock market bubbles and bank runs. However, how the brain processes this socially derived influence is only poorly understood. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we scanned participants as they made decisions on whether to buy stocks after observing others’ buying decisions. We demonstrate that activity in the ventral striatum, an area heavily implicated in reward processing, tracked the degree of influence on participants’ decisions arising from the observation of other peoples’ decisions. The signal did not track non-human, non-social control decisions. These findings lend weight to the notion that the ventral striatum is involved in the processing of complex social aspects of decision making and identify a possible neural basis for herd behavior. PMID:20589242

Constructive Engineering of Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snyder, Daniel R.; Barsness, Brendan

2011-01-01

Joint experimentation that investigates sensor optimization, re-tasking and management has far reaching implications for Department of Defense, Interagency and multinational partners. An adaption of traditional human in the loop (HITL) Modeling and Simulation (M&S) was one approach used to generate the findings necessary to derive and support these implications. Here an entity-based simulation was re-engineered to run on USJFCOM's High Performance Computer (HPC). The HPC was used to support the vast number of constructive runs necessary to produce statistically significant data in a timely manner. Then from the resulting sensitivity analysis, event designers blended the necessary visualization and decision making components into a synthetic environment for the HITL simulations trials. These trials focused on areas where human decision making had the greatest impact on the sensor investigations. Thus, this paper discusses how re-engineering existing M&S for constructive applications can positively influence the design of an associated HITL experiment.

Neuroscience and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Palmblad, M N; Buchholz, B A; Hillegonds, D J

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a mass spectrometric method for quantifying rare isotopes. It has had great impact in geochronology and archaeology and is now being applied in biomedicine. AMS measures radioisotopes such as {sup 3}H, {sup 14}C, {sup 26}Al, {sup 36}Cl and {sup 41}Ca, with zepto- or attomole sensitivity and high precision and throughput, enabling safe human pharmacokinetic studies involving: microgram doses, agents having low bioavailability, or toxicology studies where administered doses must be kept low (<1 {micro}g/kg). It is used to study long-term pharmacokinetics, to identify biomolecular interactions, to determine chronic and low-dose effects or molecular targets ofmore » neurotoxic substances, to quantify transport across the blood-brain barrier and to resolve molecular turnover rates in the human brain on the timescale of decades. We will here review how AMS is applied in neurotoxicology and neuroscience.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hsia, Chu Chieh; Chizhikov, Vladimir E.; Yang, Amy X.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) are transfusion-transmitted human pathogens that have a major impact on blood safety and public health worldwide. We developed a microarray multiplex assay for the simultaneous detection and discrimination of these three viruses. The microarray consists of 16 oligonucleotide probes, immobilized on a silylated glass slide. Amplicons from multiplex PCR were labeled with Cy-5 and hybridized to the microarray. The assay detected 1 International Unit (IU), 10 IU, 20 IU of HBV, HCV, and HIV-1, respectively, in a single multiplex reaction. The assay also detected and discriminatedmore » the presence of two or three of these viruses in a single sample. Our data represent a proof-of-concept for the possible use of highly sensitive multiplex microarray assay to screen and confirm the presence of these viruses in blood donors and patients.« less

The potential health and economic benefits of preventing recurrent respiratory papillomatosis through quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccination.

PubMed

Chesson, Harrell W; Forhan, Sara E; Gottlieb, Sami L; Markowitz, Lauri E

2008-08-18

We estimated the health and economic benefits of preventing recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) through quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. We applied a simple mathematical model to estimate the averted costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) saved by preventing RRP in children whose mothers had been vaccinated at age 12 years. Under base case assumptions, the prevention of RRP would avert an estimated USD 31 (range: USD 2-178) in medical costs (2006 US dollars) and save 0.00016 QALYs (range: 0.00001-0.00152) per 12-year-old girl vaccinated. Including the benefits of RRP reduced the estimated cost per QALY gained by HPV vaccination by roughly 14-21% in the base case and by <2% to >100% in the sensitivity analyses. More precise estimates of the incidence of RRP are needed, however, to quantify this impact more reliably.

Climate Change and Future Pollen Allergy in Europe.

PubMed

Lake, Iain R; Jones, Natalia R; Agnew, Maureen; Goodess, Clare M; Giorgi, Filippo; Hamaoui-Laguel, Lynda; Semenov, Mikhail A; Solomon, Fabien; Storkey, Jonathan; Vautard, Robert; Epstein, Michelle M

2017-03-01

Globally, pollen allergy is a major public health problem, but a fundamental unknown is the likely impact of climate change. To our knowledge, this is the first study to quantify the consequences of climate change upon pollen allergy in humans. We produced quantitative estimates of the potential impact of climate change upon pollen allergy in humans, focusing upon common ragweed ( Ambrosia artemisiifolia ) in Europe. A process-based model estimated the change in ragweed's range under climate change. A second model simulated current and future ragweed pollen levels. These findings were translated into health burdens using a dose-response curve generated from a systematic review and from current and future population data. Models considered two different suites of regional climate/pollen models, two greenhouse gas emissions scenarios [Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5], and three different plant invasion scenarios. Our primary estimates indicated that sensitization to ragweed will more than double in Europe, from 33 to 77 million people, by 2041-2060. According to our projections, sensitization will increase in countries with an existing ragweed problem (e.g., Hungary, the Balkans), but the greatest proportional increases will occur where sensitization is uncommon (e.g., Germany, Poland, France). Higher pollen concentrations and a longer pollen season may also increase the severity of symptoms. Our model projections were driven predominantly by changes in climate (66%) but were also influenced by current trends in the spread of this invasive plant species. Assumptions about the rate at which ragweed spreads throughout Europe had a large influence upon the results. Our quantitative estimates indicate that ragweed pollen allergy will become a common health problem across Europe, expanding into areas where it is currently uncommon. Control of ragweed spread may be an important adaptation strategy in response to climate change. Citation: Lake IR, Jones NR, Agnew M, Goodess CM, Giorgi F, Hamaoui-Laguel L, Semenov MA, Solomon F, Storkey J, Vautard R, Epstein MM. 2017. Climate change and future pollen allergy in Europe. Environ Health Perspect 125:385-391; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP173.

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity triggers gut dysbiosis, neuroinflammation, gut-brain axis dysfunction, and vulnerability for dementia.

PubMed

Daulatzai, Mak Adam

2015-01-01

The non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a chronic functional gastrointestinal disorder which is very common world wide. The human gut harbors microbiota which has a wide variety of microbial organisms; they are mainly symbiotic and important for well being. However, "dysbiosis" - i.e. an alteration in normal commensal gut microbiome with an increase in pathogenic microbes, impacts homeostasis/health. Dysbiosis in NCGS causes gut inflammation, diarrhea, constipation, visceral hypersensitivity, abdominal pain, dysfunctional metabolic state, and peripheral immune and neuro-immune communication. Thus, immune-mediated gut and extra-gut dysfunctions, due to gluten sensitivity with comorbid diarrhea, may last for decades. A significant proportion of NCGS patients may chronically consume alcohol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and fatty diet, as well as suffer from various comorbid disorders. The above pathophysiological substrate and dysbiosis are underpinned by dysfunctional bidirectional "Gut-Brain Axis" pathway. Pathogenic gut microbiota is known to upregulate gut- and systemic inflammation (due to lipopolysaccharide from pathogenic bacteria and synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines); they enhance energy harvest, cause obesity, insulin resistance, and dysfunctional vago-vagal gut-brain axis. Conceivably, the above cascade of pathology may promote various pathophysiological mechanisms, neuroinflammation, and cognitive dysfunction. Hence, dysbiosis, gut inflammation, and chronic dyshomeostasis are of great clinical relevance. It is argued here that we need to be aware of NCGS and its chronic pathophysiological impact. Therapeutic measures including probiotics, vagus nerve stimulation, antioxidants, alpha 7 nicotinic receptor agonists, and corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 antagonist may ameliorate neuroinflammation and oxidative stress in NCGS; they may therefore, prevent cognitive dysfunction and vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease.

Olfactory Sensitivity for Six Predator Odorants in CD-1 Mice, Human Subjects, and Spider Monkeys

PubMed Central

Sarrafchi, Amir; Odhammer, Anna M. E.; Hernandez Salazar, Laura Teresa; Laska, Matthias

2013-01-01

Using a conditioning paradigm, we assessed the olfactory sensitivity of six CD-1 mice (Mus musculus) for six sulfur-containing odorants known to be components of the odors of natural predators of the mouse. With all six odorants, the mice discriminated concentrations <0.1 ppm (parts per million) from the solvent, and with five of the six odorants the best-scoring animals were even able to detect concentrations <1 ppt (parts per trillion). Four female spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) and twelve human subjects (Homo sapiens) tested in parallel were found to detect the same six odorants at concentrations <0.01 ppm, and with four of the six odorants the best-scoring animals and subjects even detected concentrations <10 ppt. With all three species, the threshold values obtained here are generally lower than (or in the lower range of) those reported for other chemical classes tested previously, suggesting that sulfur-containing odorants may play a special role in olfaction. Across-species comparisons showed that the mice were significantly more sensitive than the human subjects and the spider monkeys with four of the six predator odorants. However, the human subjects were significantly more sensitive than the mice with the remaining two odorants. Human subjects and spider monkeys significantly differed in their sensitivity with only two of the six odorants. These comparisons lend further support to the notion that the number of functional olfactory receptor genes or the relative or absolute size of the olfactory bulbs are poor predictors of a species’ olfactory sensitivity. Analysis of odor structure–activity relationships showed that in both mice and human subjects the type of alkyl rest attached to a thietane and the type of oxygen moiety attached to a thiol significantly affected olfactory sensitivity. PMID:24278296

Decoding the network of Trypanosoma brucei proteins that determines sensitivity to apolipoprotein-L1

PubMed Central

MacLeod, Annette

2018-01-01

In contrast to Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense (the causative agents of human African trypanosomiasis), T. b. brucei is lysed by apolipoprotein-L1 (apoL1)-containing human serum trypanolytic factors (TLF), rendering it non-infectious to humans. While the mechanisms of TLF1 uptake, apoL1 membrane integration, and T. b. gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense apoL1-resistance have been extensively characterised, our understanding of the range of factors that drive apoL1 action in T. b. brucei is limited. Selecting our bloodstream-form T. b. brucei RNAi library with recombinant apoL1 identified an array of factors that supports the trypanocidal action of apoL1, including six putative ubiquitin modifiers and several proteins putatively involved in membrane trafficking; we also identified the known apoL1 sensitivity determinants, TbKIFC1 and the V-ATPase. Most prominent amongst the novel apoL1 sensitivity determinants was a putative ubiquitin ligase. Intriguingly, while loss of this ubiquitin ligase reduces parasite sensitivity to apoL1, its loss enhances parasite sensitivity to TLF1-dominated normal human serum, indicating that free and TLF1-bound apoL1 have contrasting modes-of-action. Indeed, loss of the known human serum sensitivity determinants, p67 (lysosomal associated membrane protein) and the cathepsin-L regulator, ‘inhibitor of cysteine peptidase’, had no effect on sensitivity to free apoL1. Our findings highlight a complex network of proteins that influences apoL1 action, with implications for our understanding of the anti-trypanosomal action of human serum. PMID:29346416

Quantitative comparisons of the acute neurotoxicity of toluene in rats and humans.

