Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality In Hospital Environment

The objective of this study is to determine the indoor and outdoor concentration ratio of suspended particulate matter. Spatial variation was performed by use of portable, SKC Air Check, high volume Gravimetric sampler with flow rate of 2L/min and a sampling duration of fight hours maintained during this pilot study, which was conducted between December 2010 to February 2011 in five different locations. The indoor particulate matter (I.P.M) found in the range of 243.05-451.39 while the Outdoor Particulate Matter (O.P.M) was in the range of 451.39-625.00. The correlation between the outdoor and indoor particulate matter was positive. (r = 0.491). The spatial variation of both indoor and outdoor particulate matter was significant and remarkable. Keyword: Indoor air quality; outdoor air quality; particulate matter, spatial variation

Women, men and coronary heart disease: a review of the qualitative literature

Aim. This paper presents a review of the qualitative literature which examines the experiences of patients with coronary heart disease. The paper also assesses whether the experiences of both female and male patients are reflected in the literature and summarizes key themes. Background. Understanding patients' experiences of their illness is important for coronary heart disease prevention and education. Qualitative methods are particularly suited to eliciting patients' detailed understandings and perceptions of illness. As much previous research has been 'gender neutral', this review pays particular attention to gender. Methods. Published papers from 60 qualitative studies were identified for the review through searches in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PREMEDLINE, PsychINFO, Social Sciences Citation Index and Web of Science using keywords related to coronary heart disease. Findings. Early qualitative studies of patients with coronary heart disease were conducted almost exclusively with men, and tended to generalize from 'male' experience to 'human' experience. By the late 1990s this pattern had changed, with the majority of studies including women and many being conducted with solely female samples. However, many studies that include both male and female coronary heart disease patients still do not have a specific gender focus. Key themes in the literature include interpreting symptoms and seeking help, belief about coronary 'candidates' and relationships with health professionals. The influence of social roles is important: many female patients have difficulties reconciling family responsibilities and medical advice, while male patients worry about being absent from work. Conclusions. There is a need for studies that compare the experiences of men and women. There is also an urgent need for work that takes masculinity and gender roles into account when exploring the experiences of men with coronary heart disease

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Effects of photoperiod and temperature on the development of Bonagota cranaodes

The Brazilian apple leafroller, Bonagota cranaodes (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is reared in the laboratory under a long-day (LD 14 : 10 h) and a short-day (LD 7 : 17 h) photoperiod at 22 degrees C, and under two different temperatures (10-13 degrees C and 21-22 degrees C). The development time from larval to adult eclosion do not differ between the two photoperiods, but did between the two temperature regimes. However, the larvae do not enter diapause, even under short day conditions and low temperatures. The number of adults obtained does not differ with temperature and light conditions. Field captures with pheromone traps show that Brazilian apple leafroller occurs in apple orchards throughout the year and the population densities are lower in winter. Accordingly, control measures should be taken during the off-season

The pharmacology of TUG-891, a potent and selective agonist of the free fatty acid receptor 4 (FFA4/GPR120), demonstrates both potential opportunity and possible challenges to therapeutic agonism

TUG-891 [3-(4-((4-fluoro-4′-methyl-[1,1′-biphenyl]-2-yl)methoxy)phenyl)propanoic acid] was recently described as a potent and selective agonist for the long chain free fatty acid (LCFA) receptor 4 (FFA4; previously G protein–coupled receptor 120, or GPR120). Herein, we have used TUG-891 to further define the function of FFA4 and used this compound in proof of principle studies to indicate the therapeutic potential of this receptor. TUG-891 displayed similar signaling properties to the LCFA α-linolenic acid at human FFA4 across various assay end points, including stimulation of Ca2+ mobilization, β-arrestin-1 and β-arrestin-2 recruitment, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation. Activation of human FFA4 by TUG-891 also resulted in rapid phosphorylation and internalization of the receptor. While these latter events were associated with desensitization of the FFA4 signaling response, removal of TUG-891 allowed both rapid recycling of FFA4 back to the cell surface and resensitization of the FFA4 Ca2+ signaling response. TUG-891 was also a potent agonist of mouse FFA4, but it showed only limited selectivity over mouse FFA1, complicating its use in vivo in this species. Pharmacologic dissection of responses to TUG-891 in model murine cell systems indicated that activation of FFA4 was able to mimic many potentially beneficial therapeutic properties previously reported for LCFAs, including stimulating glucagon-like peptide-1 secretion from enteroendocrine cells, enhancing glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and inhibiting release of proinflammatory mediators from RAW264.7 macrophages, which suggests promise for FFA4 as a therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes and obesity. Together, these results demonstrate both potential but also significant challenges that still need to be overcome to therapeutically target FFA4

Evaluating candidate monitoring strategies, assessment procedures and harvest control rules in the spatially complex Queensland Coral Reef Fin-fish Fishery

Executive Summary Fisheries management strategies are composed of three important stages: 1. the measurement or collection of data, 2. analysis or assessment using the collected to data to understand the state of the stock and fishery, and 3. a subsequent decision to affect control on the fishery (often through the manipulation of total allowable catch or effort). It is important to realise that uncertainty or errors are possible in each of these stages. Observation or sampling error for example, can occur in measuring and collecting data in the first stage. Model estimation or statistical analysis can mis-specify or represent the stock in the second stage, and implementation error, representing the ability to implement a prescribed management action like a TAC, applies to the third. One of the purposes of management strategy evaluation (MSE) is to determine the effect of these uncertainties on the management of a fishery, and to identify a strategy, i.e. a combination of measurement, analysis and decision, that minimises the effects of these errors and ultimately achieves the purpose or objective of management. Appropriate monitoring and data collection, assessment and decision procedures are needed to ensure sustainability and maximum economic benefit from the coral trout stocks in the Queensland Coral Reef Fin Fish Fishery (CRFFF). This is not an easy accomplishment in a fishery that is as spatially complex as the CRFFF, and so in order to determine whether procedures are worth implementing, it is better to try techniques on a virtual fishery before doing so in reality. This project addressed these issues in the CRFFF by evaluating the effectiveness of: 1. several potential monitoring and sampling regimes of the coral trout stock, including the existing Long Term Monitoring Program (LTMP) surveys, 2. different ways of analysing the data collected from a monitoring program, including evaluating the recently developed stock assessment model used to estimate the coral trout status, and 3. evaluating candidate harvest control rules that translate the perceived state of the fishery into a TAC. Lastly, since quota trading was introduced to the fishery, industry has stressed the fact that the economic conditions of the fishery have changed substantially, and so an update of economic data was urgently needed to ensure the evaluation of the management strategies was relevant and useful