Clara cell protein and surfactant proteinB in garbage collectors and in wastewater workers exposed to bioaerosols

Objectives: Inhalation of bioaerosols has been hypothesised to cause "toxic pneumonitis” that should increase lung epithelial permeability at the bronchioloalveolar level. Serum Clara cell protein (CC16) and serum surfactant proteinB (SPB) have been proposed as sensitive markers of lung epithelial injury. This study was aimed at looking for increased lung epithelial permeability by determining CC16 and SPB in workers exposed to bioaerosols from wastewater or garbage. Methods: Subjects (778 wastewater, garbage and control workers; participation 61%) underwent a medical examination, lung function tests [American Thoracic Society (ATS) criteria], and determination of CC16 and SPB. Symptoms of endotoxin exposure and several potential confounders (age, gender, smoking, kidney function, obesity) were looked for. Results were examined with multiple linear or logistic regression. Results: Exposure to bioaerosols increased CC16 concentration in the wastewater workers. No effect of exposure on SPB was found. No clue to work-related respiratory diseases was found. Conclusions: The increase in CC16 in serum supports the hypothesis that bioaerosols cause subclinical "toxic pneumonitis”, even at low exposur

Comparison of risk factors predicting return to work between patients with subacute and chronic non-specific low back pain: systematic review

The objective of the study was to provide an inventory of predictive instruments and their constituting parameters associated with return to work in patients with subacute (2-10weeks pain duration) and chronic (10-24weeks pain duration) non-specific low back pain (NSLBP). Data sources included systematic review in Medline, Embase, Cinahl, Central, PEDro, Psyndex, PsychInfo/PsycLit, and Sociofile up to September 2008, in reference lists of systematic reviews on risk factors, and of included studies. For the systematic review, two reviewers independently assessed study eligibility and quality, and extracted data. Disagreements were resolved by consensus. Risk factors were inventorised and grouped into a somatic and psychosocial domain. 23 studies reporting on subacute and 16 studies reporting on chronic patients were included. The studies on subacute patients reported on a total of 56 biomedical factors out of which 35 (63%) were modifiable and 61 psychosocial factors out of which 51 (84%) were modifiable. The corresponding values in studies on chronic patients were 44 biomedical [27 (62%) modifiable] and 61 [40 (66%) modifiable] respectively. Our data suggest that the interdisciplinary approach in patients at risk to develop persistent NSLBP is justified in both, the subacute and chronic disease stages. Psychosocial interventions might be more effective in subacute stages since a higher proportion of modifiable risk factors were identified in that grou

Fine particle pH and the partitioning of nitric acid during winter in the northeastern United States

Particle pH is a critical but poorly constrained quantity that affects many aerosol processes and properties, including aerosol composition, concentrations, and toxicity. We assess PM1 pH as a function of geographical location and altitude, focusing on the northeastern U.S., based on aircraft measurements from the Wintertime Investigation of Transport, Emissions, and Reactivity campaign (1 February to 15 March 2015). Particle pH and water were predicted with the ISORROPIA-II thermodynamic model and validated by comparing predicted to observed partitioning of inorganic nitrate between the gas and particle phases. Good agreement was found for relative humidity (RH) above 40%; at lower RH observed particle nitrate was higher than predicted, possibly due to organic-inorganic phase separations or nitrate measurement uncertainties associated with low concentrations (nitrate \u3c 1 µg m−3). Including refractory ions in the pH calculations did not improve model predictions, suggesting they were externally mixed with PM1 sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium. Sample line volatilization artifacts were found to be minimal. Overall, particle pH for altitudes up to 5000 m ranged between −0.51 and 1.9 (10th and 90th percentiles) with a study mean of 0.77 ± 0.96, similar to those reported for the southeastern U.S. and eastern Mediterranean. This expansive aircraft data set is used to investigate causes in variability in pH and pH-dependent aerosol components, such as PM1 nitrate, over a wide range of temperatures (−21 to 19°C), RH (20 to 95%), inorganic gas, and particle concentrations and also provides further evidence that particles with low pH are ubiquitous

Decadal changes in summertime reactive oxidized nitrogen and surface ozone over the Southeast United States