PubMed

Benignus, Vernon A; Boyes, William K; Kenyon, Elaina M; Bushnell, Philip J

2007-11-01

The behavioral and neurophysiological effects of acute exposure to toluene are the most thoroughly explored of all the hydrocarbon solvents. Behavioral effects have been experimentally studied in humans and other species, for example, rats. The existence of both rat and human dosimetric data offers the opportunity to quantitatively compare the relative sensitivity to acute toluene exposure. The purpose of this study was to fit dose-effect curves to existing data and to estimate the dose-equivalence equation (DEE) between rats and humans. The DEE gives the doses that produce the same magnitude of effect in the two species. Doses were brain concentrations of toluene estimated from physiologically based pharmacokinetic models. Human experiments measuring toluene effects on choice reaction time (CRT) were meta-analyzed. Rat studies employed various dependent variables: amplitude of visual-evoked potentials (VEPs), signal detection (SIGDET) accuracy (ACCU) and reaction time (RT), and escape-avoidance (ES-AV) behaviors. Comparison of dose-effect functions showed that human and rat sensitivity was practically the same for those two task regimens that exerted the least control over the behaviors being measured (VEP in rats and CRT in humans) and the sensitivity was progressively lower for SIGDET RT, SIGDET ACCU, and ES-AV behaviors in rats. These results suggested that the sensitivity to impairment by toluene depends on the strength of control over the measured behavior rather than on the species being tested. This interpretation suggests that (1) sensitivity to toluene would be equivalent in humans and rats if both species performed behaviors that were controlled to the same extent, (2) the most sensitive tests of neurobehavioral effects would be those in which least control is exerted on the behavior being measured, and (3) effects of toluene in humans may be estimated using the DEEs from rat studies despite differences in the amount of control exerted by the experimental regimen or differences in the behaviors under investigation.

Boeing CST-100 Starliner Seat Test

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-02-21

Engineers working with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner test the spacecraft's seat design in Mesa, Arizona, focusing on how the spacecraft seats would protect an astronaut's head, neck and spine during the 240-mile descent from the International Space Station. The company incorporated test dummies for a detailed analysis of impacts on a crew returning to earth. The human-sized dummies were equipped with sensitive instrumentation and secured in the seats for 30 drop tests at varying heights, angles, velocities and seat orientations in order to mimic actual landing conditions. High-speed cameras captured the footage for further analysis. The Starliner spacecraft is being developed in partnership with NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

A spatial ammonia emission inventory for pig farming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rebolledo, Boris; Gil, Antonia; Pallarés, Javier

2013-01-01

Atmospheric emissions of ammonia (NH3) from the agricultural sector have become a significant environmental and public concern as they have impacts on human health and ecosystems. This work proposes an improved methodology in order to identify administrative regions with high NH3 emissions from pig farming and calculates an ammonia density map (kg NH3-N ha-1), based on the number of pigs and available agricultural land, terrain slopes, groundwater bodies, soil permeability, zones sensitive to nitrate pollution and surface water buffer zones. The methodology has been used to construct a general tool for locating ammonia emissions from pig farming when detailed information of livestock farms is not available.

Sobol’ sensitivity analysis for stressor impacts on honeybee colonies

EPA Science Inventory

We employ Monte Carlo simulation and nonlinear sensitivity analysis techniques to describe the dynamics of a bee exposure model, VarroaPop. Daily simulations are performed of hive population trajectories, taking into account queen strength, foraging success, mite impacts, weather...

Band gaps and the possible effect on impact sensitivity for some nitro aromatic explosive materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hong; Cheung, Frankie; Zhao, Feng; Cheng, Xin-Lu

The first principle density functional theory method SIESTA has been used to compute the band gap of several polynitroaromatic explosives, such as TATB, DATB, TNT, and picric acid. In these systems, the weakest bond is the one between an NO2 group and the aromatic ring. The bond dissociation energy (BDE) alone cannot predicate the relative sensitivity to impact of these four systems correctly. It was found that their relative impact sensitivity could be explained by considering the BDE and the band gap value of the crystal state together.

Modelling the effect of heterogeneity of shedding on the within herd Coxiella burnetii spread and identification of key parameters by sensitivity analysis.

PubMed

Courcoul, Aurélie; Monod, Hervé; Nielen, Mirjam; Klinkenberg, Don; Hogerwerf, Lenny; Beaudeau, François; Vergu, Elisabeta

2011-09-07

Coxiella burnetii is the bacterium responsible for Q fever, a worldwide zoonosis. Ruminants, especially cattle, are recognized as the most important source of human infections. Although a great heterogeneity between shedder cows has been described, no previous studies have determined which features such as shedding route and duration or the quantity of bacteria shed have the strongest impact on the environmental contamination and thus on the zoonotic risk. Our objective was to identify key parameters whose variation highly influences C. burnetii spread within a dairy cattle herd, especially those related to the heterogeneity of shedding. To compare the impact of epidemiological parameters on different dynamical aspects of C. burnetii infection, we performed a sensitivity analysis on an original stochastic model describing the bacterium spread and representing the individual variability of the shedding duration, routes and intensity as well as herd demography. This sensitivity analysis consisted of a principal component analysis followed by an ANOVA. Our findings show that the most influential parameters are the probability distribution governing the levels of shedding, especially in vaginal mucus and faeces, the characteristics of the bacterium in the environment (i.e. its survival and the fraction of bacteria shed reaching the environment), and some physiological parameters related to the intermittency of shedding (transition probability from a non-shedding infected state to a shedding state) or to the transition from one type of shedder to another one (transition probability from a seronegative shedding state to a seropositive shedding state). Our study is crucial for the understanding of the dynamics of C. burnetii infection and optimization of control measures. Indeed, as control measures should impact the parameters influencing the bacterium spread most, our model can now be used to assess the effectiveness of different control strategies of Q fever within dairy cattle herds. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impacts of Residential Biofuel Emissions on Air Quality and Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Y.; Unger, N.; Harper, K.; Storelvmo, T.

2016-12-01

The residential biofuel sector is defined as fuelwood, agricultural residues and dung used for household cooking and heating. Aerosol emissions from this human activity play an important role affecting local, regional and global air quality, climate and public health. However, there are only few studies available that evaluate the net impacts and large uncertainties persist. Here we use the Community Atmosphere Model version 5.3 (CAM v5.3) within the Community Earth System Model version 1.2.2, to quantify the impacts of cook-stove biofuel emissions on air quality and climate. The model incorporates a novel advanced treatment of black carbon (BC) effects on mixed-phase/ice clouds. We update the global anthropogenic emission inventory in CAM v5.3 to a state-of-the-art emission inventory from the Greenhouse Gas-Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies integrated assessment model. Global in-situ and aircraft campaign observations for BC and organic carbon are used to evaluate and validate the model performance. Sensitivity simulations are employed to assess the impacts of residential biofuel emissions on regional and global direct and indirect radiative forcings in the contemporary world. We focus the analyses on several key regions including India, China and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Impacts of Off-Road Vehicles (ORVs) on Burrow Architecture of Ghost Crabs (Genus Ocypode) on Sandy Beaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucrezi, Serena; Schlacher, Thomas A.

2010-06-01

Recreational beach use with off-road vehicles is popular, but potentially harmful from an environmental perspective. Beaches are important habitats to invertebrates such as ghost crabs of the genus Ocyopde, which excavate extensive and elaborate burrows. Ghost crabs are sensitive to human pressures and changes in burrow architecture may thus be a consequence of disturbance by vehicles—the predictive hypothesis of this article. This was tested during the austral spring and summer by comparing 305 burrow casts between beaches open and closed to vehicles in Eastern Australia. Traffic influenced burrow architecture: there were smaller crabs on vehicle-impacted beaches, and after the peak traffic period (Christmas and New Year holidays), these crabs had tunnelled deeper into the sediment on shores rutted by cars. Crabs constructed all types of previously described burrows, but, significantly, smaller crabs from vehicle-impacted beaches simplified their shapes following heavy traffic disturbance from four (I, J, Y, M) to only two types (I, Y). These data support a model of active behavioural responses to disturbance from vehicles, extending the known effects of beach traffic to impacts on behavioural traits of the beach fauna.

Preschool is a sensitive period for the influence of maternal support on the trajectory of hippocampal development.

PubMed

Luby, Joan L; Belden, Andy; Harms, Michael P; Tillman, Rebecca; Barch, Deanna M

2016-05-17

Building on well-established animal data demonstrating the effects of early maternal support on hippocampal development and adaptive coping, a few longitudinal studies suggest that early caregiver support also impacts human hippocampal development. How caregiving contributes to human hippocampal developmental trajectories, whether there are sensitive periods for these effects, as well as whether related variation in hippocampal development predicts later childhood emotion functioning are of major public health importance. The current study investigated these questions in a longitudinal study of preschoolers assessed annually for behavioral and emotional development, including observed caregiver support. One hundred and twenty-seven children participated in three waves of magnetic resonance brain imaging through school age and early adolescence. Multilevel modeling of the effects of preschool and school-age maternal support on hippocampal volumes across the three waves was conducted. Hippocampal volume increased faster for those with higher levels of preschool maternal support. Subjects with support 1 SD above the mean had a 2.06 times greater increase in total hippocampus volume across the three scans than those with 1 SD below the mean (2.70% vs. 1.31%). No effect of school-age support was found. Individual slopes of hippocampus volume were significantly associated with emotion regulation at scan 3. The findings demonstrate a significant effect of early childhood maternal support on hippocampal volume growth across school age and early adolescence and suggest an early childhood sensitive period for these effects. They also show that this growth trajectory is associated with later emotion functioning.

Mechanical impact tests of materials in oxygen effects of contamination. [Teflon, stainless steel, and aluminum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ordin, P. M.

1980-01-01

The effect of contaminants on the mechanical impact sensitivity of Teflon, stainless steel, and aluminum in a high-pressure oxygen environment was investigated. Uncontaminated Teflon did not ignite under the test conditions. The liquid contaminants - cutting oil, motor lubricating oil, and toolmaker dye - caused Teflon to ignite. Raising the temperature lowered the impact energy required for ignition. Stainless steel was insensitive to ignition under the test conditions with the contaminants used. Aluminum appeared to react without contaminants under certain test conditions; however, contamination with cutting oil, motor lubricating oil, and toolmakers dye increased the sensitivity of aluminum to mechanical impact. The grit contaminants silicon dioxide and copper powder did not conclusively affect the sensitivity of aluminum.

Expression of human oxoguanine glycosylase 1 or formamidopyrimidine glycosylase in human embryonic kidney 293 cells exacerbates methylmercury toxicity in vitro

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ondovcik, Stephanie L.; Preston, Thomas J.; McCallum, Gordon P.

Exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) acutely at high levels, or via chronic low-level dietary exposure from daily fish consumption, can lead to adverse neurological effects in both the adult and developing conceptus. To determine the impact of variable DNA repair capacity, and the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidatively damaged DNA in the mechanism of toxicity, transgenic human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells that stably express either human oxoguanine glycosylase 1 (hOgg1) or its bacterial homolog, formamidopyrimidine glycosylase (Fpg), which primarily repair the oxidative lesion 8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), were used to assess the in vitro effects of MeHg. Western blottingmore » confirmed the expression of hOgg1 or Fpg in both the nuclear and mitochondrial compartments of their respective cell lines. Following acute (1–2 h) incubations with 0–10 μM MeHg, concentration-dependent decreases in clonogenic survival and cell growth accompanied concentration-dependent increases in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, ROS formation, 8-oxodG levels and apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites, consistent with the onset of cytotoxicity. Paradoxically, hOgg1- and Fpg-expressing HEK 293 cells were more sensitive than wild-type cells stably transfected with the empty vector control to MeHg across all cellular and biochemical parameters, exhibiting reduced clonogenic survival and cell growth, and increased LDH release and DNA damage. Accordingly, upregulation of specific components of the base excision repair (BER) pathway may prove deleterious potentially due to the absence of compensatory enhancement of downstream processes to repair toxic intermediary abasic sites. Thus, interindividual variability in DNA repair activity may constitute an important risk factor for environmentally-initiated, oxidatively damaged DNA and its pathological consequences. - Highlights: • hOgg1 and Fpg repair oxidatively damaged DNA. • hOgg1- and Fpg-expressing cells are more sensitive to MeHg toxicity. • Enhanced sensitivity is likely due to an accumulation of toxic repair intermediates. • Interindividual variability in DNA repair activity may modulate toxicological risk.« less

Head impact exposure sustained by football players on days of diagnosed concussion.

PubMed

Beckwith, Jonathan G; Greenwald, Richard M; Chu, Jeffrey J; Crisco, Joseph J; Rowson, Steven; Duma, Stefan M; Broglio, Steven P; McAllister, Thomas W; Guskiewicz, Kevin M; Mihalik, Jason P; Anderson, Scott; Schnebel, Brock; Brolinson, P Gunnar; Collins, Michael W

2013-04-01

This study compares the frequency and severity of head impacts sustained by football players on days with and without diagnosed concussion and to identify the sensitivity and specificity of single-impact severity measures to diagnosed injury. One thousand two hundred eight players from eight collegiate football teams and six high school football teams wore instrumented helmets to measure head impacts during all team sessions, of which 95 players were diagnosed with concussion. Eight players sustained two injuries and one sustained three, providing 105 injury cases. Measures of head kinematics (peak linear and rotational acceleration, Gadd severity index, head injury criteria (HIC15), and change in head velocity (Δv)) and the number of head impacts sustained by individual players were compared between days with and without diagnosed concussion. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of each kinematic measure to diagnosed concussion using only those impacts that directly preceded diagnosis. Players sustained a higher frequency of impacts and impacts with more severe kinematic properties on days of diagnosed concussion than on days without diagnosed concussion. Forty-five injury cases were immediately diagnosed after head impact. For these cases, peak linear acceleration and HIC15 were most sensitive to immediately diagnosed concussion (area under the curve = 0.983). Peak rotational acceleration was less sensitive to diagnosed injury than all other kinematic measures (P = 0.01), which are derived from linear acceleration (peak linear, HIC15, Gadd severity index, and Δv). Players sustained more impacts and impacts of higher severity on days of diagnosed concussion than on days without diagnosed concussion. In addition, of historical measures of impact severity, those associated with peak linear acceleration are the best predictors of immediately diagnosed concussion.

Head Impact Exposure Sustained by Football Players on Days of Diagnosed Concussion

PubMed Central

Beckwith, Jonathan G.; Greenwald, Richard M.; Chu, Jeffrey J.; Crisco, Joseph J.; Rowson, Steven; Duma, Stefan M.; Broglio, Steven P.; McAllister, Thomas W.; Guskiewicz, Kevin M.; Mihalik, Jason P.; Anderson, Scott; Schnebel, Brock; Brolinson, P. Gunnar; Collins, Michael W.

2012-01-01

Purpose This study compares the frequency and severity of head impacts sustained by football players on days with and without diagnosed concussion and to identify the sensitivity and specificity of single impact severity measures to diagnosed injury. Methods 1,208 players from eight collegiate and six high school football teams wore instrumented helmets to measure head impacts during all team sessions, of which 95 players were diagnosed with concussion. Eight players sustained two injuries and one three, providing 105 injury cases. Measures of head kinematics (peak linear and rotational acceleration, Gadd Severity Index (GSI), Head Injury Criteria (HIC15), change in head velocity (Δv)) and the number of head impacts sustained by individual players were compared between days with and without diagnosed concussion. Receiver operator characteristic curves were generated to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of each kinematic measure to diagnosed concussion using only those impacts that directly preceded diagnosis. Results Players sustained a higher frequency of impacts and impacts with more severe kinematic properties on days of diagnosed concussion than on days without diagnosed concussion. Forty-five injury cases were immediately diagnosed following head impact. For these cases, peak linear acceleration and HIC15 were most sensitive to immediately diagnosed concussion (AUC = 0.983). Peak rotational acceleration was less sensitive to diagnosed injury than all other kinematic measures (p = 0.01) which are derived from linear acceleration (peak linear, HIC15, GSI, and Δv). Conclusions Players sustain more impacts and impacts of higher severity on days of diagnosed concussion than on days without diagnosed concussion. Additionally, of historical measures of impact severity, those associated with peak linear acceleration are the best predictors of immediately diagnosed concussion. PMID:23135363

Potential impact of particulate matter less than 10 micron (PM10) to ambient air quality of Jakarta and Palembang

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agustine, I.; Yulinawati, H.; Gunawan, D.; Suswantoro, E.

2018-01-01

Particulate is a main urban air pollutant affects the environment and human wellbeing. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of particulate matter less than 10 micron (PM10) to ambient air quality of Jakarta and Palembang. The analysis is done with calendarPlot Function of openair model, which is based on the calculation of Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) or better known as Air Quality Index (AQI). The AQI category of “moderate” dominates Jakarta’s calendar from 2015 to 2016, which indicates the impact of PM10 is the visibility reduction. There was one day with category “unhealthy” that indicates the impact of dust exposure everywhere in Jakarta during 2015. Similar to Jakarta, the AQI category “moderate” also dominates Palembang’s calendar during 2015. However, the AQI category “hazardous” happened for few days in September and October 2015 during forest fires, which indicates the more harmful impacts of PM10, such as reduced visibility, dust exposure everywhere, increased sensitivity in patients with asthma and bronchitis to respiratory illness in all exposed populations. During 2016, AQI category of Jakarta mostly “moderate”, while in Palembang was “good”. Dominant AQI category from 2015 to 2016 shows higher PM10 concentration occurred in Jakarta compared to Palembang.

Climate change and the oceans--what does the future hold?

PubMed

Bijma, Jelle; Pörtner, Hans-O; Yesson, Chris; Rogers, Alex D

2013-09-30

The ocean has been shielding the earth from the worst effects of rapid climate change by absorbing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This absorption of CO2 is driving the ocean along the pH gradient towards more acidic conditions. At the same time ocean warming is having pronounced impacts on the composition, structure and functions of marine ecosystems. Warming, freshening (in some areas) and associated stratification are driving a trend in ocean deoxygenation, which is being enhanced in parts of the coastal zone by upwelling of hypoxic deep water. The combined impact of warming, acidification and deoxygenation are already having a dramatic effect on the flora and fauna of the oceans with significant changes in distribution of populations, and decline of sensitive species. In many cases, the impacts of warming, acidification and deoxygenation are increased by the effects of other human impacts, such as pollution, eutrophication and overfishing. The interactive effects of this deadly trio mirrors similar events in the Earth's past, which were often coupled with extinctions of major species' groups. Here we review the observed impacts and, using past episodes in the Earth's history, set out what the future may hold if carbon emissions and climate change are not significantly reduced with more or less immediate effect. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Impact of the p53 status of tumor cells on extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis signaling.

PubMed

Wachter, Franziska; Grunert, Michaela; Blaj, Cristina; Weinstock, David M; Jeremias, Irmela; Ehrhardt, Harald

2013-04-17

The p53 protein is the best studied target in human cancer. For decades, p53 has been believed to act mainly as a tumor suppressor and by transcriptional regulation. Only recently, the complex and diverse function of p53 has attracted more attention. Using several molecular approaches, we studied the impact of different p53 variants on extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis signaling. We reproduced the previously published results within intrinsic apoptosis induction: while wild-type p53 promoted cell death, different p53 mutations reduced apoptosis sensitivity. The prediction of the impact of the p53 status on the extrinsic cell death induction was much more complex. The presence of p53 in tumor cell lines and primary xenograft tumor cells resulted in either augmented, unchanged or reduced cell death. The substitution of wild-type p53 by mutant p53 did not affect the extrinsic apoptosis inducing capacity. In summary, we have identified a non-expected impact of p53 on extrinsic cell death induction. We suggest that the impact of the p53 status of tumor cells on extrinsic apoptosis signaling should be studied in detail especially in the context of therapeutic approaches that aim to restore p53 function to facilitate cell death via the extrinsic apoptosis pathway.

Dynamic analysis of Apollo-Salyut/Soyuz docking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schliesing, J. A.

1972-01-01

The use of a docking-system computer program in analyzing the dynamic environment produced by two impacting spacecraft and the attitude control systems is discussed. Performance studies were conducted to determine the mechanism load and capture sensitivity to parametric changes in the initial impact conditions. As indicated by the studies, capture latching is most sensitive to vehicle angular-alinement errors and is least sensitive to lateral-miss error. As proved by load-sensitivity studies, peak loads acting on the Apollo spacecraft are considerably lower than the Apollo design-limit loads.