Widespread efforts to abate ozone (O3) smog have significantly reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) over the past 2 decades in the Southeast US, a place heavily influenced by both anthropogenic and biogenic emissions. How reactive nitrogen speciation responds to the reduction in NOx emissions in this region remains to be elucidated. Here we exploit aircraft measurements from ICARTT (July–August 2004), SENEX (June–July 2013), and SEAC4RS (August–September 2013) and long-term ground measurement networks alongside a global chemistry–climate model to examine decadal changes in summertime reactive oxidized nitrogen (RON) and ozone over the Southeast US. We show that our model can reproduce the mean vertical profiles of major RON species and the total (NOy) in both 2004 and 2013. Among the major RON species, nitric acid (HNO3) is dominant (∼ 42–45%), followed by NOx (31%), total peroxy nitrates (ΣPNs; 14%), and total alkyl nitrates (ΣANs; 9–12%) on a regional scale. We find that most RON species, including NOx, ΣPNs, and HNO3, decline proportionally with decreasing NOx emissions in this region, leading to a similar decline in NOy. This linear response might be in part due to the nearly constant summertime supply of biogenic VOC emissions in this region. Our model captures the observed relative change in RON and surface ozone from 2004 to 2013. Model sensitivity tests indicate that further reductions of NOxemissions will lead to a continued decline in surface ozone and less frequent high-ozone events

Effects of whole-body vibration on proxies of muscle strength in old adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis on the role of physical capacity level

Forest plot overview of Classification No-Go, outcome: all strength outcomes (IMVC, DS, Power, RFD, FS). (PPTX 75 kb

Ozone production chemistry in the presence of urban plumes

Ozone pollution affects human health, especially in urban areas on hot sunny days. Its basic photochemistry has been known for decades and yet it is still not possible to correctly predict the high ozone levels that are the greatest threat. The CalNex_SJV study in Bakersfield CA in May/June 2010 provided an opportunity to examine ozone photochemistry in an urban area surrounded by agriculture. The measurement suite included hydroxyl (OH), hydroperoxyl (HO_2), and OH reactivity, which are compared with the output of a photochemical box model. While the agreement is generally within combined uncertainties, measured HO2 far exceeds modeled HO_2 in NO_x-rich plumes. OH production and loss do not balance as they should in the morning, and the ozone production calculated with measured HO_2 is a decade greater than that calculated with modeled HO_2 when NO levels are high. Calculated ozone production using measured HO2 is twice that using modeled HO_2, but this difference in calculated ozone production has minimal impact on the assessment of NOx-sensitivity or VOC-sensitivity for midday ozone production. Evidence from this study indicates that this important discrepancy is not due to the HO_2 measurement or to the sampling of transported plumes but instead to either emissions of unknown organic species that accompany the NO emissions or unknown photochemistry involving nitrogen oxides and hydrogen oxides, possibly the hypothesized reaction OH + NO + O_2 → HO_2 + NO_2

Anthropogenic Control over Wintertime Oxidation of Atmospheric Pollutants

Anthropogenic air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NO(x) = NO + NO(2)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), and volatile organic compounds (VOC), among others, are emitted to the atmosphere throughout the year from energy production and use, transportation, and agriculture. These primary pollutants lead to the formation of secondary pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and ozone (O(3)) and perturbations to the abundance and lifetimes of short-lived greenhouse gases. Free radical oxidation reactions driven by solar radiation govern the atmospheric lifetimes and transformations of most primary pollutants and thus their spatial distributions. During winter in the mid and high latitudes, where a large fraction of atmospheric pollutants are emitted globally, such photochemical oxidation is significantly slower. Using observations from a highly instrumented aircraft, we show that multi-phase reactions between gas-phase NO(x) reservoirs and aerosol particles, as well as VOC emissions from anthropogenic activities, lead to a suite of atypical radical precursors dominating the oxidizing capacity in polluted winter air, and thus, the distribution and fate of primary pollutants on a regional to global scale

The translation, validity and reliability of the German version of the Fremantle Back Awareness Questionnaire