[Primary cervical cancer screening].

PubMed

Vargas-Hernández, Víctor Manuel; Vargas-Aguilar, Víctor Manuel; Tovar-Rodríguez, José María

2015-01-01

Cervico-uterine cancer screening with cytology decrease incidence by more than 50%. The cause of this cancer is the human papilloma virus high risk, and requires a sensitive test to provide sufficient sensitivity and specificity for early detection and greater interval period when the results are negative. The test of the human papilloma virus high risk, is effective and safe because of its excellent sensitivity, negative predictive value and optimal reproducibility, especially when combined with liquid-based cytology or biomarkers with viral load, with higher sensitivity and specificity, by reducing false positives for the detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or greater injury, with excellent clinical benefits to cervical cancer screening and related infection of human papilloma virus diseases, is currently the best test for early detection infection of human papillomavirus and the risk of carcinogenesis. Copyright © 2015 Academia Mexicana de Cirugía A.C. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Glycan-functionalized graphene-FETs toward selective detection of human-infectious avian influenza virus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ono, Takao; Oe, Takeshi; Kanai, Yasushi; Ikuta, Takashi; Ohno, Yasuhide; Maehashi, Kenzo; Inoue, Koichi; Watanabe, Yohei; Nakakita, Shin-ichi; Suzuki, Yasuo; Kawahara, Toshio; Matsumoto, Kazuhiko

2017-03-01

There are global concerns about threat of pandemic caused by the human-infectious avian influenza virus. To prevent the oncoming pandemic, it is crucial to analyze the viral affinity to human-type or avian-type sialoglycans with high sensitivity at high speed. Graphene-FET (G-FET) realizes such high-sensitive electrical detection of the targets, owing to graphene’s high carrier mobility. In the present study, G-FET was functionalized using sialoglycans and employed for the selective detection of lectins from Sambucus sieboldiana and Maackia amurensis as alternatives of the human and avian influenza viruses. Glycan-functionalized G-FET selectively monitored the sialoglycan-specific binding reactions at subnanomolar sensitivity.

Climate-sensitive urban design through Envi-Met simulation: case study in Kemayoran, Jakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kusumastuty, K. D.; Poerbo, H. W.; Koerniawan, M. D.

2018-03-01

Indonesia as a tropical country which the character of its climate are hot and humid, the outdoor activity applications are often disrupted due to discomfort in thermal conditions. Massive construction of skyscrapers in urban areas are caused by the increase of human population leads to reduced green and infiltration areas that impact to environmental imbalances and triggering microclimate changes with rising air temperatures on the surface. The area that significantly experiences the rise of temperature in the Central Business District (CBD), which has need an analysis to create thermal comfort conditions to improve the ease of outdoor activities by an approach. This study aims to design the Kemayoran CBD through Climate Sensitive Urban Design especially in hot and humid tropical climate area and analyze thermal comfort level and optimal air conditioning in the outdoor area. This research used a quantitative method by generating the design using Climate Sensitive Urban Design principle through Envi-met 4.1 simulation program to find out the value of PMV, air temperature, wind speed and relative humidity conditions. The design area considers the configuration of buildings such as the distance between buildings, the average height, the orientation of the building, and the width of the road.

Assessment of health risks resulting from early-life exposures: Are current chemical toxicity testing protocols and risk assessment methods adequate?

PubMed

Felter, Susan P; Daston, George P; Euling, Susan Y; Piersma, Aldert H; Tassinari, Melissa S

2015-03-01

Abstract Over the last couple of decades, the awareness of the potential health impacts associated with early-life exposures has increased. Global regulatory approaches to chemical risk assessment are intended to be protective for the diverse human population including all life stages. However, questions persist as to whether the current testing approaches and risk assessment methodologies are adequately protective for infants and children. Here, we review physiological and developmental differences that may result in differential sensitivity associated with early-life exposures. It is clear that sensitivity to chemical exposures during early-life can be similar, higher, or lower than that of adults, and can change quickly within a short developmental timeframe. Moreover, age-related exposure differences provide an important consideration for overall susceptibility. Differential sensitivity associated with a life stage can reflect the toxicokinetic handling of a xenobiotic exposure, the toxicodynamic response, or both. Each of these is illustrated with chemical-specific examples. The adequacy of current testing protocols, proposed new tools, and risk assessment methods for systemic noncancer endpoints are reviewed in light of the potential for differential risk to infants and young children.

An imaging genetics approach to understanding social influence

PubMed Central

Falk, Emily B.; Way, Baldwin M.; Jasinska, Agnes J.

2012-01-01

Normative social influences shape nearly every aspect of our lives, yet the biological processes mediating the impact of these social influences on behavior remain incompletely understood. In this Hypothesis, we outline a theoretical framework and an integrative research approach to the study of social influences on the brain and genetic moderators of such effects. First, we review neuroimaging evidence linking social influence and conformity to the brain's reward system. We next review neuroimaging evidence linking social punishment (exclusion) to brain systems involved in the experience of pain, as well as evidence linking exclusion to conformity. We suggest that genetic variants that increase sensitivity to social cues may predispose individuals to be more sensitive to either social rewards or punishments (or potentially both), which in turn increases conformity and susceptibility to normative social influences more broadly. To this end, we review evidence for genetic moderators of neurochemical responses in the brain, and suggest ways in which genes and pharmacology may modulate sensitivity to social influences. We conclude by proposing an integrative imaging genetics approach to the study of brain mediators and genetic modulators of a variety of social influences on human attitudes, beliefs, and actions. PMID:22701416

Avian sensitivity to mortality: prioritising migratory bird species for assessment at proposed wind farms.

PubMed

Desholm, Mark

2009-06-01

Wind power generation is likely to constitute one of the most extensive human physical exploitation activities of European marine areas in the near future. The many millions of migrating birds that pass these man-made obstacles are protected by international obligations and the subject of public concerns. Yet some bird species are more sensitive to bird-wind turbine mortality than others. This study developed a simple and logical framework for ranking bird species with regard to their relative sensitivity to bird-wind turbine-collisions, and applied it to a data set comprising 38 avian migrant species at the Nysted offshore wind farm in Denmark. Two indicators were selected to characterize the sensitivity of each individual species: 1) relative abundance and 2) demographic sensitivity (elasticity of population growth rate to changes in adult survival). In the case-study from the Nysted offshore wind farm, birds of prey and waterbirds dominated the group of high priority species and only passerines showed a low risk of being impacted by the wind farm. Even where passerines might be present in very high numbers, they often represent insignificant segments of huge reference populations that, from a demographic point of view, are relatively insensitive to wind farm-related adult mortality. It will always be important to focus attention and direct the resources towards the most sensitive species to ensure cost-effective environmental assessments in the future, and in general, this novel index seems capable of identifying the species that are at high risk of being adversely affected by wind farms.

Human transgenerational responses to early-life experience: potential impact on development, health and biomedical research

PubMed Central

Pembrey, Marcus; Saffery, Richard; Bygren, Lars Olov

2014-01-01

Mammalian experiments provide clear evidence of male line transgenerational effects on health and development from paternal or ancestral early-life exposures such as diet or stress. The few human observational studies to date suggest (male line) transgenerational effects exist that cannot easily be attributed to cultural and/or genetic inheritance. Here we summarise relevant studies, drawing attention to exposure sensitive periods in early life and sex differences in transmission and offspring outcomes. Thus, variation, or changes, in the parental/ancestral environment may influence phenotypic variation for better or worse in the next generation(s), and so contribute to common, non-communicable disease risk including sex differences. We argue that life-course epidemiology should be reframed to include exposures from previous generations, keeping an open mind as to the mechanisms that transmit this information to offspring. Finally, we discuss animal experiments, including the role of epigenetic inheritance and non-coding RNAs, in terms of what lessons can be learnt for designing and interpreting human studies. This review was developed initially as a position paper by the multidisciplinary Network in Epigenetic Epidemiology to encourage transgenerational research in human cohorts. PMID:25062846

Identification of a novel human deoxynivalenol metabolite enhancing proliferation of intestinal and urinary bladder cells

PubMed Central

Warth, Benedikt; Del Favero, Giorgia; Wiesenberger, Gerlinde; Puntscher, Hannes; Woelflingseder, Lydia; Fruhmann, Philipp; Sarkanj, Bojan; Krska, Rudolf; Schuhmacher, Rainer; Adam, Gerhard; Marko, Doris

2016-01-01

The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is an abundant contaminant of cereal based food and a severe issue for global food safety. We report the discovery of DON-3-sulfate as a novel human metabolite and potential new biomarker of DON exposure. The conjugate was detectable in 70% of urine samples obtained from pregnant women in Croatia. For the measurement of urinary metabolites, a highly sensitive and selective LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated. The method was also used to investigate samples from a duplicate diet survey for studying the toxicokinetics of DON-3-sulfate. To get a preliminary insight into the biological relevance of the newly discovered DON-sulfates, in vitroexperiments were performed. In contrast to DON, sulfate conjugates lacked potency to suppress protein translation. However, surprisingly we found that DON-sulfates enhanced proliferation of human HT-29 colon carcinoma cells, primary human colon epithelial cells (HCEC-1CT) and, to some extent, also T24 bladder cancer cells. A proliferative stimulus, especially in tumorigenic cells raises concern on the potential impact of DON-sulfates on consumer health. Thus, a further characterization of their toxicological relevance should be of high priority. PMID:27659167

The resilience of postglacial hunter-gatherers to abrupt climate change.

PubMed

Blockley, Simon; Candy, Ian; Matthews, Ian; Langdon, Pete; Langdon, Cath; Palmer, Adrian; Lincoln, Paul; Abrook, Ashley; Taylor, Barry; Conneller, Chantal; Bayliss, Alex; MacLeod, Alison; Deeprose, Laura; Darvill, Chris; Kearney, Rebecca; Beavan, Nancy; Staff, Richard; Bamforth, Michael; Taylor, Maisie; Milner, Nicky

2018-05-01

Understanding the resilience of early societies to climate change is an essential part of exploring the environmental sensitivity of human populations. There is significant interest in the role of abrupt climate events as a driver of early Holocene human activity, but there are very few well-dated records directly compared with local climate archives. Here, we present evidence from the internationally important Mesolithic site of Star Carr showing occupation during the early Holocene, which is directly compared with a high-resolution palaeoclimate record from neighbouring lake beds. We show that-once established-there was intensive human activity at the site for several hundred years when the community was subject to multiple, severe, abrupt climate events that impacted air temperatures, the landscape and the ecosystem of the region. However, these results show that occupation and activity at the site persisted regardless of the environmental stresses experienced by this society. The Star Carr population displayed a high level of resilience to climate change, suggesting that postglacial populations were not necessarily held hostage to the flickering switch of climate change. Instead, we show that local, intrinsic changes in the wetland environment were more significant in determining human activity than the large-scale abrupt early Holocene climate events.

Identification of a novel human deoxynivalenol metabolite enhancing proliferation of intestinal and urinary bladder cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warth, Benedikt; Del Favero, Giorgia; Wiesenberger, Gerlinde; Puntscher, Hannes; Woelflingseder, Lydia; Fruhmann, Philipp; Sarkanj, Bojan; Krska, Rudolf; Schuhmacher, Rainer; Adam, Gerhard; Marko, Doris

2016-09-01

The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is an abundant contaminant of cereal based food and a severe issue for global food safety. We report the discovery of DON-3-sulfate as a novel human metabolite and potential new biomarker of DON exposure. The conjugate was detectable in 70% of urine samples obtained from pregnant women in Croatia. For the measurement of urinary metabolites, a highly sensitive and selective LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated. The method was also used to investigate samples from a duplicate diet survey for studying the toxicokinetics of DON-3-sulfate. To get a preliminary insight into the biological relevance of the newly discovered DON-sulfates, in vitroexperiments were performed. In contrast to DON, sulfate conjugates lacked potency to suppress protein translation. However, surprisingly we found that DON-sulfates enhanced proliferation of human HT-29 colon carcinoma cells, primary human colon epithelial cells (HCEC-1CT) and, to some extent, also T24 bladder cancer cells. A proliferative stimulus, especially in tumorigenic cells raises concern on the potential impact of DON-sulfates on consumer health. Thus, a further characterization of their toxicological relevance should be of high priority.

Induction of expression of iNOS by N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in human leukocytes.

PubMed

Ratajczak-Wrona, Wioletta; Jablonska, Ewa; Jablonski, Jakub; Marcinczyk, Magdalena

2009-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) on expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), as well as production of nitric oxide (NO) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) by human neutrophils (PMN) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and the participation of the p38 MAPK kinase in this process. Furthermore, the ability of neutrophils to release superoxide anion was determined. The influence of N-nitrosodimethylamine on iNOS expression was determined in isolated PMN and PBMC cells from peripheral blood of healthy individuals. The mononuclear cells showed higher sensitivity to NDMA. Moreover, cytotoxic effect of NDMA can be influenced in some way by the impact of this xenobiotic on nitric oxide and superoxide anion release from human leukocytes. Furthermore, increased generation of these radicals by human leukocytes suggest that neutrophils and mononuclear cells that are exposed to NDMA activity can play a key role in endogenous NDMA generation. However the relationship between iNOS expression and phospho-p38 MAPK in neutrophils and mononuclear cells shows that p38 MAPK pathway participates in induction of iNOS expression in the presence of NDMA.

Impact of Procyanidins from Different Berries on Caspase 8 Activation in Colon Cancer

PubMed Central

Minker, Carole; Duban, Livine; Karas, Daniel; Järvinen, Päivi; Lobstein, Annelise; Muller, Christian D.

2015-01-01

Scope. The aim of this work is to identify which proapoptotic pathway is induced in human colon cancer cell lines, in contact with proanthocyanidins extracted from various berries. Methods and Results. Proanthocyanidins (Pcys) extracted from 11 berry species are monitored for proapoptotic activities on two related human colon cancer cell lines: SW480-TRAIL-sensitive and SW620-TRAIL-resistant. Apoptosis induction is monitored by cell surface phosphatidylserine (PS) detection. Lowbush blueberry extract triggers the strongest activity. When tested on the human monocytic cell line THP-1, blueberry Pcys are less effective for PS externalisation and DNA fragmentation is absent, highlighting a specificity of apoptosis induction in gut cells. In Pcys-treated gut cell lines, caspase 8 (apoptosis extrinsic pathway) but not caspase 9 (apoptosis intrinsic pathway) is activated after 3 hours through P38 phosphorylation (90 min), emphasizing the potency of lowbush blueberry Pcys to eradicate gut TRAIL-resistant cancer cells. Conclusion. We highlight here that berries Pcys, especially lowbush blueberry Pcys, are of putative interest for nutritional chemoprevention of colorectal cancer in view of their apoptosis induction in a human colorectal cancer cell lines. PMID:26180579

Life cycle assessment of potential municipal solid waste management strategies for Mumbai, India.

PubMed

Sharma, Bhupendra K; Chandel, Munish K

2017-01-01

Dumping of municipal solid waste into uncontrolled dumpsites is the most common method of waste disposal in most cities of India. These dumpsites are posing a serious challenge to environmental quality and sustainable development. Mumbai, which generates over 9000 t of municipal solid waste daily, also disposes of most of its waste in open dumps. It is important to analyse the impact of municipal solid waste disposal today and what would be the impact under integrated waste management schemes. In this study, life cycle assessment methodology was used to determine the impact of municipal solid waste management under different scenarios. Six different scenarios were developed as alternatives to the current practice of open dumping and partially bioreactor landfilling. The scenarios include landfill with biogas collection, incineration and different combinations of recycling, landfill, composting, anaerobic digestion and incineration. Global warming, acidification, eutrophication and human toxicity were assessed as environmental impact categories. The sensitivity analysis shows that if the recycling rate is increased from 10% to 90%, the environmental impacts as compared with present scenario would reduce from 998.43 kg CO 2 eq t -1 of municipal solid waste, 0.124 kg SO 2 eq t -1 , 0.46 kg PO 4 -3 eq t -1 , 0.44 kg 1,4-DB eq t -1 to 892.34 kg CO 2 eq t -1 , 0.121 kg SO 2 eq t -1 , 0.36 kg PO 4 -3 eq t -1 , 0.40 kg 1,4-DB eq t -1 , respectively. An integrated municipal solid waste management approach with a mix of recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion and landfill had the lowest overall environmental impact. The technologies, such as incineration, would reduce the global warming emission because of the highest avoided emissions, however, human toxicity would increase.

Multi-objective optimization integrated with life cycle assessment for rainwater harvesting systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yi; Huang, Youyi; Ye, Quanliang; Zhang, Wenlong; Meng, Fangang; Zhang, Shanxue

2018-03-01

The major limitation of optimization models applied previously for rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems is the systematic evaluation of environmental and human health impacts across all the lifecycle stages. This study integrated life cycle assessment (LCA) into a multi-objective optimization model to optimize the construction areas of green rooftops, porous pavements and green lands in Beijing of China, considering the trade-offs among 24 h-interval RWH volume (QR), stormwater runoff volume control ratio (R), economic cost (EC), and environmental impacts (EI). Eleven life cycle impact indicators were assessed with a functional unit of 10,000 m2 of RWH construction areas. The LCA results showed that green lands performed the smallest lifecycle impacts of all assessment indicators, in contrast, porous pavements showed the largest impact values except Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP) elements. Based on the standardization results, ADP fossil was chosen as the representative indicator for the calculation of EI objective in multi-objective optimization model due to its largest value in all RWH systems lifecycle. The optimization results for QR, R, EC and EI were 238.80 million m3, 78.5%, 66.68 billion RMB Yuan, and 1.05E + 16 MJ, respectively. After the construction of optimal RWH system, 14.7% of annual domestic water consumption and 78.5% of maximum daily rainfall would be supplied and controlled in Beijing, respectively, which would make a great contribution to reduce the stress of water scarcity and water logging problems. Green lands have been the first choice for RWH in Beijing according to the capacity of rainwater harvesting and less environmental and human impacts. Porous pavements played a good role in water logging alleviation (R for 67.5%), however, did not show a large construction result in this study due to the huge ADP fossil across the lifecycle. Sensitivity analysis revealed the daily maximum precipitation to be key factor for the robustness of the results for three RWH systems construction in this study.

Impacts of Bisphenol A and Ethinyl Estradiol on Male and Female CD-1 Mouse Spleen.

PubMed

Gear, Robin B; Belcher, Scott M

2017-04-12

The endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) and the pharmaceutical 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE) are synthetic chemicals with estrogen-like activities. Despite ubiquitous human exposure to BPA, and the wide-spread clinical use of EE as oral contraceptive adjuvant, the impact of these estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on the immune system is unclear. Here we report results of in vivo dose response studies that analyzed the histology and microstructural changes in the spleen of adult male and female CD-1 mice exposed to 4 to 40,000 μg/kg/day BPA or 0.02 to 2 μg/kg/day EE from conception until 12-14 weeks of age. Results of that analysis indicate that both BPA and EE have dose- and sex-specific impacts on the cellular and microanatomical structures of the spleens that reveal minor alterations in immunomodulatory and hematopoietic functions. These findings support previous studies demonstrating the murine immune system as a sensitive target for estrogens, and that oral exposures to BPA and EE can have estrogen-like immunomodulatory affects in both sexes.

Capabilities of the Environmental Effects Branch at Marshall Space Flight Cente

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rogers, Jan; Finckenor, Miria; Nehls, Mary

2016-01-01

The Environmental Effects Branch at the Marshall Space Flight Center supports a myriad array of programs for NASA, DoD, and commercial space including human exploration, advanced space propulsion, improving life on Earth, and the study of the Sun, the Earth, and the solar system. The branch provides testing, evaluation, and qualification of materials for use on external spacecraft surfaces and in contamination-sensitive systems. Space environment capabilities include charged particle radiation, ultraviolet radiation, atomic oxygen, impact, plasma, and thermal vacuum, anchored by flight experiments and analysis of returned space hardware. These environmental components can be combined for solar wind or planetary surface environment studies or to evaluate synergistic effects. The Impact Testing Facility allows simulation of impacts ranging from sand and rain to micrometeoroids and orbital debris in order to evaluate materials and components for flight and ground-based systems. The Contamination Control Team is involved in the evaluation of environmentally-friendly replacements for HCFC-225 for use in propulsion oxygen systems, developing cleaning methods for additively manufactured hardware, and reducing risk for the Space Launch System.

Desert dust and anthropogenic aerosol interactions in the Community Climate System Model coupled-carbon-climate model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mahowald, Natalie; Rothenberg, D.; Lindsay, Keith

2011-02-01

Coupled-carbon-climate simulations are an essential tool for predicting the impact of human activity onto the climate and biogeochemistry. Here we incorporate prognostic desert dust and anthropogenic aerosols into the CCSM3.1 coupled carbon-climate model and explore the resulting interactions with climate and biogeochemical dynamics through a series of transient anthropogenic simulations (20th and 21st centuries) and sensitivity studies. The inclusion of prognostic aerosols into this model has a small net global cooling effect on climate but does not significantly impact the globally averaged carbon cycle; we argue that this is likely to be because the CCSM3.1 model has a small climatemore » feedback onto the carbon cycle. We propose a mechanism for including desert dust and anthropogenic aerosols into a simple carbon-climate feedback analysis to explain the results of our and previous studies. Inclusion of aerosols has statistically significant impacts on regional climate and biogeochemistry, in particular through the effects on the ocean nitrogen cycle and primary productivity of altered iron inputs from desert dust deposition.« less

Sex differences in stress effects on emotional learning.