Background: The Fremantle Back Awareness Questionnaire (FreBAQ) claims to assess disrupted self-perception of the back. The aim of this study was to develop a German version of the Fre-BAQ (FreBAQ-G) and assess its test-retest reliability, its known-groups validity and its convergent validity with another purported measure of back perception. Methods: The FreBaQ-G was translated following international guidelines for the transcultural adaptation of questionnaires. Thirty-five patients with non-specific CLBP and 48 healthy participants were recruited. Assessor one administered the FreBAQ-G to each patient with CLBP on two separate days to quantify intra-observer reliability. Assessor two administered the FreBaQ-G to each patient on day 1. The scores were compared to those obtained by assessor one on day 1 to assess inter-observer reliability. Known-groups validity was quantified by comparing the FreBAQ-G score between patients and healthy controls. To assess convergent validity, patient\u27s FreBAQ-G scores were correlated to their two-point discrimination (TPD) scores. Results: Intra- and Inter-observer reliability were both moderate with ICC3.1 = 0.88 (95%CI: 0.77 to 0.94) and 0.89 (95%CI: 0.79 to 0.94), respectively. Intra- and inter-observer limits of agreement (LoA) were 6.2 (95%CI: 5.0±8.1) and 6.0 (4.8±7.8), respectively. The adjusted mean difference between patients and controls was 5.4 (95%CI: 3.0 to 7.8, p\u3c0.01). Patient\u27s FreBAQ-G scores were not associated with TPD thresholds (Pearson\u27s r = -0.05, p = 0.79). Conclusions: The FreBAQ-G demonstrated a degree of reliability and known-groups validity. Interpretation of patient level data should be performed with caution because the LoA were substantial. It did not demonstrate convergent validity against TPD. Floor effects of some items of the FreBAQ-G may have influenced the validity and reliability results. The clinimetric properties of the FreBAQ-G require further investigation as a simple measure of disrupted self-perception of the back before firm recommendations on its use can be made

About females and males: continuity and discontinuity in flies

Through the decades of relentless and dedicated studies in Drosophila melanogaster, the pathway that governs sexual development has been elucidated in great detail and has become a paradigm in understanding fundamental cell-fate decisions. However, recent phylogenetic studies show that the molecular strategy used in Drosophila deviates in some important aspects from those found in other dipteran flies and suggest that the Drosophila pathway is likely to be a derivative of a simpler and more common principle. In this essay, I will discuss the evolutionary plasticity of the sex-determining pathway based on studies in the common housefly, Musca domestica. Diversification appears to primarily arise from subtle differences in the regulation of the key switch gene transformer at the top of the pathway. On the basis of these findings I propose a new idea on how the Drosophila pathway may have evolved from a more archetypal system such as in M. domestica. In essence, the arrival of an X counting mechanism mediated by Sex-lethal to compensate for X linked gene dose differences set the stage for an intimate coupling of the two pathways. Its precedent recruitment to the dosage compensation pathway allowed for an intervention in the regulation of transformer where it gradually and eventually' completely substituted for a need of transformer autoregulation

m6A potentiates Sxl alternative pre-mRNA splicing for robust Drosophila sex determination

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most common internal modification of eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA) and is decoded by YTH domain proteins1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. The mammalian mRNA m6A methylosome is a complex of nuclear proteins that includes METTL3 (methyltransferase-like 3), METTL14, WTAP (Wilms tumour 1-associated protein) and KIAA1429. Drosophila has corresponding homologues named Ime4 and KAR4 (Inducer of meiosis 4 and Karyogamy protein 4), and Female-lethal (2)d (Fl(2)d) and Virilizer (Vir)8, 9, 10, 11, 12. In Drosophila, fl(2)d and vir are required for sex-dependent regulation of alternative splicing of the sex determination factor Sex lethal (Sxl)13. However, the functions of m6A in introns in the regulation of alternative splicing remain uncertain3. Here we show that m6A is absent in the mRNA of Drosophila lacking Ime4. In contrast to mouse and plant knockout models5, 7, 14, Drosophila Ime4-null mutants remain viable, though flightless, and show a sex bias towards maleness. This is because m6A is required for female-specific alternative splicing of Sxl, which determines female physiognomy, but also translationally represses male-specific lethal 2 (msl-2) to prevent dosage compensation in females. We further show that the m6A reader protein YT521-B decodes m6A in the sex-specifically spliced intron of Sxl, as its absence phenocopies Ime4 mutants. Loss of m6A also affects alternative splicing of additional genes, predominantly in the 5′ untranslated region, and has global effects on the expression of metabolic genes. The requirement of m6A and its reader YT521-B for female-specific Sxl alternative splicing reveals that this hitherto enigmatic mRNA modification constitutes an ancient and specific mechanism to adjust levels of gene expression