PubMed

Merz, Christian J; Wolf, Oliver T

2017-01-02

Stress influences emotional learning and memory processes. These effects are thought to underlie stress-associated mental disorders. Sex differences in stress reactivity and in central nervous system stress sensitivity illustrate the important modulatory role of sex hormones. This Review outlines how stress hormones influence different stages of the fear conditioning process, such as fear acquisition, extinction, and retrieval. Results will be compared with findings on the impact of stress on episodic memory. The focus is on the available human data on sex differences and the impact sex hormones have on the stress effects on emotional learning and memory. It will become apparent that the menstrual cycle but also the intake of hormonal contraceptives modulates the impact of stress on brain and behavior. Additional basic research is needed for a deeper insight regarding the interplay between stress and sex hormones in emotion and cognition. In addition, new treatment options might be derived to optimize existing strategies such as exposure therapy, which relies on the principles of fear conditioning. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of human papillomavirus vaccination in South Africa accounting for human immunodeficiency virus prevalence.

PubMed

Li, Xiao; Stander, Martinus P; Van Kriekinge, Georges; Demarteau, Nadia

2015-12-11

This study aims at evaluating the cost-effectiveness of a 2-dose schedule human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme of HPV and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) naïve 12-year-old girls, in addition to cervical cancer (CC) screening alone, in South Africa. The study aims to account for both the impact of the vaccine among girls who are HIV-positive (HIV+) as well as HIV-negative (HIV-) population. A previously published Markov cohort model was adapted to assess the impact and cost-effectiveness of a HPV vaccination programme in girls aged 12 years (N = 527 900) using the AS04-adjuvanted HPV-16/18 vaccine from a public payer perspective. Two subpopulations were considered: HIV- and HIV+ women. Each population followed the HPV natural history with different transition probabilities. Model input data were obtained from the literature, local databases and Delphi panel. Costs and outcomes were discounted at 5 %. Extensive sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the evaluation. Implementation of the AS04-adjuvanted HPV-16/18 vaccine in combination with current cytological screening in South African girls could prevent up to 8 869 CC cases and 5 436 CC deaths over the lifetime of a single cohort. Without discounting, this HPV vaccine is dominant over screening alone; with discounting, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio is ZAR 81 978 (South African Rand) per quality-adjusted life years (QALY) gained. HPV vaccination can be considered cost-effective based on World Health Organization (WHO) recommended threshold (3 x gross domestic product/capita = ZAR 200 293). In a scenario with a hypothetical targeted vaccination in a HIV+ subpopulation alone, the modelled outcomes suggest that HPV vaccination is still cost-effective, although the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio increases to ZAR 102 479. Results were sensitive to discount rate, vaccine efficacy, HIV incidence and mortality rates, and HPV-related disease transition probabilities. The AS04-adjuvanted HPV-16/18 vaccine can be considered cost-effective in a South African context although the cost-effectiveness is expected to be lower in the HIV+ subpopulation than in the overall female population. With improved access to HIV treatment, the HIV mortality and incidence rates are likely to be reduced, which could improve cost-effectiveness of the vaccination programme in South Africa.

Does puberty mark a transition in sensitive periods for plasticity in the associative neocortex?

PubMed Central

Piekarski, David J.; Johnson, Carolyn; Boivin, Josiah R.; Thomas, A. Wren; Lin, Wan Chen; Delevich, Kristen; Galarce, Ezequiel; Wilbrecht, Linda

2016-01-01

Postnatal brain development is studded with sensitive periods during which experience dependent plasticity is enhanced. This enables rapid learning from environmental inputs and reorganization of cortical circuits that matches behavior with environmental contingencies. Significant headway has been achieved in characterizing and understanding sensitive period biology in primary sensory cortices, but relatively little is known about sensitive period biology in associative neocortex. One possible mediator is the onset of puberty, which marks the transition to adolescence, when animals shift their behavior toward gaining independence and exploring their social world. Puberty onset correlates with reduced behavioral plasticity in some domains and enhanced plasticity in others, and therefore may drive the transition from juvenile to adolescent brain function. Pubertal onset is also occurring earlier in developed nations, particularly in unserved populations, and earlier puberty is associated with vulnerability for substance use, depression and anxiety. In the present article we review the evidence that supports a causal role for puberty in developmental changes in the function and neurobiology of the associative neocortex. We also propose a model for how pubertal hormones may regulate sensitive period plasticity in associative neocortex. We conclude that the evidence suggests puberty onset may play a causal role in some aspects of associative neocortical development, but that further research that manipulates puberty and measures gonadal hormones is required. We argue that further work of this kind is urgently needed to determine how earlier puberty may negatively impact human health and learning potential. PMID:27590721

Ovarian control of nectar collection in the honey bee (Apis mellifera).

PubMed

Siegel, Adam J; Freedman, Colin; Page, Robert E

2012-01-01

Honey bees are a model system for the study of division of labor. Worker bees demonstrate a foraging division of labor (DOL) by biasing collection towards carbohydrates (nectar) or protein (pollen). The Reproductive ground-plan hypothesis of Amdam et al. proposes that foraging DOL is regulated by the networks that controlled foraging behavior during the reproductive life cycle of honey bee ancestors. Here we test a proposed mechanism through which the ovary of the facultatively sterile worker impacts foraging bias. The proposed mechanism suggests that the ovary has a regulatory effect on sucrose sensitivity, and sucrose sensitivity impacts nectar loading. We tested this mechanism by measuring worker ovary size (ovariole number), sucrose sensitivity, and sucrose solution load size collected from a rate-controlled artificial feeder. We found a significant interaction between ovariole number and sucrose sensitivity on sucrose solution load size when using low concentration nectar. This supports our proposed mechanism. As nectar and pollen loading are not independent, a mechanism impacting nectar load size would also impact pollen load size.

Hapten-specific lymphocyte transformation in humans sensitized with NDMA or DNCB.

PubMed Central

SoebergB; Andersen, V

1976-01-01

The primary immune response to a contact sensitizing dose of para-N-dimethylnitrosaniline (NDMA) and dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) was obtained in humans and measured in vitro by increased thymidine incorporation into sensitized lymphocytes. No cross-reaction was found between these two haptens, and it is thus possible on two separate occasions to quantify and follow the primary cellular immune response in man. PMID:963911

Megascale processes: Natural disasters and human behavior

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kieffer, S.W.; Barton, P.; Chesworth, W.; Palmer, A.R.; Reitan, P.; Zen, E.-A.

2009-01-01

Megascale geologic processes, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, and meteoritic impacts have occurred intermittently throughout geologic time, and perhaps on several planets. Unlike other catastrophes discussed in this volume, a unique process is unfolding on Earth, one in which humans may be the driving agent of megadisasters. Although local effects on population clusters may have been catastrophic in the past, human societies have never been interconnected globally at the scale that currently exists. We review some megascale processes and their effects in the past, and compare present conditions and possible outcomes. We then propose that human behavior itself is having effects on the planet that are comparable to, or greater than, these natural disasters. Yet, unlike geologic processes, human behavior is potentially under our control. Because the effects of our behavior threaten the stability, or perhaps even existence, of a civilized society, we call for the creation of a body to institute coherent global, credible, scientifi cally based action that is sensitive to political, economic, religious, and cultural values. The goal would be to institute aggressive monitoring, identify and understand trends, predict their consequences, and suggest and evaluate alternative actions to attempt to rescue ourselves and our ecosystems from catastrophe. We provide a template modeled after several existing national and international bodies. ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Are juvenile domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) sensitive to the attentive states of humans?--The impact of impulsivity on choice behaviour.

PubMed

Nawroth, Christian; Ebersbach, Mirjam; von Borell, Eberhard

2013-06-01

Previous studies have shown that apes, dogs and horses seem to be able to attribute attentive states to humans. Subjects had to choose between two persons: one who was able to see the animal and one who was not. Using a similar paradigm, we tested a species that does not rely strongly on visual cues, the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica). Subjects could choose between two unfamiliar persons, with only one showing attention, in three different conditions (body, head away, body turned - head front). Subjects (n=16) only showed a tendency towards the attentive human in the head away condition. However, by pooling those two conditions where the position of the human head was the only salient cue, we found a significant preference for the attentive person. Moreover, two approach styles could be distinguished - an impulsive style with short response times and a non-impulsive style where response times were relatively long. With the second approach style, pigs chose the attentive person significantly more often than expected by chance level, which was not the case when subjects chose impulsively. These first results suggest that pigs are able to use head cues to discriminate between different attentive states of humans. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Response of intertidal sandy-beach macrofauna to human trampling: An urban vs. natural beach system approach.

PubMed

Reyes-Martínez, Ma José; Ruíz-Delgado, Ma Carmen; Sánchez-Moyano, Juan Emilio; García-García, Francisco José

2015-02-01

Sandy beaches are subjected to intense stressors, which are mainly derived from the increasing pattern of beach urbanization. These ecosystems are also a magnet for tourists, who prefer these locations as leisure and holiday destinations, and such activity further increases the factors that have an adverse effect on beaches. In the study reported here the effect of human trampling on macrofauna assemblages that inhabit intertidal areas of sandy beaches was assessed using a BACI design. For this purpose, three contrasting sectors of the same beach were investigated: an urban area with a high level of visitors, a protected sector with a low density of users, and a transitional area with a high level of human occupancy. The physical variables were constant over time in each sector, whereas differences were found in the intensity of human use between sectors. Density variations and changes in the taxonomic structure of the macrofauna with time were shown by PERMANOVA analysis in the urban and transitional locations whereas the protected sector remained constant throughout the study period. The amphipod Bathyporeia pelagica appears sensitive to human trampling pressure and the use of this species as a bioindicator for these types of impact is recommended. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phenotypic and transcriptional response to selection for alcohol sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster

PubMed Central

Morozova, Tatiana V; Anholt, Robert RH; Mackay, Trudy FC

2007-01-01

Background Alcoholism is a complex disorder determined by interactions between genetic and environmental risk factors. Drosophila represents a powerful model system to dissect the genetic architecture of alcohol sensitivity, as large numbers of flies can readily be reared in defined genetic backgrounds and under controlled environmental conditions. Furthermore, flies exposed to ethanol undergo physiological and behavioral changes that resemble human alcohol intoxication, including loss of postural control, sedation, and development of tolerance. Results We performed artificial selection for alcohol sensitivity for 35 generations and created duplicate selection lines that are either highly sensitive or resistant to ethanol exposure along with unselected control lines. We used whole genome expression analysis to identify 1,678 probe sets with different expression levels between the divergent lines, pooled across replicates, at a false discovery rate of q < 0.001. We assessed to what extent genes with altered transcriptional regulation might be causally associated with ethanol sensitivity by measuring alcohol sensitivity of 37 co-isogenic P-element insertional mutations in 35 candidate genes, and found that 32 of these mutants differed in sensitivity to ethanol exposure from their co-isogenic controls. Furthermore, 23 of these novel genes have human orthologues. Conclusion Combining whole genome expression profiling with selection for genetically divergent lines is an effective approach for identifying candidate genes that affect complex traits, such as alcohol sensitivity. Because of evolutionary conservation of function, it is likely that human orthologues of genes affecting alcohol sensitivity in Drosophila may contribute to alcohol-associated phenotypes in humans. PMID:17973985

Tourism, biodiversity and protected areas--Review from northern Fennoscandia.

PubMed

Tolvanen, Anne; Kangas, Katja

2016-03-15

Tourist numbers in northern Fennoscandia outweigh those in other northern boreal - arctic regions, which creates a specific need to evaluate the impacts of tourism. This review 1) identifies patterns and trends in the vegetation and wildlife of northern Fennoscandian terrestrial ecosystems as a consequence of tourism and recreation, 2) discusses the implications of findings in terms of the intensity, area and magnitude of impacts, changing climate and management needs under increasing tourist pressure, and 3) identifies research gaps. The reviewed studies show negative environmental and biodiversity impacts that are most pronounced near tourist resorts. The most sensitive plants, birds and mammals decline or disappear from the disturbed sites, and the species composition shifts from 'wild' species to cultural and human associated species. There is little research on the spread of alien species, but the few examples show that alien species can be promoted by tourism activities. Impacts of the use of motorized vehicles have not been widely studied either, despite the extensive track network which can cause disturbance to wildlife. The integrated impacts of tourism and climate change on the vegetation and wildlife was not addressed directly in any of the reviewed studies. In addition, little research has been done on carrying out restoration at tourist areas. Scientific research on these topics is needed to prevent, minimize or restore the most negative ecological impacts of tourism and recreation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Climate change, wine, and conservation.

PubMed

Hannah, Lee; Roehrdanz, Patrick R; Ikegami, Makihiko; Shepard, Anderson V; Shaw, M Rebecca; Tabor, Gary; Zhi, Lu; Marquet, Pablo A; Hijmans, Robert J

2013-04-23

Climate change is expected to impact ecosystems directly, such as through shifting climatic controls on species ranges, and indirectly, for example through changes in human land use that may result in habitat loss. Shifting patterns of agricultural production in response to climate change have received little attention as a potential impact pathway for ecosystems. Wine grape production provides a good test case for measuring indirect impacts mediated by changes in agriculture, because viticulture is sensitive to climate and is concentrated in Mediterranean climate regions that are global biodiversity hotspots. Here we demonstrate that, on a global scale, the impacts of climate change on viticultural suitability are substantial, leading to possible conservation conflicts in land use and freshwater ecosystems. Area suitable for viticulture decreases 25% to 73% in major wine producing regions by 2050 in the higher RCP 8.5 concentration pathway and 19% to 62% in the lower RCP 4.5. Climate change may cause establishment of vineyards at higher elevations that will increase impacts on upland ecosystems and may lead to conversion of natural vegetation as production shifts to higher latitudes in areas such as western North America. Attempts to maintain wine grape productivity and quality in the face of warming may be associated with increased water use for irrigation and to cool grapes through misting or sprinkling, creating potential for freshwater conservation impacts. Agricultural adaptation and conservation efforts are needed that anticipate these multiple possible indirect effects.

Climate change, wine, and conservation

PubMed Central

Hannah, Lee; Roehrdanz, Patrick R.; Ikegami, Makihiko; Shepard, Anderson V.; Shaw, M. Rebecca; Tabor, Gary; Zhi, Lu; Marquet, Pablo A.; Hijmans, Robert J.

2013-01-01

Climate change is expected to impact ecosystems directly, such as through shifting climatic controls on species ranges, and indirectly, for example through changes in human land use that may result in habitat loss. Shifting patterns of agricultural production in response to climate change have received little attention as a potential impact pathway for ecosystems. Wine grape production provides a good test case for measuring indirect impacts mediated by changes in agriculture, because viticulture is sensitive to climate and is concentrated in Mediterranean climate regions that are global biodiversity hotspots. Here we demonstrate that, on a global scale, the impacts of climate change on viticultural suitability are substantial, leading to possible conservation conflicts in land use and freshwater ecosystems. Area suitable for viticulture decreases 25% to 73% in major wine producing regions by 2050 in the higher RCP 8.5 concentration pathway and 19% to 62% in the lower RCP 4.5. Climate change may cause establishment of vineyards at higher elevations that will increase impacts on upland ecosystems and may lead to conversion of natural vegetation as production shifts to higher latitudes in areas such as western North America. Attempts to maintain wine grape productivity and quality in the face of warming may be associated with increased water use for irrigation and to cool grapes through misting or sprinkling, creating potential for freshwater conservation impacts. Agricultural adaptation and conservation efforts are needed that anticipate these multiple possible indirect effects. PMID:23569231

Nitrogen in rock: Occurrences and biogeochemical implications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holloway, J.M.; Dahlgren, R.A.

2002-01-01

There is a growing interest in the role of bedrock in global nitrogen cycling and potential for increased ecosystem sensitivity to human impacts in terrains with elevated background nitrogen concentrations. Nitrogen-bearing rocks are globally distributed and comprise a potentially large pool of nitrogen in nutrient cycling that is frequently neglected because of a lack of routine analytical methods for quantification. Nitrogen in rock originates as organically bound nitrogen associated with sediment, or in thermal waters representing a mixture of sedimentary, mantle, and meteoric sources of nitrogen. Rock nitrogen concentrations range from trace levels (>200 mg N kg -1) in granites to ecologically significant concentrations exceeding 1000 mg N kg -1 in some sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks. Nitrate deposits accumulated in arid and semi-arid regions are also a large potential pool. Nitrogen in rock has a potentially significant impact on localized nitrogen cycles. Elevated nitrogen concentrations in water and soil have been attributed to weathering of bedrock nitrogen. In some environments, nitrogen released from bedrock may contribute to nitrogen saturation of terrestrial ecosystems (more nitrogen available than required by biota). Nitrogen saturation results in leaching of nitrate to surface and groundwaters, and, where soils are formed from ammonium-rich bedrock, the oxidation of ammonium to nitrate may result in soil acidification, inhibiting revegetation in certain ecosystems. Collectively, studies presented in this article reveal that geologic nitrogen may be a large and reactive pool with potential for amplification of human impacts on nitrogen cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

DRD4 genotype predicts longevity in mouse and human

PubMed Central

Grady, Deborah L.; Thanos, Panayotis K.; Corrada, Maria M.; Barnett, Jeffrey C.; Ciobanu, Valentina; Shustarovich, Diana; Napoli, Anthony; Moyzis, Alexandra G.; Grandy, David; Rubinstein, Marcelo; Wang, Gene-Jack; H.Kawas, Claudia; Chen, Chuansheng; Dong, Qi; Wang, Eric; Volkow, Nora D.; Moyzis, Robert K.

2013-01-01

Longevity is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. The brain's dopamine system may be particularly relevant, since it modulates traits (e.g., sensitivity to reward, incentive motivation, sustained effort) that impact behavioral responses to the environment. In particular, the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) has been shown to moderate the impact of environments on behavior and health. We tested the hypothesis that the DRD4 gene influences longevity and that its impact is mediated through environmental effects. Surviving participants of a 30 year-old population-based health survey (N=310, age range 90–109; the 90+ Study) were genotyped/resequenced at the DRD4 gene, and compared to a European ancestry-matched younger population (N=2902, age range 7–45). We found that the oldest-old population had a 66% increase in individuals carrying the DRD4 7R allele relative to the younger sample (p=3.5 × 10−9), and that this genotype was strongly correlated with increased levels of physical activity. Consistent with these results, DRD4 knockout mice, when compared to wild-type and heterozygous mice, displayed a 7–9.7% decrease in lifespan, reduced spontaneous locomotor activity, and no lifespan increase when reared in an enriched environment. These results support the hypothesis that DRD4 gene variants contribute to longevity in humans and in mice, and suggest that this effect is mediated by shaping behavioral responses to the environment. PMID:23283341

Alternative rapamycin treatment regimens mitigate the impact of rapamycin on glucose homeostasis and the immune system.

PubMed

Arriola Apelo, Sebastian I; Neuman, Joshua C; Baar, Emma L; Syed, Faizan A; Cummings, Nicole E; Brar, Harpreet K; Pumper, Cassidy P; Kimple, Michelle E; Lamming, Dudley W

2016-02-01

Inhibition of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway by the FDA-approved drug rapamycin has been shown to promote lifespan and delay age-related diseases in model organisms including mice. Unfortunately, rapamycin has potentially serious side effects in humans, including glucose intolerance and immunosuppression, which may preclude the long-term prophylactic use of rapamycin as a therapy for age-related diseases. While the beneficial effects of rapamycin are largely mediated by the inhibition of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1), which is acutely sensitive to rapamycin, many of the negative side effects are mediated by the inhibition of a second mTOR-containing complex, mTORC2, which is much less sensitive to rapamycin. We hypothesized that different rapamycin dosing schedules or the use of FDA-approved rapamycin analogs with different pharmacokinetics might expand the therapeutic window of rapamycin by more specifically targeting mTORC1. Here, we identified an intermittent rapamycin dosing schedule with minimal effects on glucose tolerance, and we find that this schedule has a reduced impact on pyruvate tolerance, fasting glucose and insulin levels, beta cell function, and the immune system compared to daily rapamycin treatment. Further, we find that the FDA-approved rapamycin analogs everolimus and temsirolimus efficiently inhibit mTORC1 while having a reduced impact on glucose and pyruvate tolerance. Our results suggest that many of the negative side effects of rapamycin treatment can be mitigated through intermittent dosing or the use of rapamycin analogs. © 2015 The Authors. Aging Cell published by the Anatomical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Use of a probabilistic PBPK/PD model to calculate Data Derived Extrapolation Factors for chlorpyrifos.

PubMed

Poet, Torka S; Timchalk, Charles; Bartels, Michael J; Smith, Jordan N; McDougal, Robin; Juberg, Daland R; Price, Paul S

2017-06-01

A physiologically based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) model combined with Monte Carlo analysis of inter-individual variation was used to assess the effects of the insecticide, chlorpyrifos and its active metabolite, chlorpyrifos oxon in humans. The PBPK/PD model has previously been validated and used to describe physiological changes in typical individuals as they grow from birth to adulthood. This model was updated to include physiological and metabolic changes that occur with pregnancy. The model was then used to assess the impact of inter-individual variability in physiology and biochemistry on predictions of internal dose metrics and quantitatively assess the impact of major sources of parameter uncertainty and biological diversity on the pharmacodynamics of red blood cell acetylcholinesterase inhibition. These metrics were determined in potentially sensitive populations of infants, adult women, pregnant women, and a combined population of adult men and women. The parameters primarily responsible for inter-individual variation in RBC acetylcholinesterase inhibition were related to metabolic clearance of CPF and CPF-oxon. Data Derived Extrapolation Factors that address intra-species physiology and biochemistry to replace uncertainty factors with quantitative differences in metrics were developed in these same populations. The DDEFs were less than 4 for all populations. These data and modeling approach will be useful in ongoing and future human health risk assessments for CPF and could be used for other chemicals with potential human exposure. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

GWAS of human bitter taste perception identifies new loci and reveals additional complexity of bitter taste genetics

PubMed Central

Ledda, Mirko; Kutalik, Zoltán; Souza Destito, Maria C.; Souza, Milena M.; Cirillo, Cintia A.; Zamboni, Amabilene; Martin, Nathalie; Morya, Edgard; Sameshima, Koichi; Beckmann, Jacques S.; le Coutre, Johannes; Bergmann, Sven; Genick, Ulrich K.

2014-01-01

Human perception of bitterness displays pronounced interindividual variation. This phenotypic variation is mirrored by equally pronounced genetic variation in the family of bitter taste receptor genes. To better understand the effects of common genetic variations on human bitter taste perception, we conducted a genome-wide association study on a discovery panel of 504 subjects and a validation panel of 104 subjects from the general population of São Paulo in Brazil. Correction for general taste-sensitivity allowed us to identify a SNP in the cluster of bitter taste receptors on chr12 (10.88– 11.24 Mb, build 36.1) significantly associated (best SNP: rs2708377, P = 5.31 × 10−13, r2 = 8.9%, β = −0.12, s.e. = 0.016) with the perceived bitterness of caffeine. This association overlaps with—but is statistically distinct from—the previously identified SNP rs10772420 influencing the perception of quinine bitterness that falls in the same bitter taste cluster. We replicated this association to quinine perception (P = 4.97 × 10−37, r2 = 23.2%, β = 0.25, s.e. = 0.020) and additionally found the effect of this genetic locus to be concentration specific with a strong impact on the perception of low, but no impact on the perception of high concentrations of quinine. Our study, thus, furthers our understanding of the complex genetic architecture of bitter taste perception. PMID:23966204

Exon Microarray Analysis of Human Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Alcoholism

PubMed Central

Manzardo, Ann M.; Gunewardena, Sumedha; Wang, Kun; Butler, Merlin G.

2014-01-01

Background Alcohol abuse is associated with cellular and biochemical disturbances that impact upon protein and nucleic acid synthesis, brain development, function and behavioral responses. To further characterize the genetic influences in alcoholism and the effects of alcohol consumption on gene expression, we used a highly sensitive exon microarray to examine mRNA expression in human frontal cortex of alcoholics and control males. Methods Messenger RNA was isolated from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC, Brodmann area 9) of 7 adult Alcoholic (6 males, 1 female, mean age 48 years) and 7 matched controls. Affymetrix Human Exon 1.0 ST Array was performed according to standard procedures and the results analyzed at the gene level. Microarray findings were validated using qRT-PCR, and the ontology of disturbed genes characterized using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). Results Decreased mRNA expression was observed for genes involved in cellular adhesion (e.g., CTNNA3, ITGA2), transport (e.g., TF, ABCA8), nervous system development (e.g., LRP2, UGT8, GLDN) and signaling (e.g., RASGRP, LGR5) with influence over lipid and myelin synthesis (e.g., ASPA, ENPP2, KLK6). IPA identified disturbances in network functions associated with neurological disease, and development including cellular assembly and organization impacting on psychological disorders. Conclusions Our data in alcoholism support a reduction in expression of dlPFC mRNA for genes involved with neuronal growth, differentiation and signaling that targets white matter of the brain. PMID:24890784

Exon microarray analysis of human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in alcoholism.

PubMed

Manzardo, Ann M; Gunewardena, Sumedha; Wang, Kun; Butler, Merlin G

2014-06-01

Alcohol abuse is associated with cellular and biochemical disturbances that impact upon protein and nucleic acid synthesis, brain development, function, and behavioral responses. To further characterize the genetic influences in alcoholism and the effects of alcohol consumption on gene expression, we used a highly sensitive exon microarray to examine mRNA expression in human frontal cortex of alcoholics and control males. Messenger RNA was isolated from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC; Brodmann area 9) of 7 adult alcoholic (6 males, 1 female, mean age 49 years) and 7 matched controls. Affymetrix Human Exon 1.0 ST array was performed according to standard procedures and the results analyzed at the gene level. Microarray findings were validated using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and the ontology of disturbed genes characterized using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). Decreased mRNA expression was observed for genes involved in cellular adhesion (e.g., CTNNA3, ITGA2), transport (e.g., TF, ABCA8), nervous system development (e.g., LRP2, UGT8, GLDN), and signaling (e.g., RASGRP3, LGR5) with influence over lipid and myelin synthesis (e.g., ASPA, ENPP2, KLK6). IPA identified disturbances in network functions associated with neurological disease and development including cellular assembly and organization impacting on psychological disorders. Our data in alcoholism support a reduction in expression of dlPFC mRNA for genes involved with neuronal growth, differentiation, and signaling that targets white matter of the brain. Copyright © 2014 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Adaptive significance of natural variations in maternal care in rats: a translational perspective

PubMed Central

Beery, Annaliese K.; Francis, Darlene D.

2011-01-01

A wealth of data from the last fifty years documents the potency of early life experiences including maternal care on developing offspring. A majority of this research has focused on the developing stress axis and stress-sensitive behaviors in hopes of identifying factors impacting resilience and risk-sensitivity. The power of early life experience to shape later development is profound and has the potential to increase fitness of individuals for their environments. Current findings in a rat maternal care paradigm highlight the complex and dynamic relation between early experiences and a variety of outcomes. In this review we propose adaptive hypotheses for alternate maternal strategies and resulting offspring phenotypes, and ways to distinguish between these hypotheses. We also provide evidence underscoring the critical role of context in interpreting the adaptive significance of early experiences. If our goal is to identify risk-factors relevant to humans, we must better explore the role of the social and physical environment in our basic animal models. PMID:21458485

Mechanical role of the posterior column components in the cervical spine.

PubMed

Hartman, Robert A; Tisherman, Robert E; Wang, Cheng; Bell, Kevin M; Lee, Joon Y; Sowa, Gwendolyn A; Kang, James D

2016-07-01

To quantify the mechanical role of posterior column components in human cervical spine segments. Twelve C6-7 segments were subjected to resection of (1) suprasinous/interspinous ligaments (SSL/ISL), (2) ligamenta flavum (LF), (3) facet capsules, and (4) facets. A robot-based testing system performed repeated flexibility testing of flexion-extension (FE), axial rotation (AR), and lateral bending (LB) to 2.5Nm and replayed kinematics from intact flexibility tests for each state. Range-of-motion, stiffness, moment resistance and resultant forces were calculated. The LF contributes largely to moment resistance, particularly in flexion. Facet joints were primary contributors to AR and LB mechanics. Moment/force responses were more sensitive and precise than kinematic outcomes. The LF is mechanically important in the cervical spine; its injury could negatively impact load distribution. Damage to facets in a flexion injury could lead to AR or LB hypermobility. Quantifying the contribution of spinal structures to moment resistance is a sensitive, precise process for characterizing structural mechanics.

Potential impacts of climate change on infectious diseases in the Arctic.

PubMed

Parkinson, Alan J; Butler, Jay C

2005-12-01

Climate change could cause changes in the incidence of infectious diseases in Arctic regions. Higher ambient temperatures in the Arctic may result in an increase in some temperature sensitive foodborne diseases such as gastroenteritis, paralytic shellfish poisoning and botulism. An increase in mean temperature may also influence the incidence of infectious diseases of animals that are spread to humans (zoonoses) by changing the population and range of animal hosts and insect vectors. An increase in flooding events may result in outbreaks of waterborne infection, such as Giardia lamblia or Cryptospordium parvum. A change in rodent and fox populations may result in an increase in rabies or echinococcosis. Temperature and humidity influence the distribution and density of many arthropod vectors which in turn may influence the incidence and northern range of vectorborne diseases such as West Nile virus. Recommendations include: the strenghtening of public health systems, disease surveillance coordinated with climate monitoring, and research into the detection, prevention, control and treatment of temperature-sensitive infectious diseases.

Unravelling the structural-electronic impact of arylamine electron-donating antennas on the performances of efficient ruthenium sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Wang-Chao; Kong, Fan-Tai; Ghadari, Rahim; Li, Zhao-Qian; Guo, Fu-Ling; Liu, Xue-Peng; Huang, Yang; Yu, Ting; Hayat, Tasawar; Dai, Song-Yuan

2017-04-01

We report a systematic research to understand the structural-electronic impact of the arylamine electron-donating antennas on the performances of the ruthenium complexes for dye-sensitized solar cells. Three ruthenium complexes functionalized with different arylamine electron-donating antennas (N,N-diethyl-aniline in RC-31, julolidine in RC-32 and N,N-dibenzyl-aniline in RC-36) are designed and synthesized. The photoelectric properties of RC dyes exhibit apparent discrepancy, which are ascribed to different structural nature and electronic delocalization ability of these arylamine electron-donating system. In conjunction with TiO2 microspheres photoanode and a typical coadsorbent DPA, the devices sensitized by RC-36 achieve the best conversion efficiency of 10.23%. The UV-Vis absorption, electrochemical measurement, incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency and transient absorption spectra confirm that the excellent performance of RC-36 is induced by synergistically structural-electronic impacts from enhanced absorption capacity and well-tuned electronic characteristics. These observations provide valuable insights into the molecular engineering methodology based on fine tuning structural-electronic impact of electron-donating antenna in efficient ruthenium sensitizers